Necessity is the Mother of Promotion

Posted on April 26, 2009 by Duman in From the Bus Stop

With Quintero on the DL with a shoulder injury. Catchers all over the Astros minor league system were moving up to cover J. R. Towles’ promotion to Houston. Brian Esposito was called up from Corpus to take Towles’ spot in Round Rock. Corpus was already down Lou Palmisano who is on the DL, recieved Koby Clemens to join Jonathan Fixler, who has appeared in just 4 games since getting called up to take Palmisano’s place. Clemens open spot in Lancaster was filled by Jordan Comandena, who just joined Lexington from Extended Spring Training when Fixler was called up to Corpus Christi and had only appeared in 3 games for Lexington. While this shuffle is temporary and all or most of it will be undone when either Q or Palmisano comes off the DL. In the mean time, it will be interesting to see how the Koby/Fixler tandem works out in Corpus.

Clemens, Fixler, Palmisano, Towles

Walking In Round Rock – Minor Recaps

Posted on April 24, 2009 by Duman in From the Bus Stop

Let’s start our tour around the farm with a stop in Round Rock. The Express lost their 5th straight game last night 7-3. Bud Norris started the game going 7 innings giving up 2 earned runs while fanning 8 batters. He has now struck out 18 in 16 2/3 IP. During that span, he has given up 13 hits and a concerning 9 walks. The Express pitching staff gave up a total of 4 walks last night that gives them a league leading 82 free passes in 15 games. That is 5 1/2 extra base runners a game.

On the offensive side, Yordany Ramirez went 1-3 from the lead of spot. The 24 year old speedy outfielder took his second walk of the season. This is significant because he only took 11 in 432 AB last season. So he is on pace to double his walk totals this season which means a higher on base percentage which leads to more runs scored.

Chris Johnson was back in the line up last night and went 0-3 with 2 K’s.

Corpus Christi put a dozen runs on the board against Frisco last night in their 12-9 victory. In a see saw affair, the Hooks lead 6-2 after five innings only to see the lead evaporate to a 9-6 deficit heading into the home half of the 8th. In the eighth, Coline Delome and Andrew Locke both unleashed 3 run homers to give the Hooks the lead for good. It was DeLome’s six blast of the year, something that is a little suprising coming out of the lead off spot of the order.

Manager Luis Pujols put himself in the pleasantly surprised category.

“I didn’t know what kind of power he had,” Pujols said. “But I’m glad he’s doing what I’ve seen. It’s very interesting with these young players.”

While DeLome now leads the Texas League in HR, Locke is leading the team in RBIs. His 4 last night moves him to 18 on the season, which ties him for the Texas League lead.

“It’s (because of) the rest of the team they’re always on base whenever I come up,” Locke joked. “I can’t get an at-bat with nobody on.”

Mark Ori also deserves a mention here. He has hit in 9 of his last 10 and has 7 multi hit games over that span.

Lancaster allowed 8 runs in the 6th inning in their 8-5 loss. T. J. Steele came off the DL and had a hit in his first game back.

Lexington shut out Hickory 3-0 last night. Lexington is 9-6 on the season and they are winning with pitching right now. Brad Dydalewicz pitched 7 stellar innings. He allowed only 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5. Dydalewicz has yet to allow an earned run in his 3 starts this season. Daniel Meszaros picked up his league leading 6th save of the season with a no hit, two strike out 9th inning.

The offense is starting to come around. Phil Disher hit a homer for the second night in a row. His 3 for 4 peformance last night brought his average up to .209. Jay Austin, who won’t turn 19 until August, went 2 for 5. He is hitting .353 over his last 5 games to bring his season average close to .200.

Minor Recaps for Most of the Week

Posted on April 23, 2009 by Duman in From the Bus Stop

Work got into way of the last two day’s recaps so I am doing a little catching up today.

Lexington split a double header with West Virginia on Monday night. Game 1 showed stellar pitching as Kyle Greenwalt went 6 innings giving up 3 harmless hits and a walk while sending 4 Power batters back to the bench with their bat in their hands. Daniel Meszaros picked up his 4th save of the season by striking out 2 in the 7th. He has giving up 1 hit and a walk in 5 IP this season while fanning 8 batters.

In game 2 the offense put up 3 runs again but it wasn’t enough this time. Frederico Hernandez accounted for a 3 runs with a 3 run homer to tie the game in the 4th. The power responded with 3 more runs off Jose Trinidad in the 5th to give them a 6-3 win and a split of the double header.

The Lexington pitching is getting a great deal of praise. Tom Lawless, Lexington manager had this to say after the split.

“It boils down to the pitching,” Lawless said. “If you go out there and attack the strike zone … and we make most of the plays, we’re in the ball game.”

Also Tuesday, Brian McTaggart of the Chronicle did a blog on the Lexington pitchers citing praise from Ricky Bennett.

“They all have enough talent to pitch at the major league level,” Bennett said. “But we all know there are bumps in the round along the way. From a talent standpoint and maturity standpoint, we’re hoping they’re up to the challenge.”

McTaggart also checked the enthusiasm with this tid bit.

The last time the Astros had such a talented group of young pitchers come through their system was a decade ago when Roy Oswalt, Wade Miller, Carlos Hernandez and Tim Redding were turning heads.

Oswalt is a bona fide star, Redding had limited success and Miller and Hernandez were slowed by injuries. If the Astros can get at least two of these guys to stick, they’ll be thrilled.

Tuesday, Jordan Lyles had his roughest outing yet and the offense called in anemic as the Legends got trounced 12-0.

Lyles gave up 4 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings. He fanned 6 but gave up 9 hits, hit a batter and issued an intintional walk. Brian Wabick was shelled for 5 earned runs in the 2/3 innings he pitched.

Brandon Barnes got one of the two hits the Legends had on the night. Barnes is hitting .333 on the season, however his splits tell us a different story. The right handed hitting Barnes is hitting leftiess at a .778 clip (7 for9). He is only hitting right handers at a .200 clip (6 for 30).

Before we get to Wednesday’s outcome, let’s look at the manager had to say about Tuesdays effort:

“We came … six hours on the bus (Monday night and early Tuesday morning) and these young kids don’t know what travel days are about and we just weren’t ready to play,” said Lexington manager Tom Lawless of Tuesday’s first game in the series. “We got a good night’s rest and came out today ready to play and focused.”

Being ready to play and focused lead to a 4-3 Legends win. Ross Seaton got the win and Daniel Meszaros earned the save putting out a fire in the 9th, striking out a batter with the tying run on second. Phil Disher hit is first homer of the season.

Lancaster

On Monday, Jose Duran gave up 3 solo home runs before the pitching coach said “no mas”. J. B. Shuck had 3 hits but the JetHawks only had 4 as a team as they went down 3-1 in defeat.

Tuesday, their offense improved but the pitching got worse in an 11-4 drumming at the hands of Inland Empire. Not much more needs to be said about this game.

Wednesday, the JetHawks broke a 6 game losing streak by riding Chris Hick’s pitching peformance to a 4-3 victory. Hicks fanned 6 and pitched out of basesloaded jams in two innings. Brian Pellegrini hit his 7th homer of the season, tying him for the most homers in all of minor league baseball. J. B. Shuck had his had his 4th multi hit game in 5 games. He is currently riding a 7 game hitting streak (12 out of 30) and has reached base in each of his last 10 games. On the flip side, Jason Castro is cooling off. He is hitless in his last 4 games.

Corpus Christi had 8 starters get 2 hits in Monday’s game. Only Wlad Sutil didn’t but he did get a hit as the Hooks batters battered NW Ark. pitching for 17 hits and 12 runs in a 12-6 victory.

Tuesday, the Hooks got home runs from Colin DeLome and Mitch Einertson but it wasn’t enough as they went down 9-7. Apparently there was some issue as to whether Einertson’s homer really left the park. The Natural’s manager had this to say:

I’m still not sure about the second home run. For it to bounce like it did, I thought it had to hit the top of the pad (on the outfield fence). That’s a tough call.”

Round Rock is in the midst of a 4 game slide. Jose Capellan saw his record drop to 0-3 and his ERA balloon to 12.21 after giving up 6 runs in 5 1/3 IP on Monday. The Express was defeated 7-5.

Tuesday, the Express were defeated 4-1. J. R. Towles had to leave the game after fouling a ball of his face.

Wednesday, the Express went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position. You squander those opportunities, you most likely will lose. The Express did just that, dropping their 4th straight 8-3.

“It wasn’t pretty,” said Express manager Marc Bombard, whose team is hitting just .208 this season with runners in scoring position. “We had some chances. We’ve just got to keep plugging away.”

The will get some major league help as some rehabbing pitchers come to visit. Brian Moehler is scheduled to start on Friday and Brandon Backe will join the team on Monday.

Weekend Minor Wrap Up

Posted on April 20, 2009 by Duman in From the Bus Stop

Lexington started off the weekend by making up a rain out from last week with West Virginia by playing a pair of 7 inning games on Friday. In game one, the Legends gave up two unearned runs to lose 3-2. Brad Dydalewicz pitched 5 innings giving up one unearned run on 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. His ground ball to fly ball out ratio was impressive. Of the 13 hit outs, 11 were of the ground ball variety.

In game two, the Legends were no hit for 7 innings. Luckily the pitching due of Henry Villar and Patrick Urckfitz held the Power to no runs and both teams went to an extra frame. In the 8th, Richardo “Big Hit” Bonfonte came through with a two out single to plate Ebert Rosario for the 1-0 win.

Lexington kept the Power harnessed for a 4-0 shut out on Saturday. After just mustering 6 hits in 15 innings on Friday night, the Legends got that many in 9 innings on Saturday. Kody Hinze hit his second homer of the season and Jay Austin went 2 for 3 with a RBI and a run scored to pace the offense. Robert Bono got the win after 6 strong innings.

Sunday’s game was rained out, so they will play two 7 inning games on Monday.

Lancaster is ready to play someone else besides the High Desert Mavericks. Friday, the JetHawks were shut down in a rare early season complete game from High Desert starter Nate Adcock. Adcock threw just 83 pitches in his outing. Jon Gaston was 2 for 4 for the JetHawks and Koby Clemens knocked in the lone run as the JetHawks were beat 9-1.

Saturday, the JetHawks dropped their 6th game in 7 tries against High Desert 4-2. The only highlight for the JetHawks was the pitching performance of C. J. Lo. Lo, pitching in relief, went 1 1/3 innings giving up no hits or walks and fanning 3 batters. On the season, Lo has pitched 8 innings, giving up only one earned run off 3 hits and 3 walks. He has fanned 13 in the same span.

Sunday they made it 7 losses in 8 tries. Brian Pellegrini hit his 6th homer of the year but that was about the only highlight in a 7-3 defeat.

Corpus Christi went 1-2 on the weekend. Friday, they found out they had used all their ammo on Thursday. They were shut out 9-0. Casey Hudspeth was pulled in the 3rd after giving up 4 runs off 8 hits.

Saturday was closer but not cigar. Paul Estrada blew a 5-3 lead in the 9th as the Hooks lost 6-5 on a walk off pinch hit two run homer.

Sunday, Brad James earned the win in a 3-2 victory. James went 6 innings giving up 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. He also hit a batter. He fanned 3. Rob Semorano pitched 3 innings of 1 hit ball to earn the save. Mark Ori went 3-4 on the day and every starter got a hit as the Hooks rapped out 11 hits.

Round Rock got overwhelmed Friday night. Their bats couldn’t find the ball as they fanned 14 times and the pitchers couldn’t miss the bats as the I-Cubs pounded out 15 hits in the 8-3 loss.

Saturday, started as a pitching duel between Jeff Samardzjia and Bud Norris. Norris pitched into the 6th giving up only 3 hits but 4 walks. Samardzjia left after 6, giving up only 1 hit…. a 2 run homer by Reggie Abercrombie. Abercrombie put another ball over the fence as the Express combined for 5 runs in the 7th and 8th to pull away for a 7-5 victory.

Sunday, the Express dropped the afternoon affair 8-2. They play again today in a lunch time game.

Hooks Trounce Tulsa & Minor Recaps

Posted on April 17, 2009 by Duman in From the Bus Stop

I’m trying to decide if Kannapolis has the best pitching in the Sally League or if Lexington’s hitters are just inept. For the 3rd straight game, Lexington was held scoreless. The Legends were shut out 1-0 yesterday. Kannapolis’ staff holds a 0.79 through the first 8 games with 4 shutouts. They have yet to give up a home run this season. Ross Seaton gave up one home run yesterday and that was all the runs Kannapolis would need. In a 4 game series highlighted by good pitching, Kannapolis outscored the Legends 10-2, with 6 of the 10 runs coming in one game.

Lacaster did themselves in with a sloppy 6th. JetHawks pitchers hit two batters and combined with an error, a double and a bases clearing single; Lancster gave up 4 runs and ended up losing 6-5. Jason Castro continues his good work at the plate with a 2-4 night.

Corpus Christi got 5 RBI’s from Mark Ori and 3 from Andrew Locke. Colin DeLome hit his 4th homer of the season as the Hooks trounced Tulsa 15-4.

Round Rock used home runs by Lou Santangelo and John Gall and a 2 run double by Yordany Ramirez to put 6 runs on the board. Chad Paranto returned from the DL and survived a shakey 9th to give the Express a 6-5 victory. Ramirez enjoyed the Omaha series. He was 10-14 with a homer and 4 doubles. He also drive in 6 runs.

Dos – Tres – Quatro-baggers

Posted on April 16, 2009 by Duman in From the Bus Stop

I am not sure if it was a game or batting practice but two Lancaster JetHawks hit three home runs in the 14-3 thumping of Inland Empire (BTW, I am not sure what qualifies it as an empire). Jonathan Gaston went 4 for 5 with 5 RBI. He hit a solo shot and two of the two run variety. Brian Pellegrini went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI off of two solo shots and one of the two run variety. I think saying the park is hitter friendly might be the understatement of the year. JetHawk pitchers scattered 13 hits but gave up only 3 runs.

Yordany Ramirez is showing some promise. He has always been fast and a great defender in center but the plate is where he has struggled. He is hot there right now. Ramirez went 3 for 3 last night in Round Rock’s 14-7 defeat. He hit a homer and a double and also made a nice catch in the outfield. After starting the year 0-9, he is 8 for his last 10 with 3 doubles and a homer.

Round Rock pitchers continue to give out walks as an offensive stimulus package for the opposition. Starter Jose Capellan issued 5 in 3 2/3 innings and reliever Tyler Lumsden added 3 more in the 3 innings he pitched.

Lexington has now gone 19 innings with out scoring a run. They suffered their second straight shutout yesterday morning. Jordan Lyles took the loss, though he didn’t pitch badly. He did throw alot of pitches. He fanned 8 in 3 2/3 IP. He also walked 2 and gave up 3 hits. Brain Wabick relieved him and gave up 5 runs in 3 2/3 innings.

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