In the Hawaiian Winter League, the three Astro farm hands are off to a hum drum start. High profile 1st round pick, Jason Castro is 2 of 8 so far with no extra base hits, two walks and one K. He has also made an error. Jordan Parraz is 2 of 11 with two walks and three K’s. Chris Hicks has pitched 3 innings so far with a 6.00 ERA. He has surrendered 3 hits and 2 runs. He has K’d 2 and walked 2.Read More
Fairchild, HWL, LancasterWecome to the off season at The Bus Stop where the season never really ends. I will be trying to keep you up to date with comings and goings, winter league, and instructional league updates.
MILB.com give us a glimpse into what the Astros are working on with young Jordan Lyles. Assistant GM Ricky Bennett is quoted as saying:
(Lyles) had a very good changeup for a 17-year-old,” Bennett added. “He has the potential to have three average to plus pitches.
The ValleyCats finished the season at 28-45. This was the second worst record in the NY-Penn League. Let’s look and see what bright spots might be there from a rather disappointing season.
The Good
The Hitters
As a team, Tri Cities showed some pop. They were second in the league with 52 HR. That was about the only bright spot for the team.
Individually, Phil Disher has a solid season. He finished 10th in Average (.304) and had the 2nd most hits (85). Disher’s 20 doubles tied him for second and accounted for almost 20% of the ValleyCat’s total (109). His 13 homers were 2nd most in the league. Disher also knocked in 56 runs which put him 1 run short of the league lead. His 150 total bases were 2nd most as well. He took 33 free passes (T-10th). His Slugging % (.536) was the 3rd best in the league and his OPS (.916) was 2nd best.Read More
Tri CitiesThe Astro have named their MVPs for the season at each level of their affiliates. So here they are:Read More
The Hooks finished the season with the worst record in the Texas League (55-85) and 29 games out of the division lead for the year. Their winning percentage was deadly (.357). The injuries on the farm impacted the Hooks more than any other team. Bud Norris, Brad James, Sergio Perez and Tip Fairchild were all expected to have an positive impact for the Hooks but all spent significant time on the DL. Add to that Josh Flores missed all of the season and you have a team thin on talent in a tough league. There is hope things improve next year but with the lack of talent in Salem and Lexington, it could be a few years before winning returns to CC.Read More
Corups ChristiIt was the worst of times. That about sums it up. The Legends finished 45-93 for the season. That is the worst record of any full season professional team in America. The Astros and the Legends have extended their development contract for two more years in August. I guess the folks in Lexington might have mixed feelings if that is good or bad.
Although (Legends President Alan)Stein noted that attendance (people in seats) was down by only 3.5 percent, and that the Legends’ research indicated that only about 15 percent of fans care about winning, he made a point of speaking about a return to championship contention some day.
When asked why he made an issue of winning if the fans don’t care, Stein smiled and said, “Because I care.”
So for the 15% who care, here are the numbers and rankings for the 2008 version of the Legends.Read More
Lexington