Looking over the list of top performers from Thursday made me think about something. Exactly how many international free agents has Houston signed since Ed Wade and Bobby Heck took over?
Luckily, Farmstros has an excellent database with every player's signing date and how they were acquired. By copying and pasting that into my own Excel file, I could isolate just the IFAs adn then see how many were signed since 2008. Turns out, there are 61 players in the system fitting that description.
Of those players, there are only 26 who have made it out of the Dominican Summer League. Those include Ariel Ovando, Ricardo Batista and more high-profile signings. Only two have made it out of short season ball, Hector Rodriguez and Juan Minaya, both of whom are at Lexington. Both Rodriguez and Minaya were signed in 2008.
Euris Quezada is the only player to make it to Tri-City, but he recently was suspended for violating MLB's drug policy. More encouraging is that some of the 2010 signings have already made it to Greeneville. Who are they?
Ovando - He's high profile, I know, but let's just run over his resume once again. Making his American debut, Ovando has hit .269/.320/.418 in 35 games. He's also scored 14 runs, hit eight doubles, three triples and two home runs with 11 walks and 42 strikeouts.
Jean Carlos Batista - The shortstop who signed out of the Dominican last summer for $500,000 has played in five games for Greeneville, going 7 for 21 with four runs scored, two doubles, no walks and five strikeouts. He's also been caught stealing once. Before that, he hit .243/.270/.354 in 38 games with the GCL Astros.
Oklahoma City beat Reno 6-3
Luis Durango, LF/CF - 2 for 4, two runs, walk, SB, CS, run scored
Jordan Schafer, CF - 2 for 4, run scored, RBI, strikeout
Brett Wallace, 1B - 3 for 4, double, two runs scored, 2 RBsI, walk, strikeout
Andy Van Hekken, starter - 5 IP, 6 hits, run, 4 walks, 3 Ks, 89 pitches, 49 strikes, 6 GBs, 2 FBs
Wesley Wright, reliever - 2 IP, hit, no runs, no walks, 4 Ks
Corpus Christi lost 12-0 to Arkansas
Jonathan Villar, SS - 1 for 4, two strikeouts, fielding error
Adam Bailey, LF - 0 for 3, walk, strikeout
Brandon Wikoff, DH - 1 for 3, double
Brett Oberholtzer, starter - 3 IP, 8 hits, 5 runs, walk, 3 Ks, 64 pitches, 46 strikes, 3 GBs, 1 FB
Jason Stoffel, reliever - IP, 2 hits, run, no walks, K
Lancaster beat Stockton 3-2
Grant Hogue, RF - 3 for 4, run scored, strikeout, SB
Jiovanni Mier, SS - 1 for 3, RBI, walk
Austin Wates, CF - 0 for 4, stolen base, strikeout
Jonathan Singleton, 1B - 1 for 4, home run, two strikeouts
Alex Todd, 2B - 1 for 4, run scored
Wes Musick, starter - 4 IP, 4 hits, run, 3 walks, 4 Ks
Pat Urckfitz, reliever - 2 IP, hit, no runs, no walks, 2 Ks
Lexington game suspended
Tri-City lost 3-2 to Williamsport
Rafael Valenzuela, LF - 2 for 4, strikeout
Miles Hamblin, C - 2 for 3, double, RBI, SB
Chris Epps, RF - 0 for 1, run scored, 3 walks
Jonas Dufek, starter - 4 IP, hit, run, walk, 5 Ks
Greeneville beat Pulaski 4-3
Luis Alvarez, C - 3 for 4, run scored,
Ariel Ovando, RF - 2 for 4, double, RBI, two strikeouts
Darwin Rivera, 3B - 3 for 4, 2 RBIs, strikeout
Ricardo Batista, starter - 6 IP, 5 hits, run, 3 walks, 5 Ks
Steve Martin, reliever - IP, 3 hits, no runs, no walks, K
GCL Astros lost 10-8 to the Nationals
Javaris Reynolds, CF - 3 for 5, two runs scored, strikeout, 2 SBs
Yonathan Mejia, DH - 1 for 5, run scored, RBI, walk, 2 strikeouts
Justin Shults, 1B - 3 for 4, double, home run, 3 runs scored, 2 RBIs, walk
Jose Fernandez, SS - 2 for 5, triple, RBI, strikeout, SB
Kelvin Vizcaino, LF - 1 for 5, home run, strikeout, SB
Enderson Franco, starter - 5 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, walk, K
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