Astros Minor League Open Thread: It's Opening Day!

Bud Selig and Major League Baseball finally threw us a bone! They gave the Astros a day off in order for the fans to fully embrace and celebrate Minor League Opening Day! Tonight is the end of so much waiting for our chance to begin to monitor prospect development and the first real look at last year's draftees in full-season ball which is so much easier to evaluate than short-season leagues.

Oklahoma City RedHawks at Memphis Redbirds

7:05 CT

Jordan Lyles gets the season going with the goal of putting everything together to get his ML career going again. He'll be facing against the St. Louis Cardinals AAA team that will be sending out 2010 sixth round pick, John Gast. Paul Clemens will be the tandem starter with Lyles.

Corpus Christi Hooks vs. Springfield Cardinals

7:05 CT

The Hooks will be sending 40-man roster member Ross Seaton to the mound to get the season started. He's not the teams best pitching prospect, but he does have more experience in professional ball than the others and his time with the ML roster during ST is valuable. He'll also be going up against a Cardinal affiliate and his opponent is former international free agent, Richard Castillo.

Lancaster JetHawks vs. High Desert Mavericks

9:00 CT

Last years Organizational Pitcher of the Year (Mike Foltynewicz) and Organizational Player of the Year (Delino DeShields) will both be appearing in the season opener for Lancaster. Folty has seen is stock rise over the past year and a lot of eyes are on him, here's his chance to prove that Lancaster is just a state of mind. High Desert hasn't announced their starter and are the affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.

Quad Cities River Bandits at Kane County Courgars

6:30 CT

So many debuts tonight for this team. Organizational debut with the Astros. Loads of full-season debuts for prospects. Tonight, Vincent Velasquez takes the mound as the starter against Pierce Johnson. Johnson was Cubs first round selection in last year's draft.