Greeneville

[Duman]

Now that the Tri Cities roster has been released, some things are know about the Greeneville Roster and the 05 draft prospects.  There are 3 players from the 05 draft who will be in Greeneville for their 3rd year.  All were high school draft picks but 3 years in the Appy league is unusual.  All have reason to be here:

Timmy Johnson - was a train wreck at SS last year.  Have heard he hadn't played much ball prior to being drafted but there are questions about the mental toughness.

Ryan Mitchell - has had some off the field issues that got him sent home early last year.  Big maturity question marks.

Allen Langdon - Was injured much of the 05 season. 

This will be an important year for these guys. 

[Duman]

Here is the link to the G-stros roster as it is online.  Missing are Mitchell and Langdon.  That means injured and back at Extended or released.  I will see what I can find out.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ros&cid=413&stn=true&sid=t413

[Duman]

Langdon & Mitchell have been released:

Mitchell’s pro career got off to a promising start, but the Astros cut ties with him after just two seasons.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=382

[Duman]

Attended the make up opening night double header in Greeneville last night.  The non baseball local were probably cussing when the fireworks went off at 11:30, well after the side walks had been rolled up. The G-stros split the double header with the Johnson City Cards.

Here are some first glance observations:

The Good:
Axel Gonzalez looked very good.  3 for 4 with a SB.
Ebert Rosario's bat looked outstanding 3 for 7 with a double, a triple and 6 RBI's. 
Timmy Johnson only made one error on opening night, not the 3 or 4 he made last season.  He also went 2 for 3 at the plate.
Brett Robinson looked strong allowing one hit and getting 3 K's in two innings of relief work.
Andy Launier played a good first base and prevented at least 3 more errors with good digs of bad throws from 3rd.

The Adequate:
Pinales & Leon the starters both racked up strike outs but gave up several hits.  Pinales looked better than Leon.
Outfield play was adequate.  No obvious issues

The Bad:
More K's (12) than Walks (9).  At least there were 9 walks.
Jordan Powell had a rough first outing. 1 1/3 innings, 4 hits, 2 walks, 3 earned runs.

The Awful:
Infield defense. 
Rosario had 3 throwing errors from third and 6 out of 7 throws were in the dirt or bounced on their way to 3rd.
Three errors between Stringer and Johnson all were bobbling grounders.

Inning that closely resembled Little League: Greeneville half of the 5th - 2 runs on 4  walks and 2 infield hits. 

[jaklewein]

Wow, where else do you get this kind of information on your favorite MLB organization?  Nice work as usual.  Thanks for the time spent.

[barb]

Attended the make up opening night double header in Greeneville last night.  The non baseball local were probably cussing when the fireworks went off at 11:30, well after the side walks had been rolled up. The G-stros split the double header with the Johnson City Cards.

Here are some first glance observations:

The Good:
Axel Gonzalez looked very good.  3 for 4 with a SB.
Ebert Rosario's bat looked outstanding 3 for 7 with a double, a triple and 6 RBI's. 
Timmy Johnson only made one error on opening night, not the 3 or 4 he made last season.  He also went 2 for 3 at the plate.
Brett Robinson looked strong allowing one hit and getting 3 K's in two innings of relief work.
Andy Launier played a good first base and prevented at least 3 more errors with good digs of bad throws from 3rd.

The Adequate:
Pinales & Leon the starters both racked up strike outs but gave up several hits.  Pinales looked better than Leon.
Outfield play was adequate.  No obvious issues

The Bad:
More K's (12) than Walks (9).  At least there were 9 walks.
Jordan Powell had a rough first outing. 1 1/3 innings, 4 hits, 2 walks, 3 earned runs.

The Awful:
Infield defense. 
Rosario had 3 throwing errors from third and 6 out of 7 throws were in the dirt or bounced on their way to 3rd.
Three errors between Stringer and Johnson all were bobbling grounders.

Inning that closely resembled Little League: Greeneville half of the 5th - 2 runs on 4  walks and 2 infield hits. 

I thought Timmy looked pretty good last night...swinging the bat well. However, I believe Miller was a bit better on 1st than Launier. I was really impressed with Turner's speed. Although he is a bit undersized for centerfield, he seems to cover the real estate and is superb on base.Pestana and Gonzales both caught nice games...good to finally see Pestana catch somewhere besides the bullpen. Pitching might be the best in a while...I will reserve that opinion till I see what Bill does with them. Overall, this might not be as dismal as last season.

[Duman]

I thought Timmy looked pretty good last night...swinging the bat well. However, I believe Miller was a bit better on 1st than Launier. I was really impressed with Turner's speed. Although he is a bit undersized for centerfield, he seems to cover the real estate and is superb on base.Pestana and Gonzales both caught nice games...good to finally see Pestana catch somewhere besides the bullpen. Pitching might be the best in a while...I will reserve that opinion till I see what Bill does with them. Overall, this might not be as dismal as last season.

Miller did do well with some of the lower throws.  Miller is learning first and it showed on some plays.  He had trouble finding the bag on a play where he broke to get the ball but the 2nd baseman ended up fielding it.  When the throw came, he couldn't find the bag. 

[barb]

Miller did do well with some of the lower throws.  Miller is learning first and it showed on some plays.  He had trouble finding the bag on a play where he broke to get the ball but the 2nd baseman ended up fielding it.  When the throw came, he couldn't find the bag. 

Yeah but ask anyone from Greeneville...he had that guy...that ump was obviously just learning the position too

[Duman]

Yeah but ask anyone from Greeneville...he had that guy...that ump was obviously just learning the position too

Duman: Where you at the game Wednesday night?
Self: Yes, I was.
Duman: Where were you sitting?
Self: Right behind first base.
Duman: Did you see the play Barb is talking about?
Self: Yep.
Duman: Was he safe?
Self: Yep and apparently the Astros manager agreed because he didn't come out to argue and there was no indication that Stubby Clapp, the hitting coach, even said anything to the ump.  I never saw his lips move.

Okay, I asked someone who was there.  I stand by my statement. 

[barb]

Duman: Where you at the game Wednesday night?
Self: Yes, I was.
Duman: Where were you sitting?
Self: Right behind first base.
Duman: Did you see the play Barb is talking about?
Self: Yep.
Duman: Was he safe?
Self: Yep and apparently the Astros manager agreed because he didn't come out to argue and there was no indication that Stubby Clapp, the hitting coach, even said anything to the ump.  I never saw his lips move.

Okay, I asked someone who was there.  I stand by my statement. 

Geez Duman....obviously missed the  at the end of the statement.... I was there too,right behind the dugout...c'mon you heard the fans booing the call...perhaps next time you should ask yourself about the meaning of SARCASM.

[Duman]

Geez Duman....obviously missed the  at the end of the statement.... I was there too,right behind the dugout...c'mon you heard the fans booing the call...perhaps next time you should ask yourself about the meaning of SARCASM.

I didn't miss the smiley, I am just not very fluent in understanding them.  A wink can mean many things.

I did hear the fans booing and they were wrong IMO. 

[Duman]

Well tonight wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination.

The Good:
Darnell hit three doubles to three different parts of the park.  All were solid drives that bounced at the base of the wall.

The Awful:
15 Runs surrendered 13 earned.  Duran said "No Mas" after facing 9 batters and getting 0 out. 

Timmy Johnson had two errors giving him 7 in 7 games.  He made a great diving stop of a sharply hit ball then promptly threw the ball into the bull pen down the first base line.  He makes that play and the 9 run 8th may not have happened because it had a chance to be a 6-4-3 double play.

5 Bluefield batters hit by Greeneville Pitchers. 

Chris Turner called looking in the 8th, throws his bat and said enough that the Ump gave him an early night.  He also has a Bingo Batting Average O-63.

Ready for the drafted kids to get back from their senior trips and give us some hope.

[barb]

Yeah, I'm ready for that good bullpen that Linares was talking about in all his interviews. Is there a bright spot? Catching is solid...Timmy is hitting above the Mendoza line.(although not enough to keep him from getting the bus ticket home....soon) It's kinda hard to evaluate the infield when batters are either walked, hit or slapping triples over everyones head...Maybe tonight.......

[Duman]

This is a very young Greeneville team.  We only have 6 players 22 or older on the roster.  Bluefield had 15 players 22 or older.  Our roster is about to get even younger with a couple of HS pitchers joining the roster this week. 

Re: the pitchers Rodney was so high on, 9 are in the states for the first time.  I sure there is some culture shock coming to a place where the only place you can find bi lingual signs is Wal Mart.  I am counting on them getting better as they adjust. 

I saw a lot of immaturity last night.  I think Rodney has his hands full. 

[barb]

Funny you would mention their age...my daughter commented on how they seemed older than previous years...I counted 16 who are at least 20 with most of those hovering around 21. How does that compare to previous years?

[Duman]

Funny you would mention their age...my daughter commented on how they seemed older than previous years...I counted 16 who are at least 20 with most of those hovering around 21. How does that compare to previous years?

In 04, there were 8 teenagers and 12 11 that were 22+ (They used an infielder to pitch one inning and I counted him twice.
In 05, there were 8 teenagers and 9 that were 22+
In 06, there were 7 teenagers and 8 that were 22+
In 07, there are currently 6 teenagers and 6 that are 22+.  We know that two teenage pitchers are supposed to report this week (Bono & Greenwalt)

[Froback]

Greenville is where the Astros put their "Younger" players for SS baseball.

The youth movement has been apparent there more than anywhere else as a direct indication to a slight change in philosophies from Gerry to Tim.

Younger isn't always better, but it tend to be more in the risk-reward cat... where you could get some big rewards out of it, but you can also get some huge busts...  But it is never easy to tell in one year, let alone 1 week.

ETA: But it always looks better if they can show SOMETHING early.  I am not sure they have done that at either SS club just yet though, although the kid from Lamar is looking decent so far.

[Duman]

This is the struggle of development v. winning.  Local fans want winning, the org wants development.  Greeneville was spoiled in 04 with the talent that was on that team.  Of the 04 team, two players are at AAA, and 5 are at AA, 10 more are still in the org with the majority in Salem.  That is a total of 17 players still playing ball 3 years later.  That is a pretty good outcome for a team.  By comparison, the 05 team has the same number of players left in the org and one of those is still in Greeneville.

I agree a week is a short time to evaluate and you won't know the real outcome for years.  From the way things look right now, I anticipate seeing alot of these guys again next year.

[Froback]

If so, I would think that would impact the draft next year, perhaps targeting more 4yr college grads then.  Can't get too much youth if too many don't develop quick enough to at least move to Tri-City the following year.

[Jacksonian]

If so, I would think that would impact the draft next year, perhaps targeting more 4yr college grads then.  Can't get too much youth if too many don't develop quick enough to at least move to Tri-City the following year.

There's always plenty of 4-year college guys to help populate Tri-City.  They aren't always at the top of the draft, but there's always plenty from about round 10 on down.

[Froback]

There's always plenty of 4-year college guys to help populate Tri-City.  They aren't always at the top of the draft, but there's always plenty from about round 10 on down.

There is a reason for that though, and I hope the Astros don't get locked into taking too many of those just for roster reasons.  Besides, I would like to see them hit on one or two of the HS guys like they seemed to have done with Patton.

[Duman]

Let's face it.  Greeneville Sucks this year.  I went into the this series with Bristol thinking "two games with the other bottom team in the division, we should see some pretty good games."  They were awful.  We were the princes of putrescence.

Tuesday night:
11th round draft pick Bono made his first start.  It wasn't a beautiful day.  The best looking team on the field from Greeneville was the "Field of Dreams" team that was a local 7 & under coach pitch team.  Okay, I am biased as it was my son's team.

Bono made it through an inning and a third giving up 6 hits, 6 runs, 3 walks, 0 k's, two balks and a grand slam.  The offense wasn't pretty either.  They strung together 5 runs in the 3rd.  Devon Torrence struck out to begin and end the inning.  However, the first stikeout ended on a wild pitch and he was able to make it to second when the catcher through the ball away trying to get him out at first. 

Greeneville hit into 5 double plays. 

The only highlight from the pitching side was Eduin Ciriaco.  He pitched 1 2/3 innings and didn't allow a run.  He has only allowed one run in the 8 innings he has pitched this season. 

Wednesday Night:

Biggest Crowd in G-Astros history.  3452 fans watched a massacre.  Agustin Pinelas got the start and he also lasted an inning and a third.  His line is WORSE than Bono's.  8 hits, 7 runs, all earned, 1 walk, 2 k's and 2 HR.  One to the same guy who hit a grand slam the night before.  Of the pitchers who pitched last night, the lowest season ERA belongs to Robinson (AKA Dewey's boy) who has a 6.00 ERA.  Bristol scored in every inning but 1 and put up 21 hits.  Greeneville mustered just one run.  We had twice as many k's as hits. 

There were some early game fireworks.  With Greeneville down 2-0 in the bottom of the first, the lead off hitter Axel Gonzales had worked the pitcher to a full count.  The pitcher game inside and a ball hit him in the hand/wrist area and then hit the bat.  The ump called it a foul ball as Axel moved towards first base.  Linares came out to protest the call.  Axel removed his batting glove so that the ump could see the red spot on his hand caused by the ball.  The ump was unmoved.  The next 2-3 minutes were a comedy of Axel turning in disgust, Linares grabbing his arm and showing the ump the mark, and the ump saying he had heard enough.  The call stood and Linares couldn't even manage to get ejected from the game.  When your team is 2-11 and already down with a packed house, get the heave ho.  Another example of this teams poor execution.   

Later in the game, a slightly wild pitch caught the ump on the inside of the knee.  He went down and hobbled for a bit.  The crowd cheered and several crys of "Aw, that didn't really hit you" were heard from the capacity crowd. 

Greeneville has the worst record, ERA (6.84), has hit the most batters (14), has the fewest hits (97), tied for the fewest homeruns with Bristol at 4 (the Bsox hit 3 in these two games), fewest total bases (143), the worst OBP (300), the worst slugging (348),  and the worst batting average (.236).

We lead the league in one category: Attendance - Greeneville is averaging 1990 per game.

ETA: the kid from Bristol who hit the slam and another homer in the series is Jose Martinez.  He is depending on the source (MILB or the teams roster) 6'5 or 6'6 and weighs between 170-184.  His is hitting over .400 on the season for Bristol.  The kid looks really good.  The Bristol pitcher in last nights game was Po-Yu Lin, a 20 year old out of Taiwan.  He is too good for this league.  He now has 17 K's in 14 innings and an ERA of 0.64.

[Froback]

From all I have seen (which isn't much other than press clippings and box scores), this draft class is having a VERY rough start in pro-ball.  I keep hoping to seem them show signs of turning things around, but so far all I have seen is more terrible baseball.

Not a good sign for this year's draft that was really kind of important given the need to keep the last couple of year's trends going of re-plenishing a deleted system.

[Duman]

The perspective I try to keep is that how they are performing at the end of the season is better than how they are performing right now.  Time will tell but right now, Greeneville is awful and Tri Cities is struggling. Tri Cities has a few bright spots (Delome & Dixon).  Their  hitting is pretty good, but their pitching is the worst in the league (5.14 ERA).

[jbm]

From all I have seen (which isn't much other than press clippings and box scores), this draft class is having a VERY rough start in pro-ball.  I keep hoping to seem them show signs of turning things around, but so far all I have seen is more terrible baseball.

Not a good sign for this year's draft that was really kind of important given the need to keep the last couple of year's trends going of re-plenishing a deleted system.

I'll agree that Greeneville and Tri City look really bad as teams, but DeLome and Dixon are looking pretty nice so far, and there are two higher picks that hopefully will be signed and look promising as well. 

However, the pitching at those levels seems troubling, especially since the pitching at Lexington looks kind of thin.  There may be some bright spots with potential, but they are not looking good statistically.

[Froback]

Honestly, (and sorry for getting off the Greeneville topic a bit) I think it more important in this draft in particular to get some hitting talent.  I think the last couple of drafts have seemed to find some decent pitching, and while Lex is struggling a bit in that area, I am guessing another year for some of them is needed, but they are still potentials rather than busts, even with the struggles....

Greeneville and Tri-City don't seem to have any pitchers that look good, maybe 1 or 2 on each team.  That is a bit troublesome, but if the organization can find 2 or 3 position players off each team, that can off-set the lack of pitching.  I think the fact that they missed out on 1st and 2nd round picks and half of the rest of the top 10 rounds still have yet to sign is a major impact on both teams.

BTW, I am going to have to go back and look, since VSL and DSL were just mentioned.... Are any of those VSL and DSL people mentioned last year up this year?

[Duman]

Just back from the best performance by the Greeneville Team this year.  Highlights:

Pestana played a great game behind the plate and at the plate.  He blocked pitch after pitch in the dirt from Bono.  He also went 4 for 4 at the plate and had two RBIs.  His has really improved from last season.

Bono showed significant improvement over his last start.  He was hitting in the upper 80's/low 90's with his fast ball.  He pitched 3 innings and didn't allow a run.  He also fielded his position well.

Abad gave up the only solid hit of the night which was a home run. 

The defense was solid.  There was only one error and it was a hard hit ball that took a high hop on the first baseman.  Timmy Johnson gets a gold star for his defense tonight.

Stringer struggled at the plate with 3K's but was solid in the field. 

Torrence is finding his stroke.  He has hit in 3 of the last 4 games.  Strike outs are still an issue.  However, he is taking counts deeper and deeper before striking out. 

Thinks are looking up just in time for the toughest team in the league heading into town for a two game series.  The Elizabethton Twins are 15-2 on the season.

David Dinelli is in Greeneville but is not on the roster due to an injury.

[Duman]

Tonight I saw an awesome hitting display.  Unfortunately it wasn't by an Astro.  A kid from the twins went 4-5 with 3 homers and 10 RBI.  A grand slam and 2 three run homers.  The second home hit over half way up the light standard in left field.

The game was awful 18 - 0

There will be a story from MILB tomorrow on it.

[Towlie]

Thank you, Duman.

[Duder]

It's not very often that you see or hear of a double digit RBI game.

[Duman]

Here is the MILB story and the link to the audio of the 3 home runs.  Last night, I was begging for the appy league to institute the mercy rule.  We have to play them again tonight.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070710&content_id=272726&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

[jbm]

Have you seen Noguera pitch?  If so, how does he look?  I saw that he was just 19 (lefty from Venezuela), and has held his own, especially relative to the other Greeneville pitchers.

[Duman]

He has only pitched on the road so far.  He should be pitching tonight, so I might get to see him.

[Duman]

He pitched tonight.  His fast ball came in at 88 mph.  Didn't look overly impressive against a very good Elizabethton team.  His delivery is very over the top and his arm very straight.  Walked 5 batters tonight and gave up 3 doubles in 4 1/3.  He was over 65 pitches when taken out. He also committed an error on a pick off at second.  He did pick one runner off first.

Greeneville beat themselves tonight.  5 errors, 4 unearned runs and 11 K's with no walks.

ETA: By the way Romero who hit the 3 dingers the night before went 0-5 and only got one ball out of the infield.  Proof that baseball is a humbling sport.

[Jacksonian]

He pitched tonight.  His fast ball came in at 88 mph.  Didn't look overly impressive against a very good Elizabethton team.  His delivery is very over the top and his arm very straight.  Walked 5 batters tonight and gave up 3 doubles in 4 1/3.  He was over 65 pitches when taken out. He also committed an error on a pick off at second.  He did pick one runner off first.

Greeneville beat themselves tonight.  5 errors, 4 unearned runs and 11 K's with no walks.

ETA: By the way Romero who hit the 3 dingers the night before went 0-5 and only got one ball out of the infield.  Proof that baseball is a humbling sport.

Did you happen to notice Wabick's velocity?

[Duman]

No, the kid holding the gun kept keeping it right in front of his face.  So I couldn't steal any peeks.

[Froback]

BTW, I am not sure if you attend every game, but keep the game reports comming.  I find them something I look forward to seeing.

[Duder]

BTW, I am not sure if you attend every game, but keep the game reports comming.  I find them something I look forward to seeing.

Ditto

[Duman]

I don't attend every one but I do attend a bunch of them.  Thanks for the feedback. 

So far my favorite prospect on this team is Pestana.  He is looking very good behind the plate and at the plate.  Haven't seen his arm used much to have an opinion on it but he is not shy about zipping pickoffs to first or third.  So he believes in it.

[Duman]

Big news in Greeneville, A home win! It moves the record up to 5-20 on the year.

Drew Anderson had a walk off home run, a triple and a single to lead the attack.  He also played a solid second base. 

Torrence is working on switch hitting.  He batted lefty in all plate appearances tonight. His stance doesn't look comfortable but his swing looks okay.  He was HBP, K'd swinging and grounded out 4-3.  He only has about two weeks left before he reports to Columbus to begin football practice at OSU.

The only down side for the astros tonight was bad baserunning.  Two caught stealings and a pick off wasted some base runners.

Pitching was pretty solid tonight.  Noguera went 5 2/3 control was better.  Robinson struck out 5 in 2 1/3 innings.  The double he surrendered was just fair and the single that plated the run was a ground ball that found a hole.  His fast ball is only in the mid 80's but his curve had batters lunging and missing.  Powell pitched a solid ninth.  He pitched around a lead off double. 

Other news of note.  Expect a new name on the roster tomorrow: Bryan Brown, who played at Fl. Southern with Brett Robinson has signed with the Astros as a NDFA.  He is a middle infielder.

Al Cartwright is waiting on paperwork to be able to play.  Reports are that he is working out at shortstop.

With Browns signing and Cartwright taking infield, you have to wonder what the future may hold for Timmy Johnson and/or Phillip Stringer.

[Jacksonian]

With Browns signing and Cartwright taking infield, you have to wonder what the future may hold for Timmy Johnson and/or Phillip Stringer.

Also recall that if Dietrich ever gets his signature on paper he'll play shortstop for now.

[barb]

Big news in Greeneville, A home win! It moves the record up to 5-20 on the year.

Drew Anderson had a walk off home run, a triple and a single to lead the attack.  He also played a solid second base. 

Torrence is working on switch hitting.  He batted lefty in all plate appearances tonight. His stance doesn't look comfortable but his swing looks okay.  He was HBP, K'd swinging and grounded out 4-3.  He only has about two weeks left before he reports to Columbus to begin football practice at OSU.

The only down side for the astros tonight was bad baserunning.  Two caught stealings and a pick off wasted some base runners.

Pitching was pretty solid tonight.  Noguera went 5 2/3 control was better.  Robinson struck out 5 in 2 1/3 innings.  The double he surrendered was just fair and the single that plated the run was a ground ball that found a hole.  His fast ball is only in the mid 80's but his curve had batters lunging and missing.  Powell pitched a solid ninth.  He pitched around a lead off double. 

Other news of note.  Expect a new name on the roster tomorrow: Bryan Brown, who played at Fl. Southern with Brett Robinson has signed with the Astros as a NDFA.  He is a middle infielder.

Al Cartwright is waiting on paperwork to be able to play.  Reports are that he is working out at shortstop.

With Browns signing and Cartwright taking infield, you have to wonder what the future may hold for Timmy Johnson and/or Phillip Stringer.

I think TJ is playing pretty good ball right now relatively speaking.He certainly is showing more hustle than Stringer. Anderson had a good night although I would like to see him a bit less tentative at his position. Third base could very well be the weak spot right now. The team still needs a bit more effort from Rosario... what are the options on that corner? And is their really a place in this lineup for Kyle Miller? Any room to promote Darnell, or it it just time to trim the fat?

[Duman]

I think TJ is playing pretty good ball right now relatively speaking.He certainly is showing more hustle than Stringer. Anderson had a good night although I would like to see him a bit less tentative at his position. Third base could very well be the weak spot right now. The team still needs a bit more effort from Rosario... what are the options on that corner? And is their really a place in this lineup for Kyle Miller? Any room to promote Darnell, or it it just time to trim the fat?

Timmy is hitting .250 in his last 10 games but has k'd 11 times.  That is 2 more K's than hits over the last 10 games.  He should be doing much better in his 3rd year in this league.

Age is a factor for Anderson, he is old for the league.  Stringer at 22 is at the top end of the age range.  Both will have to impress in a hurry to be anything more than just a roster filler in their careers.  The same could be said of the new kid, Brown, even though he hasn't played yet.

Rosario is a kid I actually like.  His defense needs improvement.  He had 3 errors in June, all in the opening double header and all on throws.  He has 5 in July and they tend to come in clusters.  He is young and has a good approach at the plate.  He is only striking out 1 in every 9 at bats.  Right now, he is the option at 3rd.  He has played in all but 2 games and I don't remember him DHing any.

I would wonder where they are working Miller in practice.  He is spending more time at 1b in games.  I don't remember seeing him catch this year except maybe once.  The system in think at 1b and he is 20 so I expect him to get more work there.

Darnell isn't going anywhere until the season ends here.  There is an outfielder glut in Tri Cities as well.  We will lose an outfielder in a couple of weeks when Torrence trades the horsehide for the pigskin.  He has shown good improvement since last year but still has a lot to learn.

[VirtualBob]

Rosario is a kid I actually like.  ... Right now, he is the option at 3rd.  He has played in all but 2 games and I don't remember him DHing any.

Correct.  23 games started at 3B out of 25.

I would wonder where they are working Miller in practice.  He is spending more time at 1b in games.  I don't remember seeing him catch this year except maybe once.  The system in think at 1b and he is 20 so I expect him to get more work there.

4 starts at 1B, 2 at 3B and 10 at DH.  His only appearance at C was as a sub.

[Duman]

Greeneville fell 4-0 tonight.  They played error free ball.  3 out of 4 pitchers were strong (Greenewalt fooled no one in his one inning of work).  The bats were silent.  Only 2 hits. 

Torrence is looking better from the LH side.  He doubled tonight. 

Christopher Turner earned his second ejection tonight.

[barb]

 Young master Turner does seem to have an attitude problem.  Any word on Stringer's whereabouts...he has been conspicuously absent. Last appearance was on the 7/12.)

[Duman]

Young master Turner does seem to have an attitude problem.  Any word on Stringer's whereabouts...he has been conspicuously absent. Last appearance was on the 7/12.)

Word is that he got permission to leave for a few days prior to the off days to address some personal matters.

[Duman]

Good game for Greeneville tonight:

Bono settled down after giving up a homer with a man on to start the game.  Ended with 74 pitches in 4 innings.  5 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks and 6 K's.   Abad, Wabick & Robinson combined for 5 innings of scoreless relief.  Robinson shined in the 9th, striking out the first two batters on 3 pitches each and then using 3 more strikes to get the final out 4-3.

Miller shined at 1b tonight.  In the 5th, with a runner on 2nd, he smothered a hot shot of his chest and got the 3rd out.  In the 6th, he handled another hot shot and started a 3-6 double play with a runner on 3rd. 

Devon Torrence had a schizophrenic game.  At the plate he went 2 for 3 with a walk and a strike out.  In the field he miss played a slicing liner that glanced off his glove and then made a run saving running catch to end the 7th.  On the base paths he was awful.  In the 5th, he was at first with the bases loaded.  The ball was hit to LF.  He tried to go first to third but pulled up 1/3 of the way when he realized the throw was going to be cut off.  Instead of retreating to 2nd, he ran on to 3rd and made the 2nd out of the inning.  In the 7th, he lead off the inning with a double but was picked off when Albert Cartwright pulled his bunt attempt back and took a ball.  Torrence had already committed to 2nd and was thrown out 2-3.

Greeneville had 12 hits in the game.  Stringer who was replaced by Cartwright in the 4th went 0 for 1 and Miller went 0 for 4 and left 3 men on base.  He was robbed of a hit by a diving catch in RF that ended up doubling up Rosario in the 4th.  Brown, Torrence, Launier, and Rosario had 2 hits each.

The 5th was the big inning where Greeneville used a walk and 5 straight singles to come back and tie the game at 3 all. 

[Hornstros]

Bono settled down after giving up a homer with a man on to start the game.  Ended with 74 pitches in 4 innings.  5 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks and 6 K's.   

It's good to hear some positive news out of Greenville.  is there someplace on the net with box scores showing # of pitches for the minor league games?  The box scores at milb.com don't show it

[Duman]

It's good to hear some positive news out of Greenville.  is there someplace on the net with box scores showing # of pitches for the minor league games?  The box scores at milb.com don't show it

I actually keep my own book at most games I attend.  I know AAA box scores do include the # of pitches

[Moose Marathon]

Other news of note.  Expect a new name on the roster tomorrow: Bryan Brown, who played at Fl. Southern with Brett Robinson has signed with the Astros as a NDFA.  He is a middle infielder.

He is getting some hits. What are your impressions of him so far? How does he look in the field?

[Duman]

He is getting some hits. What are your impressions of him so far? How does he look in the field?

He looked pretty solid last night.  He has committed 8 errors this season (3 of those in one game).  Since his arrival, Timmy Johnson has moved over to play more second base, I take that to mean the Astros feel he is a stronger option than Timmy at this time.

[Duman]

Torrence left to go to Ohio State after last nights game.

His stats for the year are a mixed bag.  He hit .149 but had an OBP of .330.  He had 12 more strike outs than anyone on the team and 11 more walks.  He struck out 48 out of 87 AB and took 23 walks.  I don' t like his swing.  He tends to release the top hand and step towards 1st when batting LH which he did almost exclusively for the last half of July.  He didn't play much in the field but when he did, it was an adventure.  He has great speed and very raw talent.  We will see if he sticks with baseball next spring after a year at Ohio State.

[VirtualBob]

Torrence left to go to Ohio State after last nights game.

His stats for the year are a mixed bag.  He hit .149 but had an OBP of .330.  He had 12 more strike outs than anyone on the team and 11 more walks.  He struck out 48 out of 87 AB and took 23 walks.  I don' t like his swing.  He tends to release the top hand and step towards 1st when batting LH which he did almost exclusively for the last half of July.  He didn't play much in the field but when he did, it was an adventure.  He has great speed and very raw talent.  We will see if he sticks with baseball next spring after a year at Ohio State.

Based on that rather discouraging scouting report, I'd bet "no".

[barb]

9-37....bad baseball...bad, bad baseball.

[Duman]

Chris Turner gets a small write up in his hometown paper:

"It's great. I play every day, and I'm playing a higher level of competition," Turner said. "Rookie ball's nowhere near the big leagues, but everybody's got to start somewhere. The game moves faster at this level (compared to high school), but you get adjusted quickly."..."The money they gave me for the round I went made me want to go," Turner said. Plus, (the Astros) will pay for me to go to school all four years. Even if I stop playing tomorrow, they'll still pay for it. It relieves a lot of stress off of me. If anything happens, I can always go back to college and get my degree. I'll always have that security."

[Duman]

Greeneville hosted Elizabethton tonight.  The E-Twins have the best record in the Appy League. The cumulative score in their previous 5 meetings was Eliz. 44 - Greeneville 10. My hopes weren't high since I had witnessed the 18 - 0 drumming back in July. 

Leandro Cespedes got the start for Greeneville.  Beginning with the 3rd out of the 1st inning, he struck out 8 consecutive batters.  He ended up going 7 innings giving up 2 hits and striking out 11 with just 85 pitches. Thanks to a double play, he only faced 22 batters in the 7 innings.  Leon replaced him in the 8th and gave up 3 walks in just 1/3 of an inning.  Brett Robinson came in and was very impressive.  He got two ground balls to 1st to get out of the jam with no runs scoring and then capped the night off with a 1,2,3 9th inning for his 5th save.

Defensively, there were no errors!  Rosario made a great play on a bobbled ball to prevent and error and Sweet adjusted nicely on a ball he looked like he lost in the sun to make an over the shoulder running catch.

Offensively, Miller had 3 hits, five other Astros had two each.  Frye & Rosario had triples.  No one scored more than one run and no one had more than one RBI.  Nice team win.

Only down side was base running.  Had two runners out a the plate and one caught rounding too far off first.

Here is MILB's write up of the game

Marques Williams hasn't made it to Greeneville yet.

Guillermo Urbina has been "sent home".

[jbm]

Please provide a description of Cespedes' arsenal.  Eight in row is quite a feat. 

[Duman]

Please provide a description of Cespedes' arsenal.  Eight in row is quite a feat. 

Was sitting on first base side so I didn't get to see much of location/ movement, and there is no speed gun in Greeneville unless you peek over the shoulder of a player or scout.  They tend to frown on that.   I will see if I can get a post game scouting report at tonights game.

I can tell you that all but only 2 of the 11 were looking the rest were swinging.  I was more impressed with the economy of throwing around 85 pitches while having that # of Ks in 7 innings.  He was helped by a 4 pitch 5th inning and another inning where he only threw 9 pitches.  He didn't throw more than 18 pitches in any inning.

[Duman]

Please provide a description of Cespedes' arsenal.  Eight in row is quite a feat. 

Here is your day late scouting report.  He was throwing in the low 90's but his out pitch was his curve which was in the dirt.  One of the Twin's coaches said "major league fast ball and curve ball in the dirt, yep well swing at that."  He also mixed in a change occasionally

[Duman]

Well the aliens who abducted the G-Stros and replaced them with a team who could play for the last 3 games, returned the original G-stros for tonights game.  Elizabethton was sore from their 5-0 shut out loss and decided to pay Greeneville back by scoring two times for every E-Twin strike out in Sunday's game.  They struck out 11 times Sunday, they scored 22 times on Monday.  Greeneville's pitchers went from 12 k's on Sunday to 9 walks on Monday. 

In the third, after two runs had been walked in by Ciriaco to make it 5-0, Pinales comes in.  He induces a ground ball to 2b.  Johnson fields and starts to get the ball out of his glove to prepare to complete the double play.  He drops the ball before he even gets the out at 2nd.  By the time the inning ended it was 10-0 Twins and the Astros didn't even have a hit yet.  They finally got a hit in the bottom of the 5th but the runner was erased in a double play.  It was in the 6th before Greeneville finally sent more than 3 batters to the plate in an inning. 

Deilbinson Romero hit 3 home runs and had 10 RBI against the Astros in July.  His performance was weaker tonight.  He only had one HR (A grand slam) and only had 6 RBI.  A third of his RBI's and almost half his home runs are thanks to the Astros pitching staff.

Kyle Miller and Chris Frye had RBI doubles for the Astros.

The good news is the Astros don't have to face the Twins again.  For the season their record against the Twins is 1-8 with a cumulative total score of 81-23.  Greeneville has allowed 10 or more runs in 10 games this year.

[Duman]

Torrence left to go to Ohio State after last nights game.

His stats for the year are a mixed bag.  He hit .149 but had an OBP of .330.  He had 12 more strike outs than anyone on the team and 11 more walks.  He struck out 48 out of 87 AB and took 23 walks.  I don' t like his swing.  He tends to release the top hand and step towards 1st when batting LH which he did almost exclusively for the last half of July.  He didn't play much in the field but when he did, it was an adventure.  He has great speed and very raw talent.  We will see if he sticks with baseball next spring after a year at Ohio State.

Torrence is getting alot of publicity as he reports to OSU.  This article has some quotes from Stubby Clapp about his development:

"The sky is the limit for him," said Greenville hitting coach Stubby Clapp, praising Torrence's speed and baseball aptitude. "He's raw, and skill-wise you can tell he hasn't had much fine tuning. But he's not scared to fail."..."Unfortunately, just as he was starting to make some good strides, it was time for him to go," Clapp said.

His agent says baseball is where he likely expects Devon to end up full time.

[Duman]

Greeneville is two wins away from avoiding being the worst team in Appy League History.  They got their 15th tonight and 5th in their last 7 days.  Some brass was in attendance tonight: Ricky Bennett, Assist. GM of player development, Ralph Bratton, National Scouting Supervisory and Regional Supervisor Doug Deutsch.  Cody Phipps, recent draft signee of the Astros who is waiting on his visa to play wisely sat with them and appeared to be soaking in what they were saying about the pitchers they were watching.

As for the game, Greeneville stroked 18 hits including home runs by Launier & Frye.  Every Astro got atleast  one hit, 5 had two and Launier & Anderson had 3 each.  Frye & Anderson had 3 RBI each.  Greeneville only struck out 4 times tonight.  They did strand 12 runners in the game.

Denilli got the start and went 3 innings giving up 4 hits and 3 runs.  Only one run was earned.  His fast ball was in the upper 80's and his curve in the upper 70's/low 80's.  Wabick struggled with control, walking 3 batters in his 2 2/3 innings.  Abad was also effective giving up 3 hits in 2 2/3 innings with one being a home run.  He is a soft tosser whose fast ball is in the mid 80's but his curve and change are good pitches.  Brett Robinson came in for the final two outs and picked up his 6th save.

Marques Williams was in uniform tonight.  Rafeal Parks has returned to Georgia for the start of school. 

[Duman]

Leandro Cespedes went 6 innings in his third straight quality start to lead the Astros to their 16th win of the season.  He walked the lead off batter of the game and then didn't walk another, giving up 5 hits and striking out 4.  He allowed two runs, only one was earned, in the second and settled down for 4 innings of shut out ball, facing just 13 batters over those 4 innings.  A double play and a caught stealing erased runners in the 3rd & 4th respectively.  Cespedes should get two more starts this season to see if he can keep this quality work up.

Coltin Pitkin came in relief in the 7th even though Cespedes had only thrown @ 60 pitches.  Pitkin entered the game with a 32.00 ERA.  He dropped it to just over 20 with a shut out inning of relief.  It didn't start out well as he plunked the first batter he faced on the first pitch.  He then induced a ground ball for a twin killing , walked the next batter and then got the final out on a strike out.  After allowing 6 runs in 2/3 of an inning in his first 3 appearances, he has now had back to back one inning scoreless outings.  The lefty from Baytown Tx just turned 18 last week.

Powell was very ineffective in his 2/3 of an inning.  Duran battled through his 1 1/3 for his first save of the year, striking out the clean up hitter for Bristol for the final out.

Offensively, Andy Launier has found his power stroke.  He hit his second homer in 2 games, bringing him to 3 for the year.  In addition to his 3 run homer, he had a RBI single as well.  He is hitting 347 for August with an OPS of 1.010.

Greeneville scored 3 runs on two hits in the first and three runs on one hit in the second taking advantage of errors and walks to build their lead. 

The Astros are exercising better plate discipline.  For the second game, there were only 4 strike outs by the G-stros. 

Chris Turner continues to struggle.  The switch hitting center fielder has an unusual stance from the right side.  His feet are open but his front shoulder is closed.  It looks uncomfortable.  He his hitting .154 for the month of August which is an improvement over the .139 in July and the .087 in June.

[Mike S]

Chris Turner continues to struggle.  The switch hitting center fielder has an unusual stance from the right side.  His feet are open but his front shoulder is closed.  It looks uncomfortable.  He his hitting .154 for the month of August which is an improvement over the .139 in July and the .087 in June.

Is the same Chris Turner who was drafted last year at 3B?  If so, I'm curious as to why the switch, given that the hot corner seemed to be a position in need within Houston's minor league system.

[Mike S]

Sorry, just reread Jacksonian's 2007 draft recap and I'm assuming this is actualy the high school player out of Florida.

[Duman]

Darnell has moved up to Lexington

Brett Robinson , AKA Dewey's boy, has been released!  He lead the team in saves and had a wicked curve ball.  This surprises me.  I didn't see him as a prospect but didn't see him getting released this quickly.

In checking my source, this info may not be accurate.  He may have just left the team to return to school.  I will try to get clarification tomorrow.

[Duman]

The Appy League All Star team was released today:

Elizabethton Twins have 7 players (half the selections)
Danville Braves have 4 players
Bluefield Orioles have 2 players
Burlington Royals have 1 player

That means 5 teams including the Greeneville Astros didn't get any reps.  Both Elizabethton & Danville have won over 70% of their games.