Went to Dell Diamond last night for the game against Omaha. With the exception of Mayfield, I don't think there's anybody left in Round Rock who will be useful to the big club this year. Specific observations:
1. Framber started, and his control was no better than his last few starts in Houston, and possibly worse. There were at least five pitches where he almost hit right-handed batters in the feet. A couple of them actually went *behind* the batters. He gave up 5 runs in 3.1 or 3.2 innings. He struck out 6 mostly because the Omaha hitters don't know what to do with his curve. He also walked 5. Sound familiar?
2. Tucker was at 1st base, hopefully showcasing his versatility for a trade. Except that he's pretty awkward over there. And this is probably unfair and a function of my preexisting prejudices, but he just seems to exude a teenager's sense of "It's not fair! i should be in Houston!" Jogging here, shuffling there, just lousy body language. He went 0-4, and on a couple of ground ball outs he didn't even make it half-way to 1st before he was thrown out, just shuffling along like Festus or something. If he can be traded for a real pitcher, I'll be ecstatic.
3. Correa made a fine diving grab of a ball up the middle in a drawn-in infield, and threw the guy out from the seat of his pants. His night at the plate was meh, with only one reasonably hard-hit ball that wound up as a fly ball out in RCF. And 4 LOBsters, so he should be able to hit the ground running when he returns to the Astros on Friday.
4. McCormick (CF) made an outstanding diving grab going to his right on the warning track. Almost Marisnickian.
5. This was the first time I've seen Jones (he was in LF). He needs more work, but he could be interesting.
6. Rojas was at DH, and went 2-4. He seems small, but it's hard to argue with the numbers he's putting up: .321/.411/.614 in 47 games and 184 ABs at Round Rock. And after looking up his size, he's not actually that small: 6'1", 195 lbs, according to MiLB. So he could be interesting, too.
7. SuperJack deposited a ball nearly on the walkway behind the berm in LCF.
8. Valdez and Bostick and were painful to watch on the mound. What we once thought was an overflowing garden of pitching now looks much less promising. Scheetz's numbers for the night look better than he did.
9. No sign of Fisher. Where is he?
10. It was a beautiful night at the park. Temperature was 90 or 91, the humidity was down, and it was just downright pleasant. The only downside was missing Baggy in the booth.