In addition to the usual Maximum Overdrive/Stuck in Neutral features highlighting players who were hot or cold at the end of the season, we’ve added the “Players We Were Watching” category to highlight the season-long performances that were most striking (both good and bad).RR Express
Team Results
85-59, 1st–PCL American South.
A 5-3 final week for the Express included taking three of four games from the Sounds in Nashville. That’s of note because Nashville is the first-round playoff opponent for RR. With an 11-5 record this season versus the Sounds, Round Rock should be able to fight their way through to the PCL Championship Series.
Players We Were Watching
With the usual Triple A roster chock full of veterans, there weren’t many players on the Express you could call prospects.
RHP Jason Hirsh was the best damn pitcher in the PCL and (knock on wood) should break camp next season as a member of the 25-man roster. RHP Chris Sampson had a fine season as well and, depending on how much upheaval there is on the pitching staff in the offseason, could join Hirsh as an Astro to start the season. 1B/C J.R. House hit a combined .345/.392/.521 with 105 RBIs at AA/AAA and it’ll be interesting to say the least to see what role he might play with the Astros next season. 2B Brooks Conrad was torrid at the end of the year (see below) and established career highs in just about every offensive category including doubles (40), triples (15), home runs (24), RBIs (94) and runs scored (100). Unfortunately, that also included strikeouts (135). It’d be nice to see Brooks get a shot with the Astros but that seems unlikely to happen and he may be moving on to greener pastures. Watching OF Charlton Jimerson whiff night after night on his way to 183 strikeouts was painful. Not that that stopped us from tracking it…
Maximum Overdrive
C/1B J.R. House. .412/.445/.675 in the 31 games since moving up to the Express.
INF Joe McEwing. Hit .381 (61-160) over his last 40 games that also included a 13-game hitting streak at the end of the year.
INF Brooks Conrad. Had a .353 batting average (18-51) with three doubles, nine yacks and 20 runs driven in over his final 14 games.
Stuck in Neutral
Nobody we’d care to discuss.
Broke Down/Under Repair
Nobody.
Among the PCL Leaders
- Conrad was 1st in extra-base hits, 1st in triples, 2nd in doubles, 6th in homers, 7th in RBIs and 1st in runs scored.
- INF Cody Ransom tied for 8th with 21 home runs.
- Jimerson tied with OF Mike Rodriguez for 7th in SBs (28).
- CJ, Conrad and OF Brian Gordon (106) ranked 1st, 3rd and 10th, respectively, in whiffing.
- Hirsh finished 1st in ERA (2.10), 2nd in WHIP (1.06) and 10th in strikeouts (118).
- Sampson was 2nd in ERA (2.51) and 1st in WHIP (0.99).
- RHP Travis Driskill (15) tied for 6th in saves and RHP Roberto Giron (13) tied for 10th.
- RHP Jared Gothreaux gave up the 10th-most gopher balls (19).
Miscellany
- Express hurlers finished second in the 16-team PCL with a 3.78 ERA.
- RR hitters belted out 170 home runs on the season, second only to Portland in the PCL.
- Hirsh was named 2006 PCL Pitcher of the Year in addition to being named to the league’s postseason All-Star team.
- The PCL MVP award went to 34-year old Scott McLain of Sacramento who hit .252/.313/.466 with 28 homers and 107 RBIs. Obviously we’re biased, but Conrad and his .267/.334/.534 season was undoubtly superior and Brooks should’ve have gotten the nod. Forget that RR had a superior record than Sacramento. Conrad bested McLain in every single offensive category with the exception of longballs and RBIs. And Brooks’ 24 yacks and 94 runs driven in weren’t exactly chicken shit in those categories.
- 1B Royce Huffman returned Friday night after missing six and a half weeks with the hand injury. He was hitless in a PH appearance, but went 5-13 in the subsequent three games.
- The game Friday night saw the Express trailing Nashville 5-0 after seven innings with a perfect game being thrown at them. But House led off the 8th with a single and C Eric Munson followed with his first longball in an Express uniform. With the deficit narrowed to three runs, RR came up big in the 9th inning scoring five runs and hung on for amazing 7-5 comeback victory. Munson also had the big blow in the 9th, another 2-run shot.
Team Results
35-35, 3rd (2nd half)–Texas League South. (76-63, Overall)
Granted the Hooks have been depleted by player moves, but the way the they played out the regular season doesn’t bode well for the playoffs. CC started the final week by losing twice more to Midland to complete a 4-game sweep by the RockHounds. The final series of the year was against SA, and the Hooks dropped three of five to the Missions to finish 2-5 on the week.
The RockHounds will be the opposition in the first round of the playoffs beginning Tuesday. Corpus had a 16-3 record against Midland at one point this season (which included 13 straight wins), but went just 2-7 against them over the final nine games played between the two.
Players We Were Watching
There were five players (not including the since-traded Mitch Talbot and Ben Zobrist) on the CC roster at the start of the season who had been in the Nolan Ryan Elite Camp the previous January. All of those players pretty much met (or in some cases exceeded) expectations during 2006. Hunter Pence tailed off a bit at the end of the season (see below) which turned what would have been a monster year into “only” a very good one. His .283/.357/.533 numbers and 95 RBIs were nothing to be ashamed of and defensively he was a bit of a surprise as he logged 13 outfield assists.
2B Jonny Ash and CF Josh Anderson were the other two Hooks’ position players who were at the Camp. Ash hit .314/.370/.403 this season to maintain his career .313 BA in three minor league seasons. The Stanford-ex is one of those scrappy, fundamentally-sound ballplayers you like to root for but with little pop and little speed he just doesn’t excite as a prospect. Neither does Anderson, whose .308/.349/.385 numbers this year were an improvement on his .282/.329/.353 season a year ago for CC but not enough of one to change our minds on the guy. He just doesn’t walk enough for a leadoff hitter and some more pop certainly wouldn’t hurt either.
Among the pitchers at the Elite Camp, RHP Matt Albers parleyed a phenomenal season with Corpus into a callup to the big leagues. RHP Paul Estrada made the jump from low-A ball, added a splitter and managed to nearly lead the Texas League in strikeouts despite operating out of the bullpen. Look for Estrada to be added to the 40-man roster this winter.
Though he wasn’t a Nolan Ryan invitee (presumably because of winter ball commitments in his native Venezuela), Juan Gutierrez is like Anderson already on the 40-man and proved why in 2006. Despite essentially skipping high-A ball and missing six weeks with arm fatigue, Guti would have finished 3rd in the league in the ERA but was eight innings shy of qualifying. If his arm’s okay (and the evidence at this point suggests it is), look for the 23 year-old Venezuelan to be in the Astros’ rotation at some point next season.
Not as ballyhoo’d as the Nolan Ryan guys, RHP Chance Douglass took the ERA crown in the Carolina League in 2005 and wasn’t far away from doing so in the Texas League this season. The Astros will again have to decide whether he merits a spot on the 40-man roster. The answer was no last year and he squeaked through the Rule 5 untouched. The answer this year may depend on just how much roster turnover there is in the offseason.
Maximum Overdrive
RHP Paul Estrada. Since the beginning of July, he’s had a 1.95 ERA in 24 games (32.1 IP). Paul (rhymes with “Raul”) ended up with an incredible 13.60 K/9 ratio on the season and a .191 BAA.
RHP Juan Gutierrez. Unscored on in the 14 innings he’s thrown since coming back from the tired arm, allowing just eight baserunners in the process while whiffing 11.
RHP Chad Reineke. Since being moved to the bullpen, the 24 year-old Ohio native has a 2.10 ERA and 0.82 WHIP with 29 strikeouts in 25.2 IP.
3B Mark Saccomanno. Hit .316 (37-117) with eleven longballs, three triples, five doubles and 31 RBIs over his last 32 games.
C Brian Peterson. The seven-year minor leaguer with the career .269 batting average hit .329/.369/.481 in the 24 games since joining the Hooks after his release by the Tigers organization.
Stuck in Neutral
LHP Carlos Hernandez. Bent, spindled and mutilated for 20 runs on 21 hits and 16 walks in just 14 innings of work for the Hooks.
OF Hunter Pence. The lanky one hit just .232 (29-125) with 4 longballs and 16 runs driven in over his last 35 games.
Broke Down/Under Repair
Nobody.
Among the Texas League Leaders
- House (.325), Ash and Anderson finished third, sixth and ninth, respectively, in batting average.
- Pence was 4th in homers (28), 5th in RBIs, 4th in slugging, 6th in OPS and tied for 2nd in triples (
. - Saccomanno tied for 7th in longballs with 20 while INF Josh Bonifay tied for 10th with 19.
- Ash was 10th in triples with 5.
- Pence (97) and Anderson (83) were 3rd and 7th, respectively, in runs scored.
- Anderson led in steals (43) but was also thrown out the most times (13).
- Albers claimed the ERA title (2.17) and finished second in WHIP (1.23).
- Douglass was 3rd in WHIP (1.24), 3rd in ERA (3.52), 10th in strikeouts (102), and led the league with two shutouts.
- RHP Josh Miller was 8th in ERA (4.14), tied for 9th in WHIP (1.34) and was 9th in strikeouts (103).
- Estrada was 2nd in the TL with 134 strikeouts while Guti (106) wound up 8th.
- Estrada finished in 4th place with 15 saves.
Miscellany
- The postseason Texas League All-Star team was dominated by Corpus Christi. Five of the sixteen spots (eight position players+”utility” player+DH+six pitchers) were filled by Hooks or former Hooks. Ash, Pence, Anderson, and Albers all made the team as did current Tampa Bay Devil Ray Zobrist.
- Albers was also selected as Texas League 2006 Pitcher of the Year.
- Dave Clark received Manager of the Year honors in the Texas League.
- RHP Ronnie Martinez, who had been bombed in his five previous starts, had his best outing of the year Friday night (8 IP 5 H 1 R 1 ER 0 W 8 K).
- With the bases loaded this season, Saccomanno was 4-5 with three grand slams and a double.
- The Missions slipped past in the final week to finish first in the Texas League with a 3.85 team ERA while the Hooks were 2nd at 3.92. The mound staff also finished 2nd in WHIP at 1.37 and were first in shutouts with 10.
- CC topped the league in team batting average at .279 but continued to lag in runs scored, finishing next to last.
Team Results
44-23, 1st (2nd Half)–Carolina League Southern. (76-61, Overall)
A 2-3 week for the Avalanche, with the W’s coming at the beginning of the week to extend the winning streak to 14 games. Once that streak was over, Salem started another streak and ended the regular season with three straight losses. The first round of the playoffs starts on Wednesday with 1st-half winner Kinston the opponent.
Players We Were Watching
The name of the game for this club was pitching. Of course, we could also say that about a number of the Astros’ affiliates but the Avalanche rivaled Greeneville as a club with a very solid mound crew “supported” by an anemic offense.
Salem’s starting rotation at the beginning of the year consisted of LHP Troy Patton along with RHPs Jimmy Barthmaier, Felipe Paulino, Chad Reineke and Evan Englebrook. Reineke put up better numbers than the more highly-touted Patton/Barthmaier/Paulino triumvirate and was the first to earn a promotion to AA. Once with the Hooks, he eventually moved into the bully and held his own against Texas League hitters (see above). His combined ERA of 3.00 in 144 innings between Salem and CC may have earned him an invite to the Arizona Fall League. He’ll also require protecting on the 40-man roster or the organization faces losing him in the Rule 5.
The second member of the Salem rotation to make the jump to AA was Ronnie Martinez, who had joined the Salem roster (and the rotation) six weeks into the season after rehabbing an injury. After early season struggles, Patton regained his past form and became the third Avs’ starting pitcher to get the in-season promotion to Corpus. Patton (like Martinez) didn’t have the same kind of success at CC that he was having at Salem, though we note that over his last six starts for the Hooks he had a 3.68 ERA and a 30:8 strikeout to walk ratio in 36.2 IP. Patton remains far and away the top left-handed pitching prospect in the system.
As noted below, Barthmaier (in particular) and Paulino ended their seasons with a flourish.
The Salem bullpen contained a number of useful A-ball pitchers but it remains to be seen how successful they’ll be at higher levels. LHP Enyelbert Soto continually walks a tightrope of putting a huge number of hitters on base before somehow wriggling out of trouble. He won’t be able to do that at the next rung. Fellow lefty Jeff Wigdahl walks too many and more of those will be converted to runs at AA and AAA if he can’t master better control. RHP Ryan Thompson had a heckuva year with a 2.93 ERA, a .216 BAA and a nearly 4:1 strikeout to walk ratio. But he’ll have to continually prove himself at the next levels as NDFAs don’t get a whole lotta respect. The 6’8″ Englebrook moved into the pen when Martinez came on board and responded with a 7-0 record and 2.83 ERA in 63.2 relief innings.
C Lou Santangelo remains a defensive force behind the plate but was jekyll and hyde offensively. He hit .218 in April, .288 in May, .145 in June, .317 in July and .197 in August. Management though was encouraged enough by what they saw to send him to the Arizona Fall League, not exactly a common destination for A-ball players.
The rest of the hitters for the Avalanche are not a particularly exciting group. 23-year old 2B Drew Sutton is probably the best of the bunch and had a solid season (.263/.360/.430) but will need to continue to improve offensively, particularly with better contact. OF Beau Torbert also had some decent numbers with the .305/.343/.411 season. Unfortunately, the 23-year old ‘bama native looks like a “tweener” who may not be speedy or athletic enought to play CF and doesn’t really have the pop to play the corner positions. Lack of pop is also a problem for 1B Ole Sheldon who was a combined .313/.430/.433 at both Salem and Lexington this season but had just 5 longballs. Edwin Maysonet is an excellent defensive shortstop who (though improved) doesn’t provide much offensively. Plus he turns 25 in the offseason.
Maximum Overdrive
RHP Jimmy Barthmaier. Mid-July was a turning point for his season and he progressively got better there on in with a 1.53 ERA and 1.07 WHIP over his last ten starts, an even better 1.10 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in his last seven outings, and finally he ended the year not having allowed a run over his last 22 innings.
LHP Jeff Wigdahl. Had an 0.57 ERA over his last 31.2 innings despite issuing 21 walks during that span. Wasn’t scored on in his last 20 innings of work.
RHP Rory Shortell. Had an excellent second half with a 2.83 ERA over his last 70 innings (20 games).
RHP Felipe Paulino. Had a 2.25 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over his final five games.
RHP Tip Fairchild. Completed the year with a 2.25 ERA and an 0.96 WHIP over his last four starts.
RHP Evan Englebrook. Finished with a 1.69 ERA over his last 26.2 IP with a 29:9 strikeout to walk ratio over that stretch.
LHP Enyelbert Soto. Had an 0.83 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP over his last 25 games (32.2 IP).
Stuck in Neutral
Nobody we’d care to discuss.
Broke Down/Under Repair
RHP Robert Stiehl. On DL with a broken left fibula.
Among the Carolina League Leaders
- Torbert was 2nd in batting average, tied for 8th with 31 two-baggers and tied for 7th with 69 runs scored.
- OF Frankie Caraballo was 1st in extra-base hits (58), tied for 1st in doubles (40), was 8th in slugging (.439) and 10th in RBIs (65).
- 1B/3B/DH Neil Sellers tied with Caraballo for 1st in doubles.
- Santangelo was 4th in homers with 18, tied for 9th in triples with 5, and was 2nd in slugging at .473.
- Sutton tied for 8th with 15 longballs, was 7th in OBP and 9th in OPS.
- Maysonnet tied for 5th with 32 doubles.
- Caraballo (125), Santangelo (112) and OF Ervin Alcantara (104) finished in the top ten in strikeouts.
- Barthmaier tied for 6th in ERA (3.62), was 1st in strikeouts (134) and 2nd in wins (11) but also led the league in walks (67).
- Patton finished 9th in strikeouts though he spent the final two months in the Texas League.
- RHP Felipe Paulino had the 6th-most free passes (59).
- RHP Rodrigo Escobar finished 3rd in saves (17).
Miscellany
- The 14-game winning streak was the 3rd longest in Carolina League history. The last time it was done was in 1958.
- The title was the first for a Salem team since 1988. Of course, the club has been affiliated with the Astros only since 2003.
- Santangelo and Torbert were named to the postseason Carolina League All-Star team.
- Santangelo led Carolina League catchers this season with a 41% success rate in throwing out would-be basestealers. That arm was on display Saturday night against Lynchburg. The Hillcats led the league with 194 steals but Lou was three of five in throwing out baserunners.
- Salem starting pitchers compiled a 1.95 ERA over the final 17 games of the season.
- The Avalanche finished the year number one in the Carolina League with a 3.38 team ERA and also led the league with 12 shutouts.
- Salem’s team batting average of .253 doesn’t look too bad and they ended up tied for 4th in the league, but the club finished next to last in runs scored.
Team Results
31-38, 6th (2nd half)–SAL Northern. (75-63, Overall)
A 5-1 week to finish the regular season, courtesy of Greensboro. The Grasshoppers were a .500 club this season but the Legends had their number. Lex swept a 4-game series from the ‘hoppers during the week (and gives the Legends some momentum with a 5-game winning streak heading into the playoffs) and were 14-2 against ’em on the season.
Lexington meets Lakewood in postseason play beginning Wednesday.
Players We Were Watching
Surprises, both on the positive side and the negative side, was the storyline at Lexington this season.
The Lexington roster at various times this season contained probably the two biggest “out of nowhere” players in the minor league system: RHPs Tip Fairchild and Brad James. Neither were on the prospect radar at the beginning of the year. Neither apparently were regarded well enough within the organization to have been invited to the mini-camp that preceded spring training (though the off-season injury might have precluded James from attending). Both are similar pitchers, sinkerballers who rack up lots and lots of GB outs. And both mowed through the South Atlantic League. Fairchild was promoted in mid-season to Salem and after an adjustment period came on at the end of the season (see above).
Two former position players also had breakthrough seasons for the Legends. Ex-outfielder Raymar Diaz and former catcher German Melendez did well enough to join Fairchild in the Carolina League at mid-year. A 6’7″ frame and being just 22 years old gives a huge advantage to Diaz, however, in terms of projecting long-term success. Melendez clocks in at just 6’0″ and is three years older.
The organization shocked a lot of people by assigning second-round pick RHP Sergio Perez to Lexington. It’s a rarity for an Astros’ draft pick to begin their pro career in full-season ball but the U of Tampa-ex was up to the task and produced a 2.20 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 11 games (16.1 IP). It’ll be interesting to see next year whether the Astros continue the accelerated pace with Perez and assign him to Salem to begin the season. Whether there or back in Lex, he’ll be pitching as a member of the starting rotation.
The negatives at Lexington mostly surrounded the pratfalls take by many of the draft class of ’05 in their sophomore seasons. 3B Koby Clemens, OF Josh Flores, 2B Eric King and OF Eli Iorg went from .300+ seasons last year in SS ball to hitting .255 or below this season. On the mound, 1st-round pick LHP Brian Bogusevic was pretty bad over the first four months of the season even after he had supposedly recovered from the triceps tendinitis.
But all was not completely bleak regarding the 2005 draftees at Lexington (and no we’re not forgetting that Fairchild came out of that draft as well). Low batting average and the fact that he’s already 23 years old aside, there was a lot to like about Iorg’s season. Just a really nice blend of speed (42 steals with an 87.5% success rate), power (15 longballs) and defensive prowess. And even though he may have been pressing (particularly early on) at the plate so as to earn a quick promotion which caused his BA to drop, he still managed to drive in 85 runs. SS Tommy Manzella ran counter to his draftmates by raising his batting average from .232 last season at Tri-City to .275 this year to go along with his excellent glove. And Bogusevic might have finally begun to turn things around in August (see below).
A few doubts are starting to creep in about C J.R. Towles. And it really doesn’t have much to do with the fact his numbers at the plate, while still excellent, went from .346/.436/.549 in ’05 to .317/.382/.525 in ’06 despite it being a repeat season for him at Lexington. Although he’s supposedly fully recovered from it, knee injuries and catchers aren’t a real good mix. And the prima donna attitude from a guy who has yet to see high-A really grates.
And we’ve pretty much written off OF Mitch Einertson at this point after he drops from an unhealthy-to-begin-with .234/.353/.352 last year at Lex to an absolutely pathetic .211/.276/.359 this season. And it grew more painful as the season wore on (see below).
Maximum Overdrive
RHP Brad James. Had a 1.06 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over his last 15 games (85 IP).
LHP Brian Bogusevic. Had a 1.61 ERA and an 0.94 WHIP over his final four starts (22.1 IP).
LHP Chris Blazek. The reliever finished the year not having allowed an earned run over his last 20.2 IP. Over his last 16 games (32 IP), the U of Vermont-ex had an 0.28 ERA and 1.03 WHIP and K’d 38.
Stuck in Neutral
OF Mitch Einertson. Hit just .172 (50-291) over his last 86 games and an even worse .156 (15-96) over his last 30 games.
1B Mark Ori. Hit .313 with 7 longballs in 54 games in the first half of the season but just .243 with one homer in the second half.
2B Eric King. A .307 first half was followed by a .174 second half.
Broke Down/Under Repair
RHP Levi Romero. On DL with triceps tendinitis.
RHP Brandon Stricklen. On DL with a partially torn labrum.
SS Tommy Manzella. On DL with a left knee contusion.
Among the SAL Leaders
- Iorg tied for 7th in RBIs and was 7th in stolen bases.
Miscellany
- Former Astros player and minor league manager Tim Bogar was selected as Eastern League Manager of the Year. That’s the third straight season Bogar has won manager of the year of the year honors. He won it in 2005 while managing the Legends and in 2004 while managing Greeneville. Bogar is currently with the Indians organization.
- Manzella was the only Legend named to the postseason South Atlantic League All-Star team.
- Lexington’s 3.58 team ERA was good for 5th in the 16-team SAL.
- Offensively, the Legends ranked 10th in both batting average (.250) and runs scored.
Team Results
42-29, 1st–NYP Stedler.
Clinching the Stedler division title on Monday, the ValleyCats aren’t exactly on a roll heading into the playoffs as they went just 2-5 on the week. TRC finishes the regular season with three more games between now and Thursday before playing the first round of postseason play on Saturday.
Players We Were Watching
Early returns on the 2006 draft: pitching good, hitting bad.
Nine position players from the recent draft were assigned at the outset to the ValleyCats and almost all fell flat on their asses. It’s not totally unexpected as many a college and HS player stumbles in that first season as they make that transition to wood bats, adjust to playing every day, etc. Nonetheless, it’s a bit discouraging that the only player who responded well was a 30th-rounder who wasn’t even a starter for his college team: take a bow, UTIL Eric Taylor (.316/.388/.422). Particularly disappointing was 3rd-rounder CF Nick Moresi (.180/.260/.245), 4th-rounder 3B Chris Johnson (.209/.250/.260), 8th-rounder 1B/OF Jimmy Van Ostrand (.217/.266/.301), and 16th-rounder OF Drew Holder (.221/.275/.311). The numbers those guys put up were all a bit too poor to blame entirely on the first year adjustment. Hopefully, 2007 sees all these guys rippin’ the ball and their poor debuts will be totally forgotten.
As far as 1st-round pick C Max Sapp and his season (.233/.320/.308), we don’t view his so-so numbers in the same vein as the players previously mentioned. The youngster was playing in a league with many guys who are 3-4 years older and instant success wasn’t in the cards. One bright spot we note was his plate discipline, with his 21 walks versus 34 strikeouts in 159 at-bats not too bad for a power hitter.
Offsetting the disappointment on the position players was the superb seasons from many of the pitchers. Eight hurlers from the draft were sent to Tri-City and five of the eight combined for a collective ERA of 2.53 and a collective WHIP of 1.14. The two lefties in that quintet, Chris Salamida (13th round) and David Qualben (7th), had seasons that rivaled the best pro debuts of any Houston draftee over the last ten years. Of the three righties, Bryan Hallberg (12th) wasn’t far behind the two southpaws in terms of results and he, Bud Norris (6th), and Casey Hudspeth (5th) were all coming on strong at the end of the season (see below).
As far as prior year draft picks and other returnees on the squad, the big news of course was OF Jordan Parraz. Finally living up to the potential that made him a 3rd round pick in the 2004 draft, Parraz exhibited speed, power and and the ability to make consistent contact that no other outfielder in the system possesses right now. Whether he can keep it up when he makes the transition to full season ball next year is the big question. We’re thinking yes at this point with the advances he made this year in his plate discipline but the 21-year old Mr. Parraz certainly will be one of the most scrutinized position players heading into 2007.
Tri-City had a pair of impressive southpaws in the bullpen, Victor Garate and Cory Lapinski. Both have had control problems during their career with Garate taking the biggest steps to alleviate that this season.
Maximum Overdrive
RHP Casey Hudspeth. Outshone initially by a number of the pitchers who were drafted later, the former U of South Florida player has been impressive of late with a 1.89 ERA and a 19:4 strikeout to walk ratio over his last four outings (19 IP).
RHP Bud Norris. Paired in a tandem starting arrangement with Hudspeth, Norris too is putting up huge numbers lately. Over his last three appearances, the Cal Poly-ex has allowed just one earned run on seven hits with 22 whiffs in 13 innings.
RHP Bryan Hallberg. Has a 1.60 ERA and an 0.98 WHIP over his last six starts.
RHP Chad Wagler. We didn’t include him in the above discussion on 2006 draftees, but the 22nd-rounder has also been much improved of late. He’s got a 1.59 ERA in his last 34 innings of work out of the bullpen.
LHP Cory Lapinski. Hasn’t allowed a run over his last 11.1 IP while walking just two over the last eight frames of that stretch.
LHP Victor Garate. Now has a scoreless streak of 22.1 innings. Has given up just one run on seven hits with a 40:12 strikeout to walk ratio over his last 25.2 IP.
RHP Cesar Mayora. Has a combined 1.78 ERA in 19 games split between Greeneville and Tri-City.
UTIL Eric Taylor. Currently has a 16-game hitting streak in which he’s batting .444 (28-63).
OF Jordan Parraz. Batting .375 (45-120) over his last 33 games and like Taylor he’s on a 16-game hitting streak. Has a .393 BA (24-61) during the streak.
Stuck in Neutral
OF Nick Moresi. His first year as a pro couldn’t have been much worse and he’s wrapping it up with a miserable .133 BA (8-60) over his last 16 games. His .180 batting average on the season is the worst among NY-Penn players with a minimum of 190 plate appearances.
INF Tim Torres. Although he got off to a much better start than did Moresi, the 23rd-rounder out of ORU is finishing more dismally with just a .102 BA (6-59) in his last 18 games.
Among the NY-P Leaders
- Parraz is 1st in batting average (.346), 1st in OBP (.430), 1st in slugging (.510), 1st in OPS (no one else is even close), tied for 8th in home runs (6), tied for 3rd in doubles (16), 2nd in SBs (23), and 2nd in runs scored (45).
- Taylor is 4th in BA, 7th in OBP, 7th in OPS, tied with Parraz for 3rd in doubles, and is 5th in runs scored (41).
- ERA: Salamida (1.06) ranks 1st while Hallberg (2.25) and Qualben (2.25) are tied for 5th.
- WHIP: Salamida (0.99) is tied for 9th.
- Wins: Salamida is top dog with 10.
- Walks: Lapinski is tied for 6th-most with 29.
- Saves: Garate is tied for 8th with 8.
Miscellany
- Parraz hit a walk-off 3-run shot in the bottom of 9th last Wednesday night to give TRC the 5-3 come from behind win over Brooklyn.
- Qualben had two more pickoffs during the week, giving him erasures in each of his last six games and a total of 12 POs in 14 starts this season.
- Qualben’s efforts gives TRC hurlers 39 pickoffs in 71 games.
- With three games left in the season, TRC hurlers are 4th in the 14-team NY-Penn with a 3.02 ERA and are 3rd with a 1.20 WHIP.
- Speed and power: offensively, the V-Cats led the league in both SBs (90) and SB success rate (78%) and tied for 2nd in home runs (31).
Team Results
34-33, T2nd–Appy West.
The G-Astros took two of the three games during the week and won nine of their last eleven to finish up the regular season above .500.
Players We Were Watching
Although there were eight returnees from last year’s club, the bulk of the roster consisted of imports making their U.S. debut plus later-round picks from the most recent draft. With most of the returning players having disappointing seasons (Sergio Severino and Polin Trinidad very much the exceptions), the newcomers generally acquitted themselves well and were responsible for a lot of the success of the club.
And if you believe in the axiom “develop pitching/trade for hitting”, then you can probably be happy with this squad. Despite repeating the league, Trinidad and Severino (both 21-year olds) made nice advances from 2005. The fact that they’re both part of a bevy of good-looking left-handers in the lower levels of the system adds to their attraction. Other southpaws of interest on the club include Antony Bello and Tom Vesella. Both 2006 draft picks, 11th-rounder Vesella struggled while 21st-rounder Bello came on strong at the end of the season.
The righties on the Greeneville staff that put up impressive numbers all come with some flaws. 6’4″ 200-lb Santo Luis took charge as the closer for Greeneville in his U.S. debut with a 1.82 ERA and 10 saves. But at age 22, he and Carlos Ladeuth (1.58 ERA, 1.00 WHIP) were too old for the league and will have to be promoted quickly in coming years if they’re to be considered legit prospects. The latter is also height-challenged at 5’11”. DFE Reid Kelly came on late in his pro debut but also doesn’t quite have the classic build for a right-hander (tell that to Roy-O, though).
A couple of hurlers we had high hopes for failed to impress. Colt Adams, a 6’5″ 220-pound 21-year old taken in the 18th round of the recent draft, never was able to get things going (and was downright awful) after being slowed by injuries. Hopefully, things will go a lot differently for him in 2007. Another talented right-hander, Ryan Mitchell, didn’t make the improvements needed in a repeat season and his future became even more cloudy as a result of a late season suspension that raises further questions about his maturity level.
The performances of the position players ranged from so-so to a complete disaster with one exception: INF Ronald Ramirez. The 20-year old Colombian put up .314/.349/.459 numbers in his stateside debut and, despite the 19 errors in 57 games, made numerous outstanding plays on defense. His promotion to Lex at season’s end was well-deserved. Nineteen-year old Steve Brown did bat .306 but his lack of power and the inability to draw walks didn’t really excite us. However, given his age he remains someone to keep an eye on.
We expected more out of last year’s 2nd-round draftee C Ralphie Henriquez whose 2006 numbers (.231/.274/.340) were slightly improved at best over his 2005 results (.215/.246/.342), also at Greeneville. Spring training mini-camp invitees Allen Langdon (.232/.343/.324) and Brandon Barnes (.220/.293/.329) also had disappointing sophomore campaigns.
Maximum Overdrive
RHP Carlos Ladeuth. The Columbian reliever wrapped up his U.S. debut season with 22.1 innings in which he didn’t allow an earned run. Had an impressive 0.76 WHIP over that stretch with 20 whiffs.
RHP Reid Kelly. Finished with two wins and three saves over his last five outings, a span of 10.2 innings in which he allowed only one run while allowing just five baserunners and striking out ten. Had a nearly three-to-one strikeout to ratio and a fine 1.17 WHIP in this his pro debut season.
LHP Antony Bello. The 20-year old southpaw had a 1.46 ERA over his last five appearances (24.2 IP) and finished with a 1.90 ERA on the season after being drafted in June.
RHP Adam Hale. This year’s 32nd-round pick finished up with just one earned run allowed on 11 hits and 4 walks over his last 13 IP. On the season, he had a 2.13 ERA. Out of Bellaire HS, Hale played the OF and 1B this past season at Texas A&M after transferring from Rice where he hurled just a handful of innings as a freshman and sophomore. We’ll reserve judgement on this guy until we see what he does in year two.
Stuck in Neutral
SS Timmy Johnson. Finished the season with .127/.262/.155 numbers after going .192/.250/.298 in his pro debut last year for Greeneville. Defensively, it was even worse with 19 errors in 27 ballgames this year after 21 errors in 42 games last year. A total bust as a 7th-round pick in 2005.
Among the Appy Leaders
- Ronald Ramirez finished 7th in batting average and 2nd in doubles (20).
- Henriquez ended up tied for 8th with 37 RBIs.
- 3B Brandon Caipen ended the year 4th in SBs (15), tied for 2nd in walks (37) and tied for 7th with 39 runs scored.
- INF Reinaldo Ramirez tied for the league-lead in triples (5) and tied with Brown for 6th in swipes (12).
- 1B Cirilo Cruz tied for 9th in longballs (7) and walks (29).
- Cruz (78) and Henriquez (56) were first and fifth, respectively, in going down whiffing.
- Trinidad ranked 3rd in ERA (2.39), 2nd in WHIP (0.92) and 5th in strikeouts (66).
- Severino finished 6th in ERA (2.90), 6th in WHIP (1.13), 1st in strikeouts (90) and has issued the 3rd-most walks (27).
- Luis tied for 3rd in saves.
Miscellany
- Greeneville pitchers led the Appalachian League in both ERA (3.31) and WHIP (1.26).
- More on the hurlers: no control issues for these guys as they also led the Appy by issuing the fewest walks.
- The hitters finished next to last in the Appy in both team BA (.241) and runs scored.
- More offensive ineptitude: Greeneville finished 7th (out of ten clubs) in homers and in total extra-base hits.
- Severino’s whiff totals were sixteen more than any other pitcher in the league. He finished with an 11.85 K/9 ratio.
Team Results
37-34, 7th–VSL.
The team performed much better as the season wore on and went 18-8 over the final month. The baby ‘stros were one of the better hitting clubs in the league, finishing 2nd in runs scored and 4th with a .270 team batting average. The club also ranked 4th in extra base hits. There was also plenty of team speed as their 103 SBs put them #2 in the circuit and their SB success rate of 71.5% took 1st place. Atypical for an Astros minor league team this season, the performance of the hurlers was not particularly good as they finished 7th with a 4.16 ERA and 8th with a 1.55 WHIP.
Players We Were Watching
OF Herman Armas. Put up the best overall numbers on the club at .295/.390/.474 and that represented a huge leap forward from the .152/.289/.196 results he put up in 2005. Showed nice improvement as well during the course of this season, batting just .257 (26-101) over his first 34 games versus a robust .323 (43-133) over his final 33 games. He led the league with 19 doubles and he ranked 5th in slugging and 4th in OPS. He led the Astros with four triples and was second on the ballclub with 15 steals. The lefty swinger played quite a bit of time in CF this year but probably spent an equal amount of time in the corner spots. We haven’t received any scouting reports as to where he projects long-term. Armas turns 20 in December and, absent injury or some other non-performance related reason (visa issues, maturity level, etc.), probably will make his U.S. debut next season.
INF/OF Renzo Tello. Like Armas, this was Tello’s second season in the VSL and he too made enormous strides from the year before. He went from .152/.250/.228 in 2005 to .285/.335/.466 this season and was especially hot at the end of the year, batting .519 (14-27) over his last seven games. His 19 two-baggers tied Armas for league-best while his .466 slugging percentage ranked 6th-best. This guy might be defensively-challenged as he spent most of the year at 1B/DH before seeing some time late in the season in LF (we also remember a 4-error game he had while playing first base). Just turning 19 this past June, if Tello needs further work on the defensive side then he might spend another year in the VSL. Otherwise, Tello like Armas should see 2007 in a Greeneville uniform.
SS Ricardo Bonfante. A tremendous debut season for the seventeen year-old (yep, just seventeen) infielder. Besides hitting at a .291/.368/.347 pace, the youngster was 5th in the league with 48 runs scored and was 8th with 41 RBIs. He was 3rd in the league with 33 swipes and his 84.6% success rate on SB attempts was the highest of any player in the VSL with at least 10 steals. The plate discipline was just spectacular for such a young player, with 30 walks versus just 19 strikeouts. We’d like to believe a 2007 season in the Appalachian League is in the offing, but given the conservative approach of the organization another season in the VSL is a possibility.
INF/OF Jhonny Medrano. Playing in his second VSL season at age 18, Medrano joins Armas and Tello in showing huge improvement from his rookie season. The soon-to-be 19 year-old (in about a week) batted just .229/.258/.287 last year but bumped it up to .286/.363/.412 this season. His 49 RBIs were second-best in the league. Went from playing LF over the first half of this season to 3B in the second half. With the usual caveats about non-performance factors possibly delaying things, we think Medrano debuts next year at Greeneville.
C Pedro Gonzalez. The lefty-hitting 19 year-old backstop went from .287/.339/.327 in 2005 to .327/.405/.365 this season. Got better as the season went on, batting at a .357 clip (40-112) over his final 36 games. Blessed with a strong throwing arm, Gonzalez tossed out 45% of would-be basestealers. He also had just two passed balls in 49 games behind the plate. Unless the Astros want to bring him back to the VSL for a third season to allow him to develop some power (he has just nine extra-base hits over the course of two seasons), 2006 could see him stateside.
LHP Rene Frias. Just 19 years-old but already has three seasons of VSL experience under his belt. The Colombian southpaw had a 2.75 ERA in 36 IP in 2004 and followed that up the next season with a 2.19 ERA in 53 IP. He worked primarily out of the bullpen that first season but was a starter in 2005. He began this season again in the starting rotation and had a 2.96 ERA through six games but then ran into injury problems which caused him to sit out a month. When they brough him back, it was solely as a reliever and he finished with a 0.73 ERA over his final 12.1 IP. Hasn’t really shown the ability to strike a lotta guys out nor is he much of a groundball pitcher so his upside may be limited. But what he has shown may be enough to warrant a ticket to Greeneville next year.
Team Results
34-28, 3rd–DSL San Pedro.
The Dominican club batted just .204 as a team this year and that comes on the heels of a 2005 season when they hit only .215. They were dead last among 31 DSL clubs this season in OBP and were next to last in extra-base hits. So don’t go looking for any position players on the following list. Pitching was a different story as the ‘lil stros ranked 4th with a 2.34 ERA and had two of the top four pitchers in the league in that category.
Players We Were Watching
LHP Fernando Abad. He’s 20 years-old but already is a four-year veteran of the DSL. Part of the reason for that may lie in the fact that he got hurt in 2005 and pitched just three innings that season. Had a 1.61 ERA in 78.1 IP in 2003, a 1.29 ERA in 42 IP in 2004, and a 1.10 ERA (4th-best in the DSL) this season. His 2006 numbers also include a .216 BAA and a very, very cool 56:7 strikeout to walk ratio. Pretty much a slam dunk for the U.S. next season unless non-performance related issues raise their ugly head.
RHP Agustin Pinales. Pitched his second DSL season at 19 years-old (he has since turned 20 in the past week) and it was a dandy. His 0.78 ERA was second best in the circuit and he also had a .183 BAA and an 0.78 WHIP. You can’t rule out a third season in the DSL for Pinales but we think the odds are better than 50/50 that he’ll be Appy-bound in ’07.
RHP Jose Duran. His 1.47 ERA this season wasn’t bad, but it’s the .153 BAA that really catches your eye. The 21-year old righty whiffed 67 in 61.1 innings of work this year after registering excellent DSL numbers in 2004 and then crashing and burning in 2005 (2.14 and 5.17 ERAs, respectively). His age (he’ll turn 22 before the start of next season) says 2007 is an up or out season for Duran: he’ll either be in the U.S. or out of the organization.
LHP Edwin Ciriaco. Put up some huge numbers (.157 BAA, 57 K’s in 51 IP) and given the fact he’s a southpaw is icing on the cake. But his pedigree is a bit of a mystery as the available information (which is sometimes wrong) indicates this is his first year in the DSL despite being nearly 21 years old. Either he’s a late bloomer or pitched with (and was released by) another organization. Hard to predict at this point what 2007 will hold for him.
RHP Leandro Cespedes. Another vertically-challenged righty (he’s just 5’11”), Cespedes had a fine season as a 19-year old with a 2.45 ERA and a 49:11 K/W ratio in 44 IP. All this comes on top of a 2005 season where he rang up a 1.88 ERA in 28.2 innings. Flip a coin as to whether it’s the DSL or Appy for him in 2007.
RHP Gredlis Francisco. Excellent numbers in limited innings but age (going on 22) and stature (also 5’11”) aren’t in his favor. Similar forecast as the one above for Duran.