Houston Astros Minor League Recap: 6/24/14

Dragon's Laird - Former Astro Brandon Laird, now with the Syracuse Chiefs (WSN), was named the International League Player of the Week after slashing .423/.429/.923 in six games, with four home runs (in four consecutive games), one walk, and three strikeouts.

The Futures Are So Bright, They Gotta Wear Shades - The rosters have been announced for the 2014 Futures Game, to be held July 13 at Target Field as part of the All-Star Game festivities. On the World Team, the number one overall pick in the 2012 draft, shortstop Carlos Correa, headlines the Astros' contributions. Alas, he is unlikely to participate in the game after injuring his leg on the basepaths. Luckily, Astros fans have one other participant to watch - World outfielder Domingo Santana, famously included as the Player to be Named Later in the Hunter Pence trade with Philadelphia.

Memory Layne - There's a nice write-up on MiLB.com by Travis Larner on Layne Berman, the Corpus Christi Hooks' new P.A. announcer. The University of Texas grad, who was "diagnosed" at five years old with "extra-thick vocal cords," won the job out of a field of forty-five hopefuls in February, and has been settling into his new part-time job quite nicely.

What Happened Was...

Oklahoma City RedHawks (AAA) - Tacoma Rainiers (SEA) 2, Oklahoma City RedHawks 0. The last time a Xavier Nady home run was the deciding factor in a pitchers duel, the year was 1937 and Nady was nearing his thirtieth birthday. [Ed.: Not only is this untrue, it's just mean.] But yesterday, it happened. While Kris Bryant was recording his fifth hit in 21 Triple-A at-bats (spoiler alert: All five have been home runs) and Joc Pederson was leaving the same game with a shoulder injury, elsewhere in the Pacific Coast League, Taijuan Walker and David Martinez were engaged in a good old-fashioned pitching duel, like Nady used to do for the fair hand of a maiden on the cobblestone streets of Dusty Wagon, Arkansas, after barely surviving a scrape at the hands of the legendary outlaws, Silly the Skid and the White-Capped Mountain Gang [Ed.: Nady is only thirty-five years old; younger, in fact, than the writer of this very recap.] Nady's two-run blast came off of Martinez with two outs in the first inning, after the latter had struck out Michael Saunders and Cory Hart swinging to begin the game. That was the last time either team would score, as both Walker and Martinez (plus reliever Jose Veras) combined to allow just nine of the remaining fifty-eight batters in the game to reach base - and none to score.

Oklahoma City: 42-38, t-2nd - Pacific Coast League American Northern (1.0 GB)

• LF Austin Wates - 0/4, K
• 2B Kike Hernandez - 1/4, K
• CF L.J. Hoes - 1/4, K, E
• RF Domingo Santana - 1/4, 2B, 3 K
• DH Marc Krauss - 1/4, 2B, K
• SS Gregorio Petit - 0/3
• 1B Preston Tucker - 0/2, BB, E
• 3B Matt Duffy - 0/3, K
• C Carlos Perez - 0/3
• RHP David Martinez - 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 88/61 Pit/Str, 7/4 GO/FO
• RHP Jose Veras - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 11/10 Pit/Str, 1/0 GO/FO

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - Texas League North All-Stars 3, Texas League South All-Stars 1. Corpus Christi Hooks right-hander Kyle Smith pitched longer in the Texas League All-Star Game than anyone else on the South Division roster; unfortunately, he also gave up more runs than the entire rest of the roster, combined. Entering the fourth inning - his second of the game - with a 1-0 lead, Smith allowed the first batter of the inning (Brian Hernandez) to double, and then gave up a go-ahead two-run home run to Cody Stanley. The North would add an insurance run the following inning, with Smith earning the loss and Stanley the MVP honors. Corpus Christi will be back on the field today to kick off a six-game road trip with a three-game set against the Springfield Cardinals (STL).

Corpus Christi: 2-4, 4th - Texas League South (2.5 GB)

• CF Delino DeShields - 0/1
• RF Andrew Aplin - 0/1
• LHP Thomas Shirley - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 29/19 Pit/Str, 2/0 GO/FO
• RHP Kyle Smith - 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 30/21 Pit/Str, 3/2 GO/FO

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - Stockton Ports (OAK) 6, Lancaster Jethawks 4. After a Tony Kemp single and a Chan Moon walk, Teoscar Hernandez got the Jethawks off on the right foot with a first-inning, three-run home run. The Jethawks would put the next two batters on with no outs, before the Stockton pitching closed the door and got out of the inning. The Ports offense clawed back into the game, with two runs in the second inning against starter Matthew Heidenreich and three more the following inning. In the fourth, Danry Vasquez led off the inning for the Jethawks with a triple, and later came in to score on a groundout by Kemp, bringing the Jethawks to within one run. Zach Morton, who'd replaced Heidenreich in the fourth, gave up a run in the fifth, giving Stockton a 6-4 lead. Things got interesting in the bottom of the seventh, when the Jethawks loaded the bases with just one out, but an infield fly rule ensued on a Dan Gulbransen pop-up, followed by a strikeout by Vasquez. Lancaster would not challenge after that, falling 6-4.

Lancaster: 2-4, 4th - California League South (3.0 GB)

• 2B Tony Kemp - 2/5, 2B, R, RBI, K
• SS Chan Moon - 0/3, R, 2 BB, K, E
• CF Teoscar Hernandez - 1/3, HR, R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, K
• 3B Rio Ruiz - 1/5, K
• 1B Brandon Meredith - 2/5, 2 K
• DH Conrad Gregor - 2/4, 2B, BB, K
• C Roberto Pena - 0/4, BB, 2 K
• LF Dan Gulbransen - 0/4, K
• RF Danry Vasquez - 2/4, 2B, 3B, R, K
• RHP Matt Heidenreich - 3.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 5/0 GO/FO
• RHP Zach Morton - 4.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 7/4 GO/FO
• RHP Daniel Minor - 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 2/1 GO/FO

Quad Cities River Bandits (A) - Quad Cities River Bandits 5, Clinton LumberKings (SEA) 2. It was Anthony Bass with the start for Quad Cities yesterday. Bass threw a perfect first inning in his first rehab outing, before giving way to Andrew Thurman, who picked up where the big leaguer left off. Thurman was nearly perfect himself, allowing just two hits over four scoreless frames, fanning three. Chris Lee didn't fare quite as well in relief, allowing a two-run home run to Marcus Littlewood in the eight, but the River Bandits offense had already built a lead that would prove insurmountable, on the strength of a Brett Booth home run and multi-hit games from Brett Phillips, Chase McDonald, and Jose Fernandez.

Quad Cities: 2-2, 4th - Midwest League Western (1.5 GB)

• RF Jame Ramsay - 1/5
• 2B Catfish Elkins - 1/4, 2B, 2 R, BB, K, SB, E
• CF Brett Phillips - 2/4, 2B, 2 RBI, CS
• 1B Chase McDonald - 2/5, 2B, RBI, K
• 3B Tyler White - 1/2, 2 BB
• LF Jose Fernandez - 2/3, 2B, R, BB, SB
• DH Brett Booth - 1/4, HR, R, 2 RBI, K
• C Jake Rodriguez - 0/4, 2 K
• SS Thomas Lindauer - 0/3, R, BB, K
• RHP Anthony Bass - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0/1 GO/FO
• RHP Andrew Thurman - 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 6/4 GO/FO
• LHP Chris Lee - 3.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 5/1 GO/FO
• RHP Andrew Walter - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 0/0 GO/FO

Tri-City ValleyCats (A-) - Tri-City ValleyCats 5, Vermont Lake Monsters (OAK) 4, 11 inn. It was J.D. Davis day at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. After belting his second home run of the season - a solo shot in the second inning off of Vermont reliever Victor Veliz - Davis pushed across the game-winner with a bases-loaded walkoff groundout in the bottom of the eleventh inning to give the ValleyCats a 5-4 victory. Bobby Boyd, the Astros' eighth-round pick this year out of West Virginia University, was another offensive highlight in his first start in the system, going 2-for-5 with a stolen base. The entire ValleyCats staff was impressive on the mound, as well, with Joe Musgrove, Kevin Ferguson, Bryan Radziewski, Ryan Thompson, and Chris Munnelly combining to strike out fifteen batters while walking just one, to go along with a combined 13/3 groundout/flyout ratio.

Tri-City: 8-4, 1st - New York-Penn League Stedler Division

• CF Bobby Boyd - 2/5, R, SB
• 2B Marc Wik - 2/6, R, K
• 1B A.J. Reed - 1/5, 2B, RBI, BB, K
• 3B J.D. Davis - 1/6, HR, R, 2 RBI, K
• DH Nick Tanielu - 0/4, BB
• RF Ariel Ovando - 1/4, BB, K
• LF Ravel Santana - 0/2, R, 3 BB
• C Alfredo Gonzalez - 0/4, R, BB, 4 K
• SS Mott Hyde - 2/5, 2B, RBI
• RHP Joe Musgrove - 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 6/2 GO/FO
• LHP Kevin Ferguson - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, HBP, 1/0 GO/FO
• LHP Bryan Radziewski - 2.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2/1 GO/FO
• RHP Ryan Thompson - 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 3/0 GO/FO
• RHP Chris Munnelly - 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1/0 GO/FO

Greeneville Astros (Rk) - Princeton Rays (TBR) 5, Greeneville Astros 3. Brock Dykxhoorn, the giant Canadian righthander out of Central Arizona CC whose name drew a lot of attention after the Astros selected him in the sixth round of this year's draft, made his professional debut in this one... and it could have gone better, but it could have gone a lot worse. Dykxhoorn entered the game with the Astros already down 3-0, and here's what ensued:

• Carter Burgess pops out to shortstop Juan Santana.
• Cristian Toribio flies out to right fielder Ydarqui Marte.
• Thomas Milone triples (1) on a fly ball to left fielder Sean McMullen.
• Angel Moreno strikes out swinging. Wild pitch by pitcher Brock Dykxhoorn. Thomas Milone scores. Angel Moreno to 1st.
• Hector Montes singles on a fly ball to right fielder Ydarqui Marte. Angel Moreno to 3rd.
• Nic Wilson strikes out swinging.

Two strikeouts, a triple, and a run scored on a wild pitch. Onward and upward for the 6'8" righty. Meanwhile, Ydarqui Marte continued to mash against Appalachian League pitching, going 3-for-4 with a double for his third multi-hit game of the four total games he's played this season. Early results: A .533/.563/.800 line in a laughably-small sample size, but hey. Credit where credit is due. I can scientifically say that if he keeps up this pace for the rest of his career, on into the majors, he will be a Hall of Famer.

Greeneville: 3-3, t-1st - Appalachian League West

• CF Jason Martin - 1/5, 2B, RBI
• 3B Luis Reynoso - 0/4, 2 K
• LF Sean McMullen - 2/4, R, 2 K
• 1B Yonathan Mejia - 1/4
• C Jacob Nottingham - 1/4, R, RBI, K
• SS Juan Santana - 0/4, RBI, K, 2 E
• DH Bryan Muniz - 2/4, PO
• RF Ydarqui Marte - 3/4, 2B, R, PO
• 2B Dayne Parker - 1/3, BB, K
• LHP Austin Nicely - 5.0 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, HBP
• RHP Brock Dykxhoorn - 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, WP
• RHP Jorge Perez - 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• RHP Angel Heredia - 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

GCL Astros (Rk) - GCL Tigers (DET) 11, GCL Astros 3. If Samil De Los Santos has any consolation after giving up three earned runs in 2.1 innings of work after starting this game for the Astros, it's simply that all of the pitchers who followed him - Randall Fant, Albert Minnis, Juan Delis, and Joselo Pinales - were equally bad. None allowed fewer runs than innings pitched. Meanwhile, a good game by Dominican shortstop Osvaldo Duarte, his first after being promoted from the Dominican Summer League, went to waste. In addition to going 2-for-4 with a double, Duarte stole a base off of starter Spencer Turnbull, the Tigers' secound-round pick in this year's draft.

GCL Astros: 2-2, t-2nd - Gulf Coast League Northeast (1.0 GB)

• CF Edwin Medina - 0/4, 2 K
• SS Osvaldo Duarte - 2/4, 2B, K, SB, CS, E
• 1B Dexture McCall - 2/4, K
• DH Hector Roa - 0/4, 2 K
• LF Brauly Mejia - 1/4, HR, R, RBI, K
• 2B Kristian Trompiz - 1/3, 2B, 2 R, BB, K
• 3B Randy Cesar - 0/1, BB, K, CS, E
• 3B Arturo Michelena - 1/2, K
• C Richard Gonzalez - 0/2, K
• PH/C Brian Pena - 0/0, HBP
• RF Alexander Melendez - 0/2, RBI, BB
• RHP Samil De Los Santos - 2.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 3/2 GO/FO
• LHP Randall Fant - 1.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, HBP, 1/1 GO/FO
• LHP Albert Minnis - 2.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 5/0 GO/FO
• RHP Juan Delis - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 0 K, 2/1 GO/FO
• RHP Joselo Pinales - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1/1 GO/FO

DSL Astros Orange (FRk) - DSL Blue Jays (TOR) 4, DSL Astros Orange 2.

DSL Astros Orange: 6-15, t-9th - Dominican Summer League Boca Chica North (11.0 GB)

• 3B Rodrigo Ayarza - 0/4, K
• LF Vicente Sanchez - 0/4, K, CS
• DH Luis Vasquez - 1/3, BB
• 1B Cristopher Luciano - 0/4, K
• 2B Frankeny Fernandez - 1/3, 2B, 2 R, BB, K, SB
• C Ihan Bernal - 0/3, K
• RF Bryan De La Cruz - 0/2, RBI, BB
• SS Wilson Amador - 1/3, K, CS
• CF Andy Pineda - 0/3, K
• LHP Starlyng Sanchez - 3.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 WP, 2/1 GO/FO
• RHP Abdiel Saldana - 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, HBP, 6/1 GO/FO
• RHP Bryan Abreu - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1/1 GO/FO

DSL Astros Blue (FRk) - DSL Astros Blue 3, DSL Indians (CLE) 2.

DSL Astros Blue: 9-12, t-4th - Dominican Summer League Boca Chica Northwest (4.0 GB)

• LF/3B Marcos Almonte - 1/5, E
• 2B Jonathan Matute - 0/3, BB, E
• 3B/1B Wander Franco - 0/3, BB
• DH Oliver Toribio - 0/2, BB, K
• PR/DH Juan Fuentes - 0/0, CS
• SS Joan Mauricio - 1/3, 2B, R, BB, 2 K, E
• 1B Connor MacDonald - 1/3, BB, K
• PR/LF Edgar Lorenzo - 0/0, R
• RF Jose Benjamin - 0/3, R, K
• C Carlos Canelon - 1/4, RBI, K
• CF Nestor Tejada - 1/4, 3B, 2 RBI, K
• RHP Erasmo Pinales - 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 5/1 GO/FO
• RHP Gerald Benzant - 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 3/0 GO/FO
• RHP Lachlan Madden - 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1/1 GO/FO