Today, Brian McTaggert has his minor league notebook posted at the Chron. I will intersperse some of his nuggets in this recap.
Round Rock
The Express bounced back from being doubled up the night before by doubling up the Isotopes 8-4. Runelvys Hernandez had another strong outing and Abercrombie and Quintero both homered.
McTaggert reports lack of prospects in Round Rock.
Third baseman Mark Saccomanno, second baseman Johnny Ash and shortstop Edwin Maysonnet are among the only Astros prospects in Round Rock.
“They might be able to help us as the 25th-type guy to come off the bench and pinch run, but looking at overall talent they’re not going to make much impact on the major league club,” Bennett said.
Corpus Christi
Was off yesterday but tonight, Tip Fairchild makes his return to the mound after coming off the DL following Tommy John surgery last year.
McTaggart spends the majority of the article discussing the prospects here. Those discussed include Brad James, Mitch Einertson, Manzella, Iorg, Chris Johnson, Sergio Perez, Bogusevic and Bud Norris.
To highlight two, here is what Bennett said about Johnson:
“We don’t have many third base prospects, but (Johnson) is definitely a good one and he’s really making progress,” Bennett said. “You could envision him helping us win here (in the) next year or so if he continues to make progress.
“He’s made a lot of errors and part of the reason is he carries his offense over to his defense and doesn’t focus as much on defense. Secondly, he doesn’t get his feet in proper position to make solid throws. Fielding the ball is no problem.”
And an update on Bud Norris who was scratched from starting earlier this week.
Norris was examined by Astros physician Dr. Tom Mehlhoff and diagnosed with a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament. The team thinks the injury won’t require surgery.
“It’s normal wear and tear on his arm,” assistant general manager Ricky Bennett said. “We put him on a strength program to see if that makes him feel better. He was throwing 92, 93 (mph) during his last outing and started feeling some discomfort throwing the slider, so we shut him down.”
Salem
The Avs got a solid start from Casey Husdpeth last night. He went 8 shut out innings allowing only 2 hits and 3 walks. The Avs won 6-2.
Lexington
The Legends lost a heart breaker last night. Sergio Severino went 6 innings allowing only one run on 3 hits and 4 walks while sending 7 batters back to the pine with their bat in their hands. However, the bullpen gave up 6 runs and the Legends lost 7-6. Delome went 3-4 with a triple and two RBI.
McTaggert reports that Matt Cusick may shift around the diamond from 2nd to 3rd.
“He’s a very good-looking hitter,” assistant general manager Ricky Bennett said. “He doesn’t have great range at second and we’re trying to improve that. We’re not sure he’ll be able to stay (at second) and be adequate down the road at the major league level.”