Brad James – 2 1/3 IP, 9 ER, 2 HR
Sergio Perez – 4 1/3 IP, 6 ER, 1 HR
Casey Hudspeth – 4 IP, 7 ER, 3 HR

It’s not that the bullpen was that much better. Here are some of their numbers from the weekend:

Wilton Lopez – 4 IP, 7 ER
Rob Semerano – 3 2/3 IP, 8 ER
T. J. Burton – 1 IP, 4 ER
Andy Van Hekken – 3 IP, 3 ER
Chris Salamida – 1 IP, 2 ER

The one bright spot from the weekend is Daniel Meszaros, who in 3 IP didn’t give up a single run. He has only give up 2 hits in his 5 IP since his promotion from Lexington up to Corpus Christi.

Brad James in spring training (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images North America)

“It was more injury because that’s what made my performance suck so bad,” James said of his 2008 campaign. “My back was hurting and I tried to throw through it. I was just trying to pitch through a sore back and you can’t really do it because it’ll mess up your mechanics.”

This spring, it was reported that Brad was struggling with the yips about hitting batters.  Here is what his pitching coach, Stan Boroski, says about his spring performance.

“Once his rhythm gets back — and it was kind of hit and miss in the spring — he’s very good, and I expect him to continue with what he did at the end of spring,” Boroski said. “He really finished strong in the spring. His last couple of outings were real good down there and we look for that to continue.”

Brad will start the season as the 5th starter.  It was origionally reported that he would start tonights final exhibition game against Round Rock but today it is reported that Douglas Arguello will start for the Hooks.

Tri Cities Bobbleheads

The ValleyCats promotion department is working hard to bring fans to the park with some unique bobbleheads.   This year’s roster of heads features a local weatherman (Steve Caporizzo), NY Gov. David Patterson, First Lady Michelle Obama, and explorer Henry Hudson.  Who says you have to be a baseball player to have a bobblehead.

“In bad economic times, we’re a good deal,” said Rick Murphy, vice president and general manager of the team. “Bobbleheads and minor league baseball and entertainment are all said in the same breath.”

How good of a deal are they?

The best seat for one Yankees game with food and drinks costs $2,650. That will buy you and 229 friends the best box seat at The Joe with a hot dog, chips and soda.

Nick Gorneault hit his second homer in as many days, but Danny Klassen had the big hit, a 3 run walk off homer with 2 outs in the 9th to give the Express a 7-6 win.

Corpus Christi

Brad James continues to show he has adjusted to AA hitting with an impressive six innings of shutout work where he only allowed 4 hits and two walks while striking out 3. He got his first win of the season and dropped his ERA down to 1.59. He was efficient only throwing 77 pitches in 6 innings.

James did dodge one bullet in the second:

Northwest Arkansas had a chance to take the early lead in the second inning. Irving Falu opened with a single, and he advanced to third on a perfectly executed hit-and-run by Cody Clark, giving the Naturals runners and first and third with one out.

However, Ovandy Suero followed with a grounder to Hooks’ first baseman Rob Cosby, who stepped on first and made a perfect throw to second base to get Clark before Falu reached home — ending the inning.

“I’m glad (Falu) didn’t run hard to the plate,” Pujols said. “Because we got the double play before he crossed the plate.

“But that’s their problem. I’m glad he didn’t do it.”

James left with a 1-0 lead but a 4 run 8th put the game out of reach. The big inning was highlighted by Cosby’s 3 run homer.

Salem

Salem pulled within a run of Fredrick with a 3 run 8th but couldn’t catch them in a 5-4 defeat. Jordan Parraz and Cesar Quintero hit homers in the 8th to get the Avs close.

David Qualben took the loss for the Avs giving up 4 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks in just 4 innings. He didn’t pick anyone off and had 3 stolen bases on him and battery mate Koby Clemens.

Speaking of Koby, the Boston Globe did a piece on the minor connection between Clemens and the Red Sox since the Fenway Group purchased the Avs. It speaks openly about their plan to move the Red Sox high A team there from the California League next season, displacing the Astros farm team.

Salem Manager Jim Pankovits, a Richmond VA native, was interviewed by the Richmond paper about what it will take to find a team to replace the soon to be departing Richmond Braves.

“A new facility could attract a quality organization to start a long relationship like the Atlanta Braves had there in Richmond,” Pankovits said from Salem. “It would be nice if there was local ownership that could take the initiative to get the ball rolling, to [organize] funding.

“Plus, local ownership gives that city or community more of a connection because they obviously have a better grasp of the inner workings of the government and the community, and what that area’s population likes most in their entertainment. The bottom line is entertainment.”

The article mentions the Richmond may be in line for a AA Eastern League team or a High A Carolina team.

Lexington

Leandro Cespedes is one of the few bright spots for the Legends. After their 6th loss in a row, they have dropped to 2-10. (Hey it could be worse, they could have had expectations like the Detroit Tigers did and then have a record like this.)

Cespedes gave up 2 runs in 5 innings. Only one run was earned. He gave up 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. The Legends still had a shot to win the game but couldn’t come up with the big hit.

“We put ourselves in a position to win,” Langbehn said, “but we couldn’t come up with the big hit. We’ve become our own worst enemy.”

Still, the Legends finally put themselves in a position to win.

Lexington had chances to tie in three of the last four innings. But they left five runners in scoring position

“It’s a long spring and a long drive,” Pujols said. “Everybody took off about a day ago from (Kissimmee, Fla.). Some of the guys pretty much drove straight for 19 hours, and we came here and didn’t have a chance to hit on the field (before the game).

Brad James had what he called an “average day” after staying in the game following a batted ball to his right leg. He still managed to go 4 innings (71 pitches/51 strikes).

“He got out of trouble and that’s what you call pitching,” Pujols said. “I believe he threw the ball very well.”

For the Express, Jerad Gothreaux, struck out 7 in his 4 innings of work.

Jared came in and gave us four real strong, solid innings, and that’s what we’re looking for,” Round Rock manager Dave Clark said. “He’s a guy we’re going to really count on, and he went out there tonight and showed he deserved the baseball.

The highlight of the game came from Yordany Ramirez, who made a running catch right in front of the wall for the first out of the game. He also went 2 for 4 at the plate.

“It was incredible and you’re going to see a lot more of that,” said Express first baseman Mark Saccomanno. “He just goes out there and tracks down a lot of balls; he’s going to save a lot of runs out there.”

Sunday they traveled down to Corpus Christi and the Express unpacked their bats while the Hooks bats were still in transit. The Hooks brought in some ringers to pitch and it didn’t help. Reggie Abercrombie hit the first offering from Chris Sampson into the left field berm to set the tone for the night. Sampson ended up going 6 innings (57 pitches/ 43 strikes) and then doing extra work in the bullpen.

“It’s a lot of fun actually. I don’t want to say it was weird. I knew my goal coming in was just to come in here and get my work, get innings,” Sampson said. “I’d like to do good and finish my spring training on a positive note. But I was mainly focused in coming out here getting my innings in, getting my pitches built up and getting ready for Chicago on Friday.”

J.R. House homered off Brian Bogusevic in the 8th and Danny Klassen homered off German Melendez in the 9th.

Dave Clark who was promoted to Round Rock after a successful stint as a manager in Corpus Christi, had a good day at his old stomping grounds.

Being in the visitors’ clubhouse and dugout, two places he’d never been during his time here, was something different.

“It was strange, it really was,” Clark said. “I’m leaning on the left side when I’m usually on the right side. But once the game got started, it was baseball as usual.”

He also avoided taking the familiar right turn from the third-base coach’s box into the home dugout.

“I kept telling myself I wasn’t going to do it,” Clark said. “Plus, if I had, I wasn’t going to hear the end of it.”

The Lexington Legends released their roster on Sunday. The roster features 7 returning players, most notable among them are Leandro Cespedes, Nick Moresi and Max Sapp. They gained 15 players from TriCities, 1 from Greeneville and two from outside the system. The two newcomers to the Astros organization are pitcher Jay Pacella and infielder Roberto Mena.

Brad on his experience in big boy spring training

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“Just getting to play with the older guys that are more experienced, it’s good to get in here now and get more used to it,” James said. “I don’t want to go back to the minor league side. Trust me. This is 15 times better than the minor league side.”

Bennett on the emotional side of James

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“He’s got to learn how to control his emotions on the mound,” Bennett said. “He gets amped up, he gets excited, and he gets emotional, similar to Brandon Backe. It could be a good thing.

Brad on reports he will be a starter or back end bullpen guy

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“I try to stay away from reading stuff like that,” he said. “One of my old coaches told me 10 percent of the stuff you read is true, and 90 percent is just people talking. I just want to play baseball.”

“I think down the road he’s going to learn how to channel that emotion and get hitters out. Early in games, he can be somewhat erratic in the strike zone because of those emotions. But once he learns to calm down, he’s much better with his pitch location and those types of things.”

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“Paulino is a really talented kid,” Ryan said. “Norris is really talented. James has one of the better sinkers I’ve seen in a long time. So when you look at those kids, you get real excited. I would think Perez is the most improved from when we signed him.”

Bennett on James:

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“He’s got unbelievable stuff,” Astros assistant general manager Ricky Bennett, the farm director, said of James. “When you talk about stuff, you look at his stuff and you can use your imagination. He throws a heavy fastball, and he pitches 91 to 94 (mph).

Bennett on Gervacio:

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“There’s a good chance he’ll probably start at Double-A this year,” Bennett said. “He’s a guy that we really liked. He might be able to help us at the end of this year, but more than likely he’ll be in the bullpen next year.”

Perez on Perez:

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“I think basically it’s just getting the innings and experience,” Perez said when asked what he’d like to improve. “Racking up those 200 innings is very important. I threw 140 last year. So (it would be good to) just get 160-170 innings just to show them that I’m durable and I can last a whole season. It’s experience.”

They talk about his need to develop a 3rd pitch aside from his 88-91 mph sinker & slider.

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“For me, this is a late-round guy who wanted to get noticed,” said a scout from an American League club. “And he did, but at the expense of his development in some ways. Yeah, the sinker is good and the slider could be an out pitch for him. But his arm speed and location make his changeup a below-average pitch. He shows some potential with it sometimes, but this is a two-pitch guy for the most part.”