GCL - 2013

[Duman]

Talk about the rookies here. Here is the preliminary roster

[VirtualBob]

Who are those guys?  A look at the GCL roster.

Catchers
Pedro Coa (20) was signed out of Venezuela and is making his US debut after two years in the DSL.  The other three came out of this year’s draft:  Jacob Nottingham - 6th round out of Redlands (CA) HS;  Brett Booth – 34th round out of Alabama;  Brett Clements – NDFA out of Nova Southeastern.

Infielders
Yonathan Mejia (20) signed out of DR and beginning his third season in the GCL after one in the DSL.  Yoel Silfa (19) signed out of DR and beginning his second season in the GCL after two in the DSL.  Jose Solano (21) signed out of DR and beginning his second season in the GCL after two in the DSL.  Alex Gonzalez (21) spent five years in the DSL for the Rangers.   This is his first year with the Astros (and I do not know how he got here).  Luis Reynoso (18) signed out of DR and spent 2012 in the DSL.  Tyler (Brian) White (22) was a 33rd round pick this year out of Western Carolina.  Brandon Wikoff is on a rehab assignment.

Outfielders
Javaris Reynolds (20) was a 7th round selection in 2011 and is starting his third season in the GCL.  Ydarqui Marte (20) signed out of DR and is starting his third season in the GCL after one in the DSL.  Luis De La Rosa signed out of DR in 2008 and spent two seasons in the DSL before missing 2011 entirely.  This will be his second season in the GCL.  Jason Martin (17) was an 8th round selection this year out of Orange Lutheran HS (CA).  Mesac Laguna (21) signed out of DR and spent three seasons in the DSL before getting his US debut this year.

Pitchers to follow.

[VirtualBob]

Who are those guys (part 2)?  A look at the rest of the GCL roster.

Pitchers
Raul Rivera (22) was a 2009 37th round pick out of Puerto Rico and is beginning his 4th season in the GCL.  Brandon Culbreth (20) was a 2011 8th round pick out of HS (NC) beginning his third year in the GCL.  Zach Dando (22) was a 32nd round pick in 2011 out of Central Arizona College and spent the past two years in the Greeneville bullpen. Francis Ramirez (21) signed out of DR in 2008 and spent one year in the DSL before his 2010 US debut in the GCL.  He split 2011 between the GCL and Greeneville, and spent all last year in Greeneville as a starter.  Ambriox De Leon (21) signed out of DR and spent 2010 and 2011 in the DSL before his 2012 US debut in the GCL.  Agapito Barrios (19) signed out of Panama and spent 2011 in the DSL before his US debut in the GCL last year.  Samil De los Santos (19) signed out of DR and spent 2011 and 2012 in the DSL.  This is his US debut season. Erick Gonzalez (21) was a 15th round pick last year out of Gateway CC (AZ).   Except for two one-inning appearances in Greeneville, he spent most of the season in the GCL. Javier Lozano (20) signed out of El Salvador and spent the past two years in the DSL.  This is his US debut season.  Jose Montero (20) signed out of DR and spent 2010 in the DSL as a starter before his US debut last year in the GCL as a reliever. 

Raymin Guduan (21) signed out of DR and spent two years in the DSL before his US debut in the GCL last year.  He is currently on the 7-day DL.  Joe Musgrove (20) was selected 46th overall in 2011 by the Blue Jays and acquired in the Happ/Lyons/et al trade last summer.  He pitched in the Appy league before and after the trade, but is currently on the 7-day DL. Joe Bircher is on a rehab assignment. 

The rest are from this year’s draft:  Jorge Perez (19) – 30th round out of Seminole State (OK); Juan Santos (17) – 39th round out of HS (FL); Kevin Ferguson (22) – NDFA out of Northeastern; and Troy Scribner (21) – NDFA out of Sacred Heart.

[OregonStrosFan]

GCL Astros put a whoopin' on the GCL Braves today. BOX SCORE

Joe Bircher got the win, with 5.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO. 18-year old SS Luis Reynoso went 4-6 on the day, and Jean Carlos Batista went 3-4.

[morningwood75]

GCL Astros put a whoopin' on the GCL Braves today. BOX SCORE

Joe Bircher got the win, with 5.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO. 18-year old SS Luis Reynoso went 4-6 on the day, and Jean Carlos Batista went 3-4.

I love Reynoso. They popped him for $700,000 in 2011. He hit 281/382/363 with 27 walks to 31 strikeouts in the DSL in 2012 and is hitting 389/500/528 with 7 walks and 7 strikeouts so far in the GCL this year. It's also nice to see Nottingham with an ops over .800 and the 17 year old cf Martin holding his own.

[Reuben]

Austin Nicely (the over-slot 10th-round pick, HS LHP whom the Astros seemed very high on) made his pro debut yesterday, throwing 2 hitless innings with 1 BB.

[La Verdad]

Troy Scribner, the undrafted free agent from Sacred Heart, now owns a 36-2 K:BB ratio in 23.2 innings.

[VirtualBob]

With Scribner promoted to Greeneville, he is replaced by Luis Ordosgoitti who makes his 2013 debut in a mercy-rule win for the Baby-Stros.

[Duman]

With Scribner promoted to Greeneville, he is replaced by Luis Ordosgoitti who makes his 2013 debut in a mercy-rule win for the Baby-Stros.

I didn't realize they had the mercy rule.  They didn't even finish the 5th inning.  Wow.  Good to see Musgrove in a box score as well.

[Jacksonian]

I didn't realize they had the mercy rule.  They didn't even finish the 5th inning.  Wow.  Good to see Musgrove in a box score as well.

The note says "Completed early: rain"

[jbm]

Proving that God has mercy. 

[austro]

The note says "Completed early: rain"

We've got ourselves a natural disaster!

[VirtualBob]

I didn't realize they had the mercy rule.  They didn't even finish the 5th inning.  Wow.  Good to see Musgrove in a box score as well.

Time to replace the ol' sarc-o-meter.

[Reuben]

With Scribner promoted to Greeneville, he is replaced by Luis Ordosgoitti who makes his 2013 debut in a mercy-rule win for the Baby-Stros.

Not often you see a guy go 1-for-3 with 5 RBI on 0 extra-base hits, as Nottingham did. They list 1 sac fly; I'm guessing 2 RBI groundouts (or FC) and a 2-run single? Don't see how else he could've done it based on the boxscore info.

[Ebby Calvin]

Not often you see a guy go 1-for-3 with 5 RBI on 0 extra-base hits, as Nottingham did. They list 1 sac fly; I'm guessing 2 RBI groundouts (or FC) and a 2-run single? Don't see how else he could've done it based on the boxscore info.

I was trying to figure that out, too.  Maybe bases-clearing single?  Even that sounds strange.

ETA:  You were right.

1 - 0 2 Jacob Nottingham grounds out, shortstop Trae Arbet to first baseman Daniel Arribas. Javaris Reynolds scores. Luis Reynoso to 3rd. Groundout
0 - 0 1 Jacob Nottingham grounds into a force out, fielded by second baseman Carlos Ozuna. Javaris Reynolds scores. Yonathan Mejia to 3rd. Luis Reynoso out at 2nd. Jacob Nottingham to 1st. Forceout
0 - 0 2 Jacob Nottingham out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Henrry Rosario. Yonathan Mejia scores. Sac Fly
0 - 0 1 Jacob Nottingham singles on a ground ball to left fielder Candon Myles. Javaris Reynolds scores. Yonathan Mejia scores. Luis Reynoso to 3rd.

[Jacksonian]

Not often you see a guy go 1-for-3 with 5 RBI on 0 extra-base hits, as Nottingham did. They list 1 sac fly; I'm guessing 2 RBI groundouts (or FC) and a 2-run single? Don't see how else he could've done it based on the boxscore info.

What does the play-by-play say?

[Reuben]

Ah, thanks. Didn't see a button for the PBP.

I suppose a 3-run single would be possible in theory on a 2-out full count, fast runners from 1st and 2nd going on the pitch, slow batter... It could happen.

[VirtualBob]

This is the first of what I hope will be a full series of “season-in-review” posts.  Caveat:  Stats mean very little at this level, especially with the relatively small sample sizes involved.  Enjoy.

The GCL squad had the only losing record in the organization this year, but 6 position players and 10 pitchers moved up the ladder at some point in the season.  Overall they were 27 – 33 with monthly splits of 5 – 3 (June), 12 – 13 (July) and 10 – 17 (August).  Offensively, they were 5th in the league with 4.53 runs/game and an offensive line of .246/.321/.355.  69 SB and 23 HR were a little above the league mid-point and 429 K were a little below (which is good), but 177 walks was almost at the bottom, so patience will need to develop as these guys mature.  The 4.82 ERA and 1.383 WHIP were both near the bottom of the league, and while the 473 K recorded was good for 5th, the 2.16 K/BB was below average.  

Catchers
Brett Booth (22; a 34th rounder out of Alabama) and Jacob Nottingham (18; a 6th round high school selection) split most of the catching duties in June while both getting some time at DH.  Pedro Coa (20; a Venezuelan making his US debut) and Brett Clements (22; NDFA) saw limited time in backup roles.  Booth hit .308/.431/.462 before a mid-July promotion to Tri City, while Nottingham remained the primary backstop all season, finishing with a .247/.347/.363 line after struggling in June (.158/.304/.211).  Coa struggled at the plate all season, finishing at .133/.232/.167, while Clements finally showed signs of life in August, hitting .300/.364/.350 to raise his season line to .222/.340/.244.

Infielders
The season opened with returnee Yonathan Mejia (20) at 1B, Ranger refugee Alex Gonzalez (21) at 2B, 33rd-round pick Tyler White (22) at 3B and DR native Luis Reynoso  (18) making his US debut at SS.  White tore up the league at .365/.474/.556 before being promoted to Greeneville (briefly) and thence to Tri City in mid-July.  Gonzalez moved to 3B at that point, switching positions with  Jose Solano (21 and in his second GCL season).  Another GCL sophomore, Yoel Silfa (19) also saw time at 2B, 3B and SS.  Defensive woes forced both Gonzalez and Solano back to 3B by August, and 17-year-old Jean Estrella was brought up from the DSL to get some PT at 2B.  Jose Fernandez (20) also joined the team in late July, having started the season on the DL and then struggled at Tri City.  He ended the season on the PED-related restricted list.  Offensively, Mejia led the team in hits, doubles, RBI and average, earning an end-of-season call-up to Tri City.  Solano also did well at the plate, overcoming a slow start with a torrid August (.414/.493/.586) good for an overall .300/.349/.507 line, leading the team in SLG and HR (6) before getting an end-of-season promotion to Greeneville.  Gonzalez (.233/.296/.295) and Silfa (.212/.243/.258) seemed to get a little better as the season progressed, while Reynoso (.233/.324/.315) tailed off.  Brandon Wikoff (25) did see a little action early, but apparently reinjured himself and fell off the radar (probably forever).

Outfielders
The outfield was pretty stable all year with 20-yo three-peaters Javaris Reynolds in left and Ydarqui Marte in right, flanking 8th round selection Jason Martin (17) in center.  Luis De La Rosa and Mesac Laguna (both 21) also saw time at the corner outfield positions (and Laguna played several games at 1B).   And finally, Jean Batista spent most of the season in the GCL recovering from injury, mostly as DH, but appearing in 7 games in LF.  From a long-term perspective, Martin has to be the bright spot here.  At 17 he hit a respectable .251/.357/.341 and led the team in runs (35), SB (11) and BB (29) while striking out less than 15% of the time and excelling in the field.  Marte improved slightly on last year’s performance (.247/.317/.349 vs. .210/.222/.306) and earned a promotion to Tri-City at the end of the season.  Reynolds, however, has seen his stats fall off each year, failing to reach the Mendoza line this year (.197/.287/.243).  With 53 K in 178 PA, he may be at the end of the line.  Neither Laguna (.214/.256/.357) nor De la Rosa (.134/.237/.220) showed much at the plate either.  The final outfielder was Hector Roa (18) who joined the team from the DSL in August.

Pitchers
It is not clear that the GCL club was using the piggyback system, but 8 June games saw 7 different starting pitchers.  The trend continue with 7 different pitchers getting at least 2 starts in 25 July games, and 8 pitchers getting at least 2 starts in 27 August games.  Only Agapito Barrios (19, in his second GCL season) had more than 7 starts for the year, though.  He was 3-7 with a 3.44 ERA in 12 starts (52.1 IP).  He did quite well in June & July (3-2; 2.01 ERA; 1.117 WHIP) but wore down in August (0-5; 5.57; 1.905)  His K/9 also fell from almost 9 to about 4.4.  Francis Ramirez (21) made one start in June, 4 in July and 2 in August before being promoted to Greeneville.  Seldom lasting 5 innings, he ended up 0-1 with a 4.94 ERA and a 30:17 K:BB ratio in 31 GCL IP.  Jose Montero (20) had 5 starts (and 6 relief appearances) ending up at 2-2, 4.45 and 28:15 in 32.1 IP before a late-season promotion.   Joseph Musgrove was mostly used as a reliever after being activated in July and ended up 1-3 with a 4.41 ERA and 30:4 K:BB in 32.2 IP.  He was returning from injury and started slowly, but finished out with a 1.96 ERA in 18.1 IP in August.  No other pitcher reached 30 IP for the season.  Other notable performances include:
NDFA Troy Scribner (21) who went 3-2 with a 1.26 ERA and an amazing 42:3 K:BB in 28.2 IP before being promoted to Greeneville in mid-July and eventually Tri City.  He still led the team in strikeouts at the end of the season.
Luis Ordosgoitti (20) who joined late in July from EST and went 0-0 with a 1.15 ERA and 14:6 K:BB in 4 starts before being promoted to Greeneville at the end of the season.
Reymin Guduan (21) who pitched mostly out of the bullpen, recording a 28:10 K:BB in 20.2 IP and earning a promotion all the way to AAA at the end of the season.  Others to earn mid-season or end-of-season promotions included Jorge Perez (19; to Quad Cities), Raul Rivera (22; Greeneville), Kevin Ferguson ((21; Greeneville) and Chris Munnelly (22; Greeneville).