You know, I had a couple of ideas on what to write about for the introduction on what happened this weekend but Nicholas Tropeano made me forget. Yeah, he was that good in his debut. I can't describe it well since I was unable to listen to the game (MadMartygan did so he can share his thoughts), so I'll let his stat line do the talking.
8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO, 9/3 GO/AO
His first start was in Modesto, which is one of the few pitchers parks in the Cal League, but lets not take that away from him. He was facing more advanced hitters than he has before and simply shut them down. You can't not help but smile when you read that. Oh, you can? Well how about the fact that the Astros drafted this guy in the 5th round because he was a high-80s to low-90s fastball pitcher but his because of his new pitching program (I speculate a long-toss), he topped out at 96 MPH last night. Score Bobby Heck! To be honest, I don't think the gun was hot either. Andrew Robinson was hitting 93 in his inning of work and he was topping out at 94 in the rotation late last season. His changeup was already dirty to begin with, but you had around four mph on the fastball, that changeup becomes filthy. Apparently his 2-seam fastball has really good life too.
Another note, and one not to take a back seat to Tropeano, is that the Tri-City ValleyCats have a nine game win streak going! A lot of that has to do with the pitching, which has been great so far. The hitting has been solid as well, mostly thanks to Andrew Aplin and Jobduan Morales. So, keeping track of this team is going to exciting this year and hopefully it will be a repeat of the 2010 team that won the NYPL Championship.
Oh, and it's now the International Signing Period! Let's get some talent Felix Francicso!
Friday Games
Oklahoma City RedHawks lost 7-0
- Paul Clemens-5 1/3 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 5/3 GO/AO, 90 pitches
- Jonnathan Aristil-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO
- Jimmy Paredes 2B-2-3, 3B, BB, 2 CS
- Carlos Corporan C-0-4, 3 SO
Corpus Christi Hooks won 3-1
- Jose Cisnero-6 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, 3/5 GO/AO, 100 pitches
- Henry Villar-2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
- Jason Stoffel-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
- Jonathan Singleton 1B-1-4, 2B
- Kody Hinze DH-2-2, 2B, 2 BB
- Andrew Simunic 3B-2-4, 2B
Lancaster JetHawks lost 8-7
- David Martinez-6 Ip, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR, 7/4 GO/AO
- Andrew Robinson-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO
- George Springer CF-2-4, BB, 2 SO
- Chris Epps LF-2-4, BB, CS
- Domingo Santana RF-1-3, 2 BB, 2 SO
- Telvin Nash DH-1-3, 2B, BB, SO, CS, PO
- Jonathan Meyer 3B-1-3, 2 BB, 2 SO
- Rafael Valenzuela 1B-2-5, HR, 2 SO
Lexington Legends lost 4-3
- Carlos Quevedo-2 1/3 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 1 HR, 5/1 GO/AO-Guess he takes Trope's spot
- Thomas Shirley-3 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 6/1 GO/AO
- Gabriel Carcia-3 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2/2 GO/AO
- Jordan Scott LF-1-4, 2B, BB, OF Assist
- Zachary Johnson 1B-3-4, 2 2B, BB, SO
- Justin Gominsky RF-1-4, 2B, SO
- Chan Moon SS-0-2, 2 BB, 2 SO
Tri-City ValleyCats won 5-2
- Brady Rodgers-5 2/3 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO, 7/3 GO/AO-Love it!
- John Neely-1 1/3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
- Travis Ballew-1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO
- Andrew Aplin CF-2-3, 2B, 2 SB, OF Assist
- Emilio King RF-1-4, 2B
- Jesse Wierzbicki 1B-2-3, BB
- Tyler Heineman C-2-2
Greeneville Astros lost 6-2 (17 innings)
- Adrian Houser-6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 SO, 8/1 GO/AO-Awesome!
- Jordan Jankowski-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
- Scott Zuloaga-2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO
- Michael Dimock-3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO
- Zachary Dando-4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO, 7/0 GO/AO
- Tanner Bushue-1 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 0 SO...
- Brian Blasik 2B-3-7
- Terrell Joyce LF-2-7, SO
- Ariel Ovando RF-1-5, BB, 3 SO
- Jean Batista PH, SS-2-5, SO
GCL Astros won 8-2
- Chia-Jen Lo-2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 3/0 GO/AO
- Enderson Franco-5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 6/7 GO/AO
- Rodney Quintero-2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO-I'd like to see him get another shot in Greeneville
- Brett Phillips CF-2-5, 2 3B, SO
- Carlos Correa SS-2-5, 2 2B, 2 SO, SB
- Yonathan Mejia 1B-2-3, 2B, 2 BB
- Darwin Rivera 3B-2-5, 2 2B, SO
- Alfredo Gonzalez C-2-5, SO
DSL Astros lost 5-4
- Samil De Los Santos-6 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO, 4/7 GO/AO
- Frangy Colon-2/3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO
- Rayderson Chevalier-2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO
- Pedro Coa C-2-4, HR
Saturday Games
Oklahoma City RedHawks lost 20-6
- Brian Bass-4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 11/1 GO/AO
- Enerio Del Rosario-1/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 0 SO, 1 HR
- Juan Abreu-0 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO
- JB Shuck-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 2/0 GO/AO-Yeah...pitching was that bad last night
- Brandon Barnes CF-2-5, 2B, HR, SO
- Mike Hessman 1B-2-5, HR, SO
- Angel Sanchez SS-0-2, 2 BB
- JB Shuck LF, P-2-5
- Landon Powell C-0-3, 2 BB
Corpus Christi won 13-7
- Bobby Doran-6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 9/4 GO/AO, 84 pitches
- Arcenio Leon-1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
- Erick Abreu-2 IP,2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
- Jonathan Villar SS-2-3, 2 BB
- Andrew Simunic 3B-2-4, 2B
- Jose Martinez 2B-2-3, HR, BB
- Drew Locke RF-2-4, 2B, BB
- Jonathan Singleton DH-0-4, BB, 3 SO
- Austin Wates LF-3-5
Lancaster Jethawks won 8-7
- Zachary Grimmett-6 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 3 HR, 5/4 GO/AO
- Kirk Clark-2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO
- Andrew Robinson-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
- Grant Hogue LF-4-4, 3B, BB, 2 SB-WHAT!!!! I just got Hogue'd
- Erik Castro 3B-0-3, 2 BB
- Domingo Santana RF-2-4, BB, 2 SO
- Enrique Hernandez 2B-2-3, 3B, BB
- Alex Todd SS-0-1, 2 BB, SO, SB
Lexington Legends lost 13-8
- Michael Foltynewicz-6 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 5 Er, 2 BB, 4 SO, 7/3 GO/AO
- Nathan Pettus-1/3 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2 HR
- Mitchell Lambson-1 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
- Dayan Diaz-1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
- Luis Alvarez-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO
- Delino DeShields Jr. DH-0-4, BB, 2 SO, 3 SB, CS
- Jordan Scott CF-0-3, 2 BB, 2 SO
- Zachary Johnson 1B-1-4, 2B, BB
- Matt Duffy 3B-3-5, 2B, SO
- Brandon Meredith LF-1-4, HR, BB-Loving this power he's finally showing
- Roberto Pena C-2-5
- Justin Gominsky RF-2-4, 2 2B
- Ruben Sosa 2B-2-4
Tri-City ValleyCats won 14-5
- Vincent Velasquez-6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO, 8/1 GO/AO-Yes! Yes! Quick somebody post that GIF
- Austin Elkins 2B-3-4, PO
- Neiko Johnson LF, 2B-1-3, 2 BB, 1 SO, SB
- Andrew Aplin CF-1-2, SB
- Dan Gulbransen RF-3-3, 2B, HR, 2 BB, PO-Great day at the plate
- Jesse Wierzbicki 1B-2-4, BB, SO
- Ryan Dineen 3B-0-2, 2 BB, 2 SO
- Jobduan Morales C-1-5, HR, 3 SO-Grand Slam!
- Joe Sclafani SS-2-4
Greeneville Astros won 13-4
- Richard Rodriguez-6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO, 6/3 GO/AO-Nice
- Jordan Jankowski-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO-This guy has been legit out of the pen
- Jean Batista 1B-1-5, HR
- Ernesto Genoves C-3-5, 2 2B
- Michael Martinez DH-2-3, HR
- Ariel Ovando RF-3-5, SO
- Angel Ibanez 3B-2-4, SO
- Jose Monzon CF-3-4, HR
GCL Astros won 3-2
- Raul Rivera-1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
- Michael Feliz-6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR, 8/6 GO/AO
- Juan Mojica-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
- Erick Gonzalez-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO
- Carlos Correa SS-0-4, SO
- Darwin Rivera 3B-1-4, HR, SO
- Wallace Gonzalez RF-2-3, 2B, 3B, SO
- Franny Polanco C-3-3, CS
DSL Astros won 3-2
- Juan Hernandez-5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB,1 SO, 4/3 GO/AO
- Javier Saucedo-4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 6/1 GO/AO
- Jarico Reynoso CF-2-3, 3B
- Randy Cesar 3B-3-4
- Frederick Serrano LF-2-4, 2B
Sunday Games
Oklahoma City RedHawks won 6-2
- Armando Galarrago-6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 Bb, 5 SO, 1 HR, 7/6 GO/AO, 91 pitches
- Xavier Cedeno-2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
- Hector Amrbiz-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 2/0 GO/AO
- Jimmy Paredes 2B-2-4, SB
- Fernando Martinez LF-1-4, 3B, 2 SO
- Brett Wallace 3B-2-3, SO
- Marwin Gonzalez SS-2-3, HR
- Carlos Corporan C-1-3, 2B, SO
Corpus Christi Hooks lost 2-1
- Ross Seaton-7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR, 11/3 GO/AO, 92 pitches-Steadily improving
- Josh Zeid-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO-Hit 95 MPH
- Kevin Chapman-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO
- Chris Wallace C-1-3, HR, SO-5th bomb
Lancaster JetHawks won 3-1
- Nicholas Tropeano-8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO, 9/3 GO/AO-I'm just giddy with excitement
- Andrew Robinson-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
- George Springer CF-1-4, HR, SO
- Domingo Santana RF-1-4, HR, SO
Lexington Legends lost 10-7
- Luis Cruz-5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO, 1 HR, 6/2 GO/AO
- Delino DeShields Jr. 2B-3-4, BB, SO, 2 CS
- Brandon Meredith LF-1-4, 2B, SO
- Roberto Pena C-1-3, HR, SO
- Chan Moon SS-2-4, 2B
Tri-City ValleyCats won 6-3
- Aaron West-4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR, 5/2 GO/AO
- Jeremiah Meiners-2 1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO, 2/1 GO/AO
- Kenny Long-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO
- Blake Ford-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
- Austin Elkins 2B-1-5, 2B
- Neiko Johnson LF-1-4, 2B, BB, 2 SO, CS
- Andrew Aplin CF-1-3, 3B, 2 BB, SB
- Dan Gulbransen RF-2-5, SO
- Ryan Dineen 3B-2-5, 2 SO
- Jobduan Morales DH-2-5, HR
- Tyler Heineman C-1-3, 2B, BB
- Joe Sclafani SS-2-4, SB
Greeneville Astros won 12-0
- Francis Ramirez-6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 7 SO, 6/3 GO/AO
- Zachary Hardoin-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO
- Andrew Walter-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 2/0 GO/AO-Just promoted from GCL
- Euris Quezada-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 3/0 GO/AO
- D'Andre Toney CF-2-4, 2B, BB, SO
- Marc Wik DH-1-3, 2 BB, CS
- Ernesto Genoves C-1-3, 2B, BB, SO
- Cristian Moronta C-1-1, 2B
- Michael Martinez 1B-1-4, BB, 3 SO
- Ariel Ovando RF-1-4, 2B, BB, SO
- James Howick SS-1-4, HR
- Jose Monzon LF-2-3, BB, SO
GCL Astros: Off