December 15, 2003
Editor’s note – This is the seventh in a series of installments of the annual Minor Opinions Prospect Report, an OWA exclusive.
Greg Powell
DOB: 8/26/78. Ht.: 6-4. Wt.: 200. Bats: R. Throws: R. Acquired: Went undrafted out of Temple University. Signed out of the independent Frontier League (8/14/01).
Spring Training Comments:
N/A.
Update:
Powell put together a nice season for Round Rock, first as a reliever and then as a starter over the latter half of the season. The sinkerballer had a 3.93 ERA in his 18 starts but that’s a little bit misleading: in 13 of those games he went at least 6 innings and his ERA in those contests was just 2.11. Management saw enough to their liking that they sent the indy league refugee to that finishing league for prospects, the Arizona Fall League. Greg certainly didn’t embarrass himself there, going 2-2 in 8 starts with a 3.69 ERA. He whiffed 17 and showed impressive control with just one free pass in 31.2 innings of AFL work.
The former Temple Owl largely makes the list primarily due to his AFL selection and performance as we’re not particularly high on Powell’s upside. But a guy who goes undrafted and then makes it into Organized Baseball via the independent leagues, pitching well enough along the way to at least sniff “prospect” status, is someone you almost have to root for.
Greg should join a Zephyr starting pitching staff in ’04 that, like many other of the starting rotations at each of the Houston affiliates, is looking increasingly strong. At Nawlins, Taylor Buchholz, Chad Qualls, D.J. Houlton, Doug Sessions, and Powell look to be members of an underrated starting group that might make a whole lotta noise before it’s all over.
Chad Qualls
DOB: 8/17/78. Ht.: 6-5. Wt.: 205. Bats: R. Throws: R. Acquired: 2nd-round pick in 2000 draft out of the U of Nevada.
Spring Training Comments:
Damn but this guy was frustrating to watch during the 2002 season at Round Rock…rarely do you see a pitcher who can dominate one moment and then out of nowhere just lose it, or start out looking completely lost and then magically find the ability to make hitters look like dolts…the guess here is that in the 29 starts Qualls made in 2002 he gave up 80% of his runs in fewer than 15-20 total innings…had to be a frustrating year for Qualls, as well as his W-L record was almost the mirror image of his rotation mate Nick Roberts despite Qualls actually out-pitching Roberts in most measures (H/IP, K/IP, HR/IP, etc.)…clearly has the stuff to succeed in the majors…works a tight little slider off of a very nasty low-90s sinker, a pitch that induces lots of ground balls…but he has to keep the ball low in the zone, otherwise his fastball is straight as an arrow and he’ll get beat all over the yard…sent to the Arizona Fall League in 2002 to continue working on the mechanical consistency to keep the ball low in the zone, pretty much saw a repeat of his AA performance – dominant one moment, speed bag the next…we’re beginning to get the creeping suspicion that the ultimate destination for Qualls is the bullpen…could very easily be wrong about that, though, and feel certain he’ll continue to get the opportunity to start and earn his way into the Houston rotation…but unless his finds more consistency it seems a stretch to think he’ll survive going through a major league batting order more than once or twice…at age 24 for almost the whole of the 2003 season, probably a candidate for a repeat year at Round Rock…confidence gained by a successful second stint in AA would likely do wonders for him and put him back on track for a run at an Astro rotation spot in the near future.
Update:
Qualls didn’t exactly pitch well during the 1st half of 2003 with an ERA near 5.50, particularly disappointing for a guy repeating the Texas League. Things began to click in the 2nd half though: over his last 11 starts, Qualls had a 1.94 ERA in 79 innings with a none too shabby 75:20 strikeout to walk ratio. Overall for the season, Chad finished 10th in the league in ERA (3.85), 1st in shutouts (2), 1st in complete games (3), 5th in strikeouts (132) and 2nd in innings pitched (175.1).
The latter half of the season illustrated the importance of control for Qualls in making him a better pitcher. He reduced his walk rate from 3.75 per 9 IP in his first 17 starts of the year to 2.28 per 9 IP over those final 11 games.
Qualls remains on one of the Astros top starting pitching prospects. He’ll begin 2004 in the Zephyr starting rotation. If he shows the continued ability to throw strikes, then he should be high on the list for call-up if a starter on the big club goes down. Chad might also get called on for a relief role as well.
Santiago Ramirez
DOB: 8/15/78. Ht.: 5-11. Wt.: 190. Bats: R. Throws: R. Acquired: Signed as non-drafted free agent (6/26/97) from Bonao, Dominican Republic.
Spring Training Comments:
Santiago Ramirez and Miguel Saladin of the 2002 Round Rock Express were reminiscent of the pair of doodle bugs in the movie “A Bug’s Life”: nobody can understand a damn thing the pair says but they move quickly, talk quickly, gesticulate wildly and are rather amusing…Ramirez is the better prospect of the two, primarily because of being three years younger, but both guys throw in the low-90s and are combative as all hell…Ramirez is expected to start the year in New Orleans but we can easily see him joining the Astro bullpen early in the season.
Update:
Suffering from what was reported as a back injury, Ramirez’s 2003 season was basically derailed and he compiled a total of 18 less than impressive innings last year. He’s currently toiling with Aguilas in the Dominican Winter League, trying to regain strength and the form which led to his being considered for the Houston bullpen last year.
If healthy and throwing as well as he did in 2001-2002, Ramirez will again get consideration for work at the Juice Box sometime during 2004.
Levi Romero
DOB: 4/12/84. Ht.: 6-5. Wt.: 185. Bats: R. Throws: R. Acquired: Signed as non-drafted free agent (11/4/00) from Anzoategui, Venezuela.
Spring Training Comments:
From the way on down the line vault- a big kid who has a lot of projection but a long way to go from the Dominican League.
Update:
See the above and substitute Rookie League for DSL.
Romero throws in the low-90s and gets good downward angle on the fastball but he’s still learning the craft/art of pitching. Will likely return to Martinsville again for the 2004 season.
Rodrigo Rosario
DOB: 3/14/78. Ht.: 6-2. Wt.: 165. Bats: R. Throws: R. Acquired: Signed as non-drafted free agent (7/6/96) from La Romana, Dominican Republic.
Spring Training Comments:
During the first two months of 2002, Rosario was practically matching the amazing run of Kirk Saarloos at AA Round Rock prior to coming down with a stiff arm during July…never disabled for the injury but didn’t really get over it as he finished the season on an up or down note, never fully regaining consistency…another stringbean who, like many from his native Dominican Republic, whips the ball to the plate from a low, three-quarters arm angle…able to get the ball to the plate consistently in the low 90s and his ball runs very nicely…right-handed hitters in particular had difficulty picking up his pitches…can use some work on his off-speed pitches and location but clearly has the ability to miss bats and that bodes well for his chances in the future…over the last two seasons, has thrown 277.1 innings and allowed only 211 hits with but 13 of those being HRs…the concern is that Rosario’s arm may be worse off than the club is letting on…strikeout rates dipped at the end of the Texas League season and he only threw three innings of winter ball in the Dominican, where he got blasted all over the yard and had very little control in his brief appearances…as someone with a 40-man roster spot, though, one can be assured that if there were anything diagnosable he’d have already gone under the knife…hopefully surgery will not be necessary and Rosario will return to health and form as soon as possible…if healthy, he could be a very important piece of insurance as he’s got the ability to be a quality pitcher on the major league level.
Update:
Yes, we do happen to be aware that Rodrigo is (a) unsigned and (b) unlikely to pitch in 2004. As far as the first issue, given the major surgery involved it’s unlikely another organization will make a bid for the skinny righty. With the Astros having already indicated they do wish to re-sign him to a minor league contract, we therefore believe Rosario will remain Astros’ property.
Rodrigo’s recovery from the surgery is the harder question to answer. When they went in to repair the torn rotator cuff, the surgeons also found a torn labrum and biceps tendon. Quite the trifecta. We can only speculate, but the respective tears must not have been too terribly bad or the Astros would not have expressed interest in keeping him (a significant tear to the labrum is particularly nasty to recover from). Until we get more definitive rehab reports, we’ve chosen to leave Rosario on the prospect list.
Miguel Saladin
DOB: 5/22/75. Ht.: 5-11. Wt.: 200. Bats: R. Throws: R. Acquired: Signed as non-drafted free agent (12/1/95) from San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic (didn’t begin pitching until 1997).
Spring Training Comments:
See Santiago Ramirez.
Update:
Saladin had an effective season with the Zephyrs in 2003 but he was outrighted by the Astros and thus is available in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft (he wasn’t selected).
Miguel’s velocity somewhat slipped from 2002-2003, as did his K rate. But he still limits the number of hits against quite well and may yet have a future in a major league bullpen. With the number of quality arms added in the 2004 off-season by the Astros, though, it may not be with Houston’s.
Chris Sampson
DOB: 5/23/78. Ht.: 6-0. Wt.: 170. Bats: R. Throws: R. Acquired: 8th-round pick in 1999 draft out of Texas Tech (retired after 1999 season and then re-signed in 2003).
Spring Training Comments:
N/A.
Update:
The “where the heck did he come from?” story of 2003. Sampson was drafted back in 1999 as a shortstop and played there at Auburn, the Astros’ then-NY Penn League affiliate. After batting just .239 that first year, the Channel View native (who had been trying to maintain a long-distance relationship) retired in part to get married. Chris, who’s also a very religious young man, was out of baseball for the next three seasons.
Sampson, who had been doing some coaching, decided this past winter he wanted to get back to playing ball. But this time ’round he wanted to be a hurler, not an infielder. Chris, who had also done some pitching for the Red Raiders where he was a teammate of current Astros’ minor leaguer Brandon Roberson, set up a workout with the Astros at MMPUS. He made an impression and, after a stint in extended spring training, was assigned to Lexington.
Chris started out pitching from the bully for the Legends and did the same when promoted to Salem for a short period. Reassigned to Lex, Sampson joined the starting rotation in mid-June. After a couple of games in shakedown mode, the former Texas Techster put up the following numbers over his last 12 starts of the season: only 48 hits allowed in 68.2 IP with a teeny-tiny 0.52 ERA and a 50:9 K to W ratio. Sampson finished the regular season with a string of 37.2 consecutive innings without giving up an earned run (he gave up 2 earnies in 6 IP in his lone playoff start). Not bad for a guy with zero professional pitching experience on his resume prior to the season.
Sampson’s age (26 early in the 2004 season) and extreme success at Lex argues for jumping him up to AA to join the Round Rock starting rotation at the beginning of next season. However, his lack of pitching experience might argue a return to Salem. Like many an aspiring starting pitcher, further development of a changeup will go a long way in deciding his future.
Manny Santillan
DOB: 8/20/79. Ht.: 6-0. Wt.: 200. Bats: R. Throws: R. Acquired: Signed as non-drafted free agent (10/6/96) from La Romana, Dominican Republic (didn’t begin pitching until 2000).
Spring Training Comments:
Was eating the Sally League for lunch prior to coming down with an injury and having to shut it down for the remainder of the year…originally signed by the Astros as a catcher…not an overpowering pitcher but he’s not a pure junkballer, either…what he does is throw strikes while getting good movement on the ball so hitters don’t get many good swings off of him…in two years with Lexington, has thrown 192.2 innings and allowed only 156 hits…long-term may not be a candidate for a rotation spot in Houston…if he returns healthy next year, he’s a good candidate for the rotation in Salem and eventually he’s got the potential to be a solid bullpen guy.
Update:
Manny suffered a stress reaction in his right forearm while starting the Sally League All-Star game in 2002 and has not quite been the same since. As a reward for work well done with Lexington, the Astros sent him two rungs up the ladder to Round Rock to begin the 2003 season. It proved a disaster. He was quickly demoted to high-A Salem and he never found his groove from the Avs bullpen.
Santillan is now a six-year minor league free agent but we expect him to re-up with the Astros. Should he be able to find the formula for success he possessed with Lexington, we still believe he can be a serviceable bullpen performer. We expect him to remain with Salem for the beginning of 2004.
Doug Sessions
DOB: 9/28/76. Ht.: 6-1. Wt.: 210. Bats: R. Throws: R. Acquired: 13th-round pick in 1998 draft out of Armstrong Atlantic State University.
Spring Training Comments:
N/A.
Update:
The next J-Rob? Umm….no. But there is some similarity between the two pitchers. Both kicked around the Astros’ minors for five or six seasons, pitching good but not great. But then comes the breakthough season at the AAA level. For Jeriome Robertson, that season was 2002 when he led the Pacific Coast League with a 2.55 ERA. Sessions’ had his career year in 2003 for New Orleans, as his 2.92 ERA ranked 2nd-best in the PCL.
So does Sessions parley his breakthrough 2003 season with the Zephyrs into a starting job with the Astros in 2004 a la Jeriome this past season? Not unless Roy, Carlos and a whole slew of others either can’t recover from or fall victim to injuries. But Doug will provide nice insurance all the same.
Rory Shortell
DOB: 3/3/81. Ht.: 6-3. Wt.: 205. Bats: R. Throws: R. Acquired: 3rd-round in 2002 draft out of San Diego State.
Spring Training Comments:
Originally selected out of high school by the Boston Red Sox in the fourth round of the 1999 draft…the moratorium on signing high draft choices, which was later retracted by McLane after the threat of a player strike fell by the wayside, caused Shortell to be signed too late to throw in the system during 2002…described by Astro staff as reminiscent of a young Shane Reynolds, a guy with very good control and major league stuff…also somewhat like Reynolds in that he is solidly put together and one of his hobbies is working out consistently…particularly of note is his leg strength…college coaches noted his lack of fear about coming inside on hitters, despite the goofy bats they use in NCAA games, and that bodes well for a young pitcher…has a 92-93 MPH fastball that has alternately been described as “exploding” or being “heavy”, scout-speak for being ‘difficult to get good wood on’…it’s also somewhat interesting to note that Rory’s mother and father were both competitive basketball players, his mother on the collegiate level (St. John’s) and his father on the semi-pro level…will probably get his first assignment with Salem and, of all the pitchers selected by Houston in the 2002 draft, will be the quickest to move up the ladder.
Update:
Shortell suffered a slightly torn ACL in his knee and thus missed, yet again, an opportunity to show what he can do with his 92-93 MPH fastball and advanced feel for pitching. The Astros thought highly enough of this young man to take him in the third round in the 2002 draft and, thankfully, nothing is wrong with his arm. Look for him to get another chance to crack the Salem rotation.
Ernnie Sinclair
DOB: 4/2/79. Ht.: 6-0. Wt.: 190. Bats: R. Throws: R. Acquired: Signed as non-drafted free agent (2/11/98) from Bluefields, Nicaragua.
Spring Training Comments:
Followed up a ho-hum season with Pittsfield in 2001 with an All-Star campaign with Lexington in 2002…another slightly built right-hander in the system, Sinclair is not in the class of gas with a lot of the other guys but he is deceptive and has a good feel for pitching…there are divergent opinions of Sinclair, with one observer saying he thinks Ernnie has room for physical development and may eventually have an above-average fastball but the other was not so optimistic…just have to wait and see…will play all of 2003 as a 22-year old and is likely to join the Salem staff.
Update:
In what has to be seen as a set-back year for Sinclair, his promotion to Salem did not go well and upon returning to Lexington he did not pitch as well from the bullpen as he had in primarily starting during the 2002 season.
His long-term prognosis should be foretold in where he is assigned for the 2004 season. In early April Sinclair will turn 25 years of age and he’s had no success above low-A baseball. If he’s not assigned to Salem or higher, chances are he’s got little-to-no future. If he is assigned to Salem or Round Rock and does well, he still has a chance at being useful to the Astros.
Mitch Talbot
DOB: 10/17/83. Ht.: 6-2. Wt.: 185. Bats: R. Throws: R. Acquired: 2nd-round pick in 2002 draft out of Canyon View HS (Cedar City, UT).
Spring Training Comments:
A guy who went from being nowhere on the scouting map after his junior year of high school to someone possessing one of the best HS arms in the country by the end of his senior campaign…was nearly lost last August when Houston found out it was only days instead of a month until he was going to begin classes at Dixie Junior College (home of fellow Astro draftee and DFE candidate, OF Tyson Olson)…the scramble was on and a deal was struck though the lateness of it prevented Talbot from pitching this past season…has exceptional arm speed and a nice, compact motion that does not look to pose much of a threat of strain on his arm…somewhat physically immature so it’ll be interesting to see what impact this has on him over the next couple of years…fastball is very, very lively and sits in the 93 MPH range and his curveball approaches true Lord Charles status as it has solid depth to it…but we must remember that this is a kid who just turned 19 and does not have a gob of experience…reports from the FIL were that Talbot was very impressive…however, given that the Astros aren’t noted for aggressiveness in promoting pitchers unless they simply blow people away, it seems most probable Mitch will report to Tri-City in 2003.
Update:
Though Jimmy Barthmaier and Chance Douglass might disagree, Talbot is arguably the best of the age 20-and-under Astros pitchers. It was a pretty dominant pro debut season for Mitch: stingy with the hits, he gave up just one longball in his 54 innings of work. Throw out 2 mediocre outings and his ERA over his other 10 starts was 1.83 with 36 hits allowed in 48.1 IP. Appy League managers were impressed enough to name Talbot the 12th-best prospect in the league.
Command of his pitches in the strike zone and shortening his delivery to the plate are a couple of the things Mitch still needs to work on. Talbot does have an effective changeup for a third pitch so he definitely projects as a starting pitcher. Look for him in the Lexington rotation next season.
Alan Vergara
DOB: 6/24/84. Ht.: 5-11. Wt.: 200. Bats: R. Throws: R. Acquired: Signed as non-drafted free agent (10/17/00) from Panama City, Panama.
Spring Training Comments:
N/A.
Update:
Yet another short guy who has a power arm. Reportedly he throws as high as 95-96 MPH with a decent curveball. Unfortunately he is a high-effort pitcher and his fastball does not show much life, just speed.
One has to be impressed by Vergara’s low walk rate but if Rookie League hitters are popping an above average fastball for a .265 batting average, something’s not right. Expect Dewey Robinson and crew to work some of their magic on this kid and let’s see if he can turn it around in another year of short-season ball.
Next week: System Pitcher & Player Of The Year