Astros Minor League Recap May 3rd, 2012

Let's talk pitching for a minute, and which pitcher on the RedHawks roster might take Weiland's next turn in the rotation since Jordan Lyles will be ineligible to make that start.

You could make a case that any of the four starter's for the RedHawks (Dallas Keuchel, Paul Clemens, Aneury Rodriguez, and Henry Sosa) could be an option to make a spot start for the Astros. Rodriguez and Clemens are the only two pitcher's on that list that are currently on the 40-man roster, but by my count the roster currently stands at 39, and Sergio Escalona can be transferred to the 60-day disabled list so this may not have much bearing in the Astros decision. Henry Sosa is the only pitcher listed that is out of options and would have to pass back through waivers if he were demoted again.

Of the two pitchers that have experience in the majors, Sosa is coming off of his worst start of the year and Rodriguez is coming off of his best. However, Rodriguez has struggled on the season, and he has pitched five innings or more now in three starts, and has not made it out of the fifth inning in his other three starts. Sosa has also been a mixed bag with having three starts where he allowed two earned runs or less, and then allowed five earned runs in each of his last two starts.

Keuchel and Clemens have both been good this season, Keuchel more so than Clemens, but Clemens has that prospect polish that may make him a little more enticing. Clemens has yet to allow more than two earned runs in a start, and Keuchel has not allowed more than three earned runs and has also not pitched less than six innings so far.

In conclusion, options are nice, and you could make a case for any of these guys. Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

Oklahoma City RedHawks Won 4-1

• Aneury Rodriguez - 7 IP, H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO, 6/3 GO/AO -By far his best outing of the year.
• Adalberto Flores - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 2/0 GO/AO
• Jose Valdez - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, SO, 1/1 GO/AO - Picked up his 5th save of the season. He has 14 strikeouts in 12 innings, and a 1.50 ERA.
• Fernando Martinez LF - 2-4, 2B, SO
• Brett Wallace 3B - 1-4, 2B, SO
• Jimmy Paredes 2B - 2-4, 2B, SO- Also had the game tying RBI in the top of the 9th.
• Justin Ruggiano PH - 1-1, 2B, 3 RBI - Clutch pinch hit in the top of the 9th to put the RedHawks ahead.

Corpus Christi Hooks lost 3-2

• Jarred Cosart - 5 2/3 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO, 12/0 GO/AO - Not a bad outing but allowed a little too much traffic on the bases.
• Josh Zeid - 2 1/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 SO, 2/1 GO/AO - He had a disappointing April, but started May off on a positive note.
• Austin Wates LF - 1-4, SO
• Jose Martinez 2B - 2-4, 2B, HR - Had 2 of the 3 Corpus hits.
• Jon Singleton 1B - 0-4, 2 SO
• Kody Hinze DH - 0-4, 2 SO
• Jon Villar - 0-2, SO - Had two errors on routine plays, and one of them proved to be costly.

Lancaster JetHawks Lost 7-2

• Jose Trinidad - 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 SO, 2 HR, 9/0 GO/AO
• Andrew Robinson - 3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, BB, 3 SO, 3/2 GO/AO
• Brian Streilein - 1/3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, HR, 1/0 GO/AO
• Brad Dydalewicz - 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1/1 GO/AO
• Jiovanni Mier SS - 1-4, 2 SO
• Domingo Santana RF - 4-4, 2B - Batting average is up to .267 now.
• George Springer CF - 0-4, 4 SO - Ouch!
• Telvin Nash 1B - 0-4, 2 SO - His average is down to .224 now.
• Jonathan Meyer 3B - 1-4, HR, SO

Lexington Legends Won 4-2

Tim Note: I was at the game and Folty's mechanics and stuff was looking real good. It appeared he was working in the mid 90's for most of the game. The gun at the stadium looked to be a little hot as it determined at one point that Foly hit 101 and the other teams pitcher hit 105.

The one thing I took away from the outing though is that Folty needs to work on his mount presence. He appeared to get flustered after a pitch that didn't go his way. And when the drive started getting a couple hits he seemed to become more frustrated with himself and it was obviously. In one 3-2 count after allowing a couple base runners he tried to crank up the fastball to get it by the hitter, only he ended up throwing it high for ball four. He's still got some maturing to do but the stuff and mechanics looked good.

• Murilo Gouvea - 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 SO
• Delino DeShields - 1-4

Tim Note: Made a fantastic dive on a ball that was heading for right field, unfortunately he threw the ball away on the throw to first.

• Zachary Johnson - 2-4, 1R, 1 3B

Tim Note: Hit a monster shot to deep deep centerfield that would of probably been out at any other part. In fact if he had hit it twenty feet to the left or right it would of been gone. Fluor Field has a section of metal wall up in centerfield, Johnson hit the top of that for a triple.

• Drew Muren - 1-3, 2R, 1BB

Tim Note: Needs to put on some wait and looks a little goofy doing everything on the field. At one point after a ball had landed in centerfield he either tripped or dove for the ball, I'm still not quite sure. His recovery was impressive though and managed to limit the hit to a double.

• Mike Kvasnicka - 1-4, 1 2B

Tim Note: The double probably should of been an error or a triple. The right fielder never found the fly ball until it landed. Kvasnicka went into third standing up, and was thrown out, hence the double. I didn't see what the third base was doing during the play, but I have to believe he wasn't telling Kvasnicka to slide, because he looked more upset with himself than Kvasnicka. If he had slid it would of still been a close play, but a better chance of him being safe. In the end though most right fielders probably catch the ball.