Astros Crawfish Boil: November 17, 2023

650. Pedro Feliz is a six-foot-one corner infielder from Azua, DR. Born on April 27, 1975, he made his professional baseball debut in 1994 with the San Francisco Giants.

It took Feliz six seasons in the minors to reach the majors with the Giants, and eventually he spent eight seasons with them (874 games, .252/.288/.433 with 109 home runs and 418 RBI). He then played 2008 and 2009 with the Philadelphia Phillies (291 games, .259/.306/.393, 26 home runs, 140 RBI).

On December 10, 2009, Feliz signed a contract with Houston through free agency. Feliz appeared in 97 of Houston’s first 119 games of the season. He racked up multiple hits in 15 of them, including three three-hit affairs. On June 28, he singled in the second, singled and scored in the sixth, then hit a go-ahead RBI-double in the seventh inning of an eventual 9-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. On June 21, he hit a game-tying leadoff-pinch-home run in the eighth inning of an eventual 4-3, 12-inning win against the Chicago Cubs.

Feliz went 64-for-289 with 12 doubles, one triple, and four home runs for Houston, with 31 RBI, nine walks and 31 strikeouts for a .221/.243/.311 slashline. Defensively, he made eight errors in 529 ²⁄₃ innings at third base and three in 91 ²⁄₃ innings at first. On August 19, the Astros traded Feliz with cash to the St. Louis Cardinals for David Carpenter.

Feliz finished the 2010 season with St. Louis, hitting 25-for-120 in 40 games. In 2011, he spent the year at the Triple-A level with the San Diego Padres, but did not return to the majors.

649. Hal King was a six-foot-one lefty-hitting and righty-throwing catcher from Oviedo, FL. Born on February 1, 1944, he started his professional career in 1965 with the California Angels minor league system.

Prior to making it to the show, the Astros selected King from the Halos in the 1966 minor league draft, the precursor to the rule 5. King opened the 1967 season with the Single-A Asheville Tourists, appearing in 135 games and delivering a .928 OPS with 30 home runs and 87 RBI. That was certainly good enough for Houston to give him a look after the rosters expanded in September.

King played in his first major league game on September 6 in a 2-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants, failing to get a hit in his pinch-hit appearance. On September 10, King hit a third-inning single and an RBI-triple in the seventh inning, providing all of Houston’s offense in a 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In his brief time with the Astros that season, King appeared in 15 of Houston’s final 19 games of the season, hitting 11-for-44 with a double, two triples, and six RBI. He drew two walks, scored two runs, and struck out nine times. Defensively, King caught 87 innings behind the plate with zero errors, and erased four-of-11 baserunners trying to advance.

King opened the 1968 season with Houston at the parent-club level, and played in 14 of their first 22 games. On April 11, he had his first three-hit game, also drawing a walk, driving a run in, and scoring two of his own in a 7-3 win against the Philadelphia Phillies. Unfortunately for him, he collected a total of four hits in his other 13 games.

Aside from appearing in both halves of a losing doubleheader to the Atlanta Braves on July 6, King spent his time from May 6 through September 5 in the minors, between the Double-A Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs in the Texas League, and the Triple-A Oklahoma City 89ers in the Pacific Coast League, playing a collected 99 games between the two affiliates. He racked up a .749 OPS between the two stops, with seven home runs and 40 RBI.

Called back up to Houston in September, King appeared in 11 of their final 21 games of the year, but only started in one of them. At the plate he went just one-for-14 with a double, a walk, and six K’s. In 112 ²⁄₃ innings backstopping through the entire campaign, King made three errors for a .968 fielding percentage, and only threw out two-of-17 runners trying to steal, well below the 39 percent league average.

On March 11, 1969, the Astros traded King to the Boston Red Sox for Mark Schaffer. King didn’t get back to the majors with the Red Sox, but later played two seasons with the Atlanta Braves (175 games, .234/.343/.396, 16 home runs, 49 RBI), one season with the Texas Rangers (50 games, .180/.333/.320, four home runs, 12 RBI), and two with the Cincinnati Reds backing up Johnny Bench (55 games, .183/.290/.400, four home runs, 13 RBI. SABR Bio

648. Long Beach, CA native Dave Adlesh was a six-foot, 187 lb. prospect out of St. Anthony HS, also in Long Beach. Prior to the 1963 season, he signed with the Houston Colt .45s as a free agent.

Born on July 15, 1943, Adler, a catcher, split his first professional season between the Single-A Durham Bulls, the Double-A San Antonio Bullets, and the Colt .45s. He appeared in six games for Houston, going 0-for-8 with four strikeouts.

The 1964 campaign would see Adlesh firmly entrenched with the Texas League’s Bullets, where he hit .203 in 140 games, with 14 homers and 54 RBI. In three games for the .45s at the major league level, he was two-for-10 with another five K’s.

In 1965, Adlesh played in 93 games for the Amarillo Sonics, Houston’s new Double-A affiliate, hitting .254 with 19 home runs and 53 RBI. In 15 games for the newly renamed Houston Astros, he went five-for-34 with three RBI.

It was more of the same for Adlesh in 1966, as he continued to hit well in the minors to the tune of a .264 average and 13 long-balls with 44 RBI in 118 games. He did this at Houston’s Triple-A level, while with the Oklahoma City 89ers. In three games for the Astros he was 0-for-6.

The 1967 season would finally see Adlesh at the major league level for the entire season, where he was Houston’s number two catcher behind John Bateman. In 39 games he was 17-for-94 with his first (and only) major league home run and four RBI.

In 40 games for Houston in 1968, Adlesh was 19-for-104 with no home runs and four RBI. On September 28, he would collect three hits for the first time in his career, going three-for-three as the Astros topped the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2. It would be his last major league appearance, although he did play in the minors for the Atlanta Braves and for the California Angels for two more seasons.

647. Bill Hall is a six-foot right-handed pitcher from Tupelo, MS. Born on December 28, 1979, Hall was a sixth-round choice of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1998 out of Nettleton HS. Hall reached the majors with the Crew in 2002, and appeared in 831 games for them over the following eight seasons, hitting .253/.312/.446 with 102 home runs and 367 RBI.

Hall made his biggest dent in the major leagues with Milwaukee, accruing nearly 80 percent of his eventual playing time in Wisconsin. He played the second half of the 2009 season with the Seattle Mariners (34 games, .200/.244/.333, two home runs, 12 RBI), then the 2010 season with the Boston Red Sox (119 games, .247/.316/.456, 18 home runs, 46 RBI).

On December 20, 2010, Hall signed with the Astros to a one-year, $3 million contract. He appeared in Houston’s Opening Day lineup, and played in 46 of their first 54 games, starting in 40 of them. He had six multiple hit games during that time, including on May 23, when he hit two singles and two doubles, scoring twice in a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Hall went 33-for-147 as an Astro, drawing eight walks and striking out 55 times. He hit seven doubles, two triples, and two home runs with 13 RBI, scoring 18 runs and stealing one-of-two attempted bases. In the field, he appeared exclusively at second base, taking 324 innings and making four errors for a .976 fielding percentage. On June 4, the Astros released him.

Hall signed with the San Francisco Giants a week later, and hit .158 in 16 games through the remainder of the season. In 2012, he played in another seven major league contests as a member of the Baltimore Orioles, going two-for-nine from the plate. It was his last major league service time.

On September 5, 2019, Hall signed a one-day contract to retire as a Milwaukee Brewer.

I was just a small-town country boy with Major League dream. The Brewers gave me an opportunity to live those dreams. The organization and fans welcomed me like family, and that is what we became. Retiring as a Brewer could not feel better or happen any other way. - Hall, as quoted in fox6now.com

646. Philip Humber is a six-foot-three right-handed pitcher from Nacogdoches, TX. Born on December 21, 1982, he was a 29th-round choice of the New York Yankees in 2001 out of high school. Three years later, he went in the first round to the New York Mets out of Rice University, with the third overall pick.

Humber reached the majors with the Mets in 2006, and pitched in five major league games for the team that drafted him over two seasons, totaling nine innings. He later played in 13 games at the major league level over the next two seasons with the Minnesota Twins, totaling 20 ²⁄₃ innings. In 2010, he played in another eight games, totaling 21 ²⁄₃ innings for the Kansas City Royals.

All of these very tiny sample sizes mean that Humber played five seasons in the majors before busting his rookie status. In 2011 and 2012, he joined the Chicago White Sox, and made 42 starts in the rotation. He was 14-14 with 201 K’s in 265 innings, along with a 4.79 ERA and a 1.317. Included during that time was the 21st perfect game in major league history, on April 21, 2012. On November 30, 2012, the Astros selected Humber off waivers from Chicago.

Humber started the 2013 season as Houston’s de facto number three starter, and took seven turns before getting removed. On April 14, he had his best start, striking out four in seven innings, and allowing two runs on seven hits and one walk in a 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on April 14. He followed that up with maybe the worst pitching performance by an Astro ever, when he racked up a GameScore of 2 by allowing eight earned runs on eight hits and a walk in ¹⁄₃ of an inning in an eventual 19-6 loss to the Cleveland Indians on April 20.

Through those aforementioned seven turns, Humber was 0-7 with an 8.82 ERA. On May 9, in his first relief appearance of the season, he struck out three over 1 ¹⁄₃ hitless innings in a 6-5 loss to the Angels. It was his only appearance out of 15 during the season over ¹⁄₃ of an inning in which nobody scored. Incidentally, Houston was 1-16 in his appearances through the season.

Over his 17 games for the Astros, Humber was 0-8 with a 7.90 ERA. In 54 ²⁄₃ innings, he had a 1.738 WHIP and a 5.9 K/9. He was granted free agency following the season, but only appeared in the minor leagues after his time in Space City.

645. Yorman Bazardo is a six-foot-two right-handed pitcher from Maracay, VA. Born on July 11, 1984, he was initially a part of the Florida Marlins farm system in 2002. He reached the majors with the Marlins in 2005, but allowed five runs in 1 ²⁄₃ innings in his only appearance, in relief on May 26 in a 12-4 loss to the New York Mets.

After spending 2006 in the minors for the Seattle Mariners, Bazarod joined the Detroit Tigers system. He appeared in 14 games for the Big Cats between 2007 and 2008, going 2-1 with a 4.73 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 26 ²⁄₃ innings.

On April 6, 2009, Bazardo signed with the Astros for the minimum. Through the first four months of the season, he played in the Pacific Coast League with the Triple-A Round Rock Express, going 9-6 with a 3.20 ERA and a 1.133 WHIP. In August, he joined the Astros, initially pitching out of the bullpen. In two appearances between August 13 and 15, he pitched 4 ¹⁄₃ hitless innings, striking out three and allowing only a walk. On September 11, he struck out the side in a perfect ninth in a 9-1 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Of his 10 appearances with Houston, six were starts. Going by GameScore, his best was on September 28, when he struck out four and gave up two runs on two hits and four walks over 5 ²⁄₃ innings in an 8-2 win against the Philadelphia Phillies. It was his only win of the season, and the last of his major league career.

Although his affiliated career was at a close, Bazardo continued to pitch professionally in independent ball in the United States, and also in national leagues in Mexico, Venezuela, and Italy.

644. Reymin Guduan is a six-foot-four left-handed pitcher from San Pedro de Macoris, DR. Born on March 16, 1992, he joined the Astros at their Rookie-level Dominican affiliate in 2010.

Guduan appeared extensively for Houston at every level of their system over the next seven seasons. In 2017, he joined the Astros for the first time on May 31, making his major league debut in a 17-6 win against the Minnesota Twins. He struck out two and allowed a run in two innings.

By leverage and by WPA, Guduan’s best appearance of the season was on June 5 against Kansas City. He inherited runners on the corners with nobody out, along with a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning from Mike Fiers. Guduan induced an infield lineout to Alex Bregman then struck out Brandon Moss on five pitches before giving way to James Hoyt. Houston eventually won, 7-3.

Guduan pitched in 22 games for the Astros, striking out 16 in as many innings. He allowed 14 runs, all earned, on 24 hits and 12 walks for a 2.250 WHIP. In 2018, he pitched in three games for Houston, striking out four in 3 ¹⁄₃ innings and allowing one baserunner (a solo home run) for a 0.300 WHIP.

In 2019, Guduan pitched in another seven games for Houston, striking out six in 5 ¹⁄₃ innings. He also gave up seven runs on eight hits (including three home runs) and four walks, finishing the year with a 11.81 ERA and a 2.250 WHIP.

After being granted free agency by the Astros following the 2019 season, Guduan signed on with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but didn’t appear for them when the minor league season was eliminated and the major league season was curtailed. He later spent the 2021 season in the Oakland A’s organization.

643. Mark Small was a six-foot-three right-handed pitcher from Portland, OR. Born on November 12, 1967, he was originally a 59th-round selection of the Kansas City Royals in 1987 out of high school. He didn’t sign, instead going to college. In 1989, the Astros chose him in the 17th round out of Washington State University.

In 1991, Small pitched to a 1.61 ERA and 44 K’s in 44 ²⁄₃ innings with the High-A Osceola Astros. By 1996, in Triple-A with the Tucson Toros, he pitched to a 1.282 WHIP in 39 innings, with a 2.08 ERA. He also joined Houston twice during the season, including his inclusion on the Opening Day roster.

It started out pretty bad for Small. How bad you ask? In his third appearance, he gave up seven runs in three innings and his ERA went down to 11.25, so, that bad.

But to his credit, Small shook it off, and allowed runs in only three of his next 12 appearances with Houston. On August 12, he struck out three over 2 ²⁄₃ shutout innings in an 8-1 loss to the Montreal Expos.

Overall, Small pitched in 16 games for Houston, striking out 16 in 24 ¹⁄₃ innings. He allowed 23 runs (16 earned) on 33 hits and 13 walks for a 1.890 WHIP and a 5.92 ERA. In 1997, Small appeared in 44 games in relief between Houston’s Triple-A American Association affiliate, the New Orleans Zephyrs, and their Double-A Texas League affiliate, the Jackson Generals. He struck out 47 in 52 ¹⁄₃ innings, and went 4-5 with a 3.61 ERA.

Small passed away of reasons undisclosed on October 22, 2013.

642. J.C. Hartman is a six-foot shortstop from Cottonton, AL. Born on April 15, 1934, he got his start in professional baseball in 1955 when the Chicago Cubs purchased his contract along with George Altman’s and Lou Johnson’s from the Kansas City Monarchs.

Hartman began 1956 with the Magic Valley Cowboys, a C-level affiliate in the Chicago Cubs farm. In 1961, he hit .259 with the Houston Buffs in the American Association for the Cubs. The Buffs discontinued operations when Houston opened the 1962 season with a major league team. Coincidentally, Hartman was returned to Houston by the Cubs.

Hartman started the 1962 season at Houston’s Triple-A team, the San Antonio Bullets, and played in 67 games. He hit .306 with 24 RBI, and joined the Colt .45s on July 21. On July 29, he went two-for-four in the second game of a twin-bill, both singles and the first hits of his major league career. On August 18, again in the second game of a doubleheader, he had the first three-hit game of his career, with a double and two singles in a 6-5 loss to the Cubs.

Hartman played in 51 of Houston’s final 67 games of the 1962 season. He was 33-for-148 with five doubles and five RBI, scoring 11 runs and stealing one base in two chances. He drew four walks and struck out 16 times. Defensively, Hartman made six errors in 358 innings at shortstop for a .972 fielding percentage, significantly better than the league average at the position.

In 1963, Hartman opened the season with the Colts proper, playing in 39 of Houston’s first 79 games. Overall, he was 11-for-90 with one double and three RBI, with two walks and 13 strikeouts. In 213 ¹⁄₃ innings at the six, Hartman made six errors for a .950 fielding percentage.

641. Pedro Martínez (no not that one) is a six-foot-two left-handed pitcher from Villa Mella, DR. Born on November 29, 1968, he started his professional career in 1987 in the San Diego Padres system. By 1993, he was with the Friars at the major league level, and appeared in 80 games for them between 1993 and 1994.

With San Diego, Martínez was 6-3 with a 2.73 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 105 ¹⁄₃ innings. He had a 1.301 WHIP and a 4.30 FIP with a 152 ERA+. On December 28, 1994, the Padres sent Martínez with Derek Bell, Doug Brocail, Ricky Gutierrez, Phil Plantier and Craig Shipley to the Houston Astros for Ken Caminiti, Andujar Cedeno, Steve Finley, Roberto Petagine, Brian Williams, and PTBNL Sean Fesh.

Martínez pitched in relief for Houston on opening day, which was April 26 due to the work stoppage. He allowed a run in ²⁄₃ of an inning in a 10-2 loss to the Padres. Although he finished his time with Houston with a 0-0 record and zero saves, he was somewhat credited (by WPA) with a victory on June 16. He came out of the pen in the bottom of the 12th with the game tied at 3, with one out and a runner on third against the New York Mets. After inducing a groundout from Rico Brogna and intentionally walking Bobby Bonilla, he got Joe Orsulak to fly out to preserve the tie. Houston eventually won, 7-5 in 16 innings.

Overall, Martínez posted a 7.40 ERA in 25 games for Houston. In 20 ²⁄₃ innings, he struck out 17 and walked 16, and posted a 2.177 WHIP. After the 1995 season, Martínez was traded back to San Diego by the Astros for Ray Holbert.

Martinez didn’t play for the Padres again, instead later appearing with the Mets (0-0, 6.43 in seven innings over five games) and the Cincinnati Reds (1-1, 8.38, 9 ²⁄₃ IP).

640. Dick Simpson is a six-foot-four right-handed outfielder from Washington D.C. Born on July 28, 1943, Simpson started his pro baseball career in 1961 with the D-level Statesville Owls, in the Los Angeles Angels system. In 1962, he made his first major league appearance with the Halos.

Simpson appeared in 35 games over parts of three seasons with the Angels (.176/.276/.282, two home runs, eight RBI), and also played for the Cincinnati Reds (136 games, .246/.335/.391, five home runs, 20 RBI) and the St. Louis Cardinals (26 games, .232/.323/.393, three home runs, eight RBI). On June 15, 1968, the Cards traded Simpson with Hal GIlson to the Astros for Ron Davis.

Simpson opened 1968 on Houston’s big league roster, and entered Opening Day as a pinch-runner in the bottom of the ninth, scoring the walk-off run on a Dave Ricketts single in a 2-1 win over the Atlanta Braves. In his 59 appearances through the season with Hosuton, he had 11 multiple-base hits. Despite his standing on this countdown, and his “worth” coming in at 1.1 wins below replacement, Simpson’s WPA for the season was nearly an entire win, 0.970 to be exact. This can be boiled down to one very noteworthy fact buried in his single-game performances, and that is he had WPA over .200 on five occasions, but zero with a WPA lower than -.154.

On July 21, in the first game of a doubleheader versus the San Francisco Giants, Simpson singled and scored the game-tying run in the sixth, then singled in the eventual game-winning run in the 10th, driving in Bob Aspromonte in a 2-1 decison. Five days later, again versus the Giants, Simpson was once again the game hero. He doubled in the first, opened the scoring with an RBI-single in the fifth, then doubled and scored in the eighth in a 4-1 win over San Francisco.

In 59 games with Houston, Simpson was 33-for-177 for a .186 average. He collected seven doubles, two triples, and three homers with 11 RBI. He stole four bases in eight attempts, and drew 20 walks versus 61 strikeouts. Defensively, he totaled 421 innings in the outfield, 177 in right, 124 in left, and 120 in center. He made two errors in left, but was mistake free in right and center. After the 1968 season, the Astros traded Simpson to the New York Yankees for Dooley Womack.

Simpson was three-for-11 in six games with the Bombers, and later in the season appeared in 26 games with the Seattle Pilots, hitting .176.

639. Juan Pizarro was a five-foot-11 left-handed pitcher from Santurce, PR. Born on February 7, 1937, he started his pro career in 1956 with the Jacksonville Twins, the Milwaukee Braves Class-A affiliate.

Pizarro reached the majors with the Braves in 1957, and eventually played in four seasons with them (23-19, one save, 3.93, 444 ¹⁄₃ IP), later also playing with the Chicago White Sox (75-47, seven saves, 3.05, 1037 ¹⁄₃ IP, two All-Star selections), the Pittsburgh Pirates (10-12, nine saves, 3.55, 142 IP), the Boston Red Sox (6-9, four saves, 3.78, 116 ²⁄₃ IP), the Cleveland Indians (3-3, four saves, 3.16, 82 ²⁄₃ IP), the Oakland Athletics (1-1, one save, 2.35, 7 ²⁄₃ IP) and the Chicago Cubs (11-12, two saves, 3.89, 180 ¹⁄₃ IP).

On July 8, 1973, Pizarro’s contract was purchased from the North-siders by Houston. As it was late in Pizarro’s career, he didn’t have the same results he had enjoyed in seasons’ past, as opponents slashed .301/.381/.409. He struck out 10 in 23 ¹⁄₃ innings for the Astros, walking 11, allowing 28 hits and 17 runs for a 6.56 ERA and a 1.671 WHIP. Still, it wasn’t all bad. On July 27, he came out of the bullpen in the fifth inning, and pitched through the end of the game, collecting 15 outs and allowing no runs on four hits and a walk for a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. SABR Bio

Pizarro was released by Houston in April 1974. He then signed on for a second tour with the Pirates, pitching to a 1.88 ERA in 24 innings of work.

638. Larry Yellen was a five-foot-11 right-handed pitcher from Brooklyn, NY. Born on January 4, 1943, he began his baseball career in 1963 with the San Antonio Bullets in the Double-A Texas League.

Yellen reached the majors with the Houston Colt .45s at the age of 20 in 1963. In the 159th game of the season, he earned no-decision in a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. For his part, Yellen struck out three over five innings, allowing four runs (but only two earned) on seven hits and a walk. It was his only appearance that season.

In 1964, Yellen had 13 pitching appearances scattered from April through October. His only start was on July 14 in the first game of a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds.Yellen allowed four runs (again with two of them earned) on five hits and two walks in 3 ²⁄₃ innings in a 6-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

Overall, Yellen struck out nine in 21 innings, walking 10 and allowing 19 runs (16 earned) on 27 hits. He ended with a 6.86 ERA and a 1.762 WHIP.

That’s it for Chapter XXIV, now 338 down and 637 to go. Tune in tomorrow for another 13 players in the fourth bracket of Astros, between 101 and 500 BF/PA, and with bWAR between negative-0.0051 and negative-0.0045.

Astros Crawfish Boil: November 17, 2023

Welcome to the Friday Boil and the 24th chapter of the Everystros Countdown.

Astros Crawfish Boil: December 8, 2023

Dylan Coleman Offers Intriguing Upside

The Astros get a new back-up catcher: Is this the best use of resources?

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Astros Crawfish Boil: November 17, 2023

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Welcome to the Friday Boil and the 24th chapter of the Everystros Countdown.

Astros Crawfish Boil: December 8, 2023

Dylan Coleman Offers Intriguing Upside

The Astros get a new back-up catcher: Is this the best use of resources?

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