Week 04/08 - 04/14: Ask And Ye Shall Maybe Receive vol. VIII

[Jacksonian]

The minor league seasons have begun.  Post away.

[Knoxbanedoodle]

are y'all gonna do reports on the individual games like's been going on the past couple years?

[Bannie]

Where are you getting results?  Baseball America has changed their scoreboard page and I cant find where to access previous days results/box scores.

[ace]

Fernando Nieve looked great in his debut but didn't get the win. He pitched 6 innings, allowed only one run on 3 hits, walked 1 and struck out 9! He reportedly hit the high 90s on his fastball.

Mitch Einertson's debut didn't go well as he went 0-4 with a K and a BB.

[Jacksonian]

Quote:
Where are you getting results?  Baseball America has changed their scoreboard page and I cant find where to access previous days results/box scores.

With mlb taking over just about everything minor league, the stats are now completely controlled by baseball.  So, you can find stats at minorleaguebaseball.com.  At the moment, they're having some difficulty with accuracy and completeness.  I have no idea if they will archive each day's boxscores.

[Jacksonian]

Quote:
are y'all gonna do reports on the individual games like's been going on the past couple years?

No.  No one has the energy or balls to do what Greg Dunn did with that.

 See here (last paragraph) for what we intend to do in regards to how things are going in the minors during the season.

[Greg D]

Quote:
No.  No one has the energy or balls to do what Greg Dunn did with that.

Even Greg Dunn no longer has the energy or balls to do it. While the amount of time involved is far and away the biggest deterrent in doing the game recaps, having complete/accurate/timely (particularly the latter) box scores was a bit of a challenge at times. And at least thus far this season, things have worsened (fuckin' MLB!). Getting timely minor league transaction information (not 3 weeks after the fact) and more detailed stats (splits, etc.) has also gotten harder over the last year or so. If you're able to get this information, it's usually not without a helluva lot of effort.

Kudos to John, Noe and Agent Smith (whoever the hell that guy is) for their efforts this year. I'm looking forward to the weekly summaries!

[jent]

Hope this hasn't already been covered. Didn't see him on any roster; assuming he's out of the organization. Any notion where he's surfaced?

[ace]

Jason Hirsh took a no hitter into the 7th inning but the Hooks still lost. Hirsh finished with 6.2 innings, allowing only 1 hit and only 1 run.

Mark McLemore allowed only 1 hit and gave up no runs in 5 innings of work in the loss for the Hooks.

Josh Muecke pitched 5 shutout innings in an 8-0 win for Salem, allowing only a bunt single. Edwin Maysonet was 2-3 with a triple, a run scored and 2 RBI. Justin Humphries was 2-3 with a homer, 2 runs scored and 2 RBI.

Astros minor league pitching is off to a great start to the season! On the other hand, let's hope that this is the year that Humphries breaks out.

[Kent's Moustache]

jent, it's my understanding that Topolski retired at the conclusion of Spring Training.

[jent]

Quote:
jent, it's my understanding that Topolski retired at the conclusion of Spring Training.

No kidding? At 28? Do you know the reasons cited, i.e. lingering injury or just that he and/or club just didn't see any future progression? And for the sole reason of posing another question, what led from his demise from prospect back in Lexington to backup 1b in Roundrock this past year (aside from the huge K numbers that have followed him everywhere). Thanks for any info.

[No? in Austin]

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jent, it's my understanding that Topolski retired at the conclusion of Spring Training.

No kidding? At 28? Do you know the reasons cited, i.e. lingering injury or just that he and/or club just didn't see any future progression? And for the sole reason of posing another question, what led from his demise from prospect back in Lexington to backup 1b in Roundrock this past year (aside from the huge K numbers that have followed him everywhere). Thanks for any info.

Speed.  Baseball is played at higher levels is all about quickness and adaptivity.  Topolski is not fast, quick, nor in possession of talent that makes him anything more than a good backup minor leaguer.  He probably figured it out when he was playing that the speed of the game at this level was well above his abilities.  He probably has a career awaiting him in some form that he'd like to get going with to take care of his family.

[Kent's Moustache]

Topper was apparently slated for an assignment to AA Corpus Christi, as a 5th OF and part-time 1B.

As Noe said, he likely read the handwriting on the wall and elected to pursue other career options.  He's a good dude, and I wish him the best.

[Kent's Moustache]

On the same topic, it's also my understanding that OF Anthony Acevedo also retired during or at the conclusion of Spring Training this year, primarily because of a lingering knee problem (that cost him most of last season).

[Jacksonian]

Speaking of Topolski, he was recently elected to the Lexington Legends Hall of Fame for his excellent 2001 season.

[jent]

Quote:
Speaking of Topolski, he was recently elected to the Lexington Legends Hall of Fame for his excellent 2001 season.

Thanks for the update, I hadn't been unable to find anything on the net for some time.

I've been coming to this site for years now, and it's odd that this topic was the one to spurn my first post.

Anyhow, ya'll are dead on...Jon's a real good guy. He and I played on the same teams from little league through high school back when we were on the northwest side of Houston. It's funny, back then one of his main assets was speed...then I came back to town in the late nineties and chatted with him in person. I had no idea how the years at baylor had bulked him up...guess it made him a different kind of player.

And I hear you on the speed of the game; obviously the speed you're referring to is of a different type than what I was rambling about above, but nonetheless it hits the mark...well he always played the game as it should be played and made a pretty good run.

Thanks again for the info and look forward to more good chat.

[Tralfaz]

Anyone know if the Express rallied in the ninth tonight against the I-Cubs?

[Greg D]

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Anyone know if the Express rallied in the ninth tonight against the I-Cubs?

Got runners on 1st and 3rd with none out, then followed up with 3 straight whiffs (Rivera, Quintero, and Huff).

Ouch.

[Great Ajax]

Too bad about Round Rock last night, but I have to say our pitching in the minors has been nothing short of nasty.  Anyone have a composite ERA for our four minor teams thus far?

[Great Ajax]

Quote:
Too bad about Round Rock last night, but I have to say our pitching in the minors has been nothing short of nasty.  Anyone have a composite ERA for our four minor teams thus far?

I decided to sit here and work out the answer to my own question...Composite ERA for the Astros Minor Leagues thus far is 2.66.  BRILLIANT.  22 total games thus far across the four teams (ROU 6, CC 5, SAL 5, LEX 6).

[VirtualBob]

Any word on where these guys ended up?  Kyle was on the team as late as the 4/1 exhibition against the 'stros, but seems to have disappeared.

On a related note, has anyone found a timely and reliable source of minor league transactions?  The various places I have looked in the past seem to have very incomplete reports.

[VirtualBob]

Oh wait ... I see that there is a "Hill" on the extended ST list.  Is he rehabbing from another bout of his chronic injury problems the last couple of years?  I would assume so ...

[Jacksonian]

Quote:
Any word on where these guys ended up?  Kyle was on the team as late as the 4/1 exhibition against the 'stros, but seems to have disappeared.

On a related note, has anyone found a timely and reliable source of minor league transactions?  The various places I have looked in the past seem to have very incomplete reports.

Minor League Baseball, through the majors, has clamped down on all things official: stats, boxscores, and transactions.  Minorleaguebaseball.com told me that it would be a couple of weeks before they had minors transactions up and running.

They opened their redesigned site way before it was ready.  They still can't seem to figure out how to apply IP to their boxscores; their player search function, which worked fine in the old site, is still not ready; some of their stats are inaccurate (see Martinez, Ronnie);  they haven't formatted all the team schedules properly (see Rock, Round)...  It may be mid-May before they are reliable.

[VirtualBob]

Quote:

Quote:
Any word on where these guys ended up?  Kyle was on the team as late as the 4/1 exhibition against the 'stros, but seems to have disappeared.

On a related note, has anyone found a timely and reliable source of minor league transactions?  The various places I have looked in the past seem to have very incomplete reports.

Minor League Baseball, through the majors, has clamped down on all things official: stats, boxscores, and transactions.  Minorleaguebaseball.com told me that it would be a couple of weeks before they had minors transactions up and running.

They opened their redesigned site way before it was ready.  They still can't seem to figure out how to apply IP to their boxscores; their player search function, which worked fine in the old site, is still not ready; some of their stats are inaccurate (see Martinez, Ronnie);  they haven't formatted all the team schedules properly (see Rock, Round)...  It may be mid-May before they are reliable.

Yeah ... I noticed all that ... too bad they can;t just subcontract it out to Baseball America ... there site still works, it just can;t get access to the data anymore.  Bother!

[Kent's Moustache]

It is my understanding that the Astros released Kyle Logan on the weekend of the exhibition game against the Express.  I don't know any details about the move, though.

It is also my understanding that Mike Hill suffered a freak injury while working out this off-season and is continuing to rehab at Extended.

[Jacksonian]

Quote:

Quote:

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Any word on where these guys ended up?  Kyle was on the team as late as the 4/1 exhibition against the 'stros, but seems to have disappeared.

On a related note, has anyone found a timely and reliable source of minor league transactions?  The various places I have looked in the past seem to have very incomplete reports.

Minor League Baseball, through the majors, has clamped down on all things official: stats, boxscores, and transactions.  Minorleaguebaseball.com told me that it would be a couple of weeks before they had minors transactions up and running.

They opened their redesigned site way before it was ready.  They still can't seem to figure out how to apply IP to their boxscores; their player search function, which worked fine in the old site, is still not ready; some of their stats are inaccurate (see Martinez, Ronnie);  they haven't formatted all the team schedules properly (see Rock, Round)...  It may be mid-May before they are reliable.

Yeah ... I noticed all that ... too bad they can;t just subcontract it out to Baseball America ... there site still works, it just can;t get access to the data anymore.  Bother!

BA's stats and boxscores, like everyone else's, are now pulled directly from milb.com.  Which is why every site has the exact same errors as milb.com.

BTW, BA's stats prior to this year were pulled from other sources.  Those sources have been shut out by mlb/milb.

I'm still hopeful that milb.com will work properly, someday.

[Jacksonian]

if you want to sign up through the Hooks website, you can watch and listen to the game this afternoon against Frisco.

[jasonact]

Kick ass feature!! It looks like it's the video feed from the in-stadium big board and the radio broadcast.

I should become much more familiar with the Hooks this season.

[Great Ajax]

Quote:
if you want to sign up through the Hooks website, you can watch and listen to the game this afternoon against Frisco.

Wow, that is great.  I hope they play a lot of afternoon games this year.

[jaklewein]

By the way...if you go to the minorleaguebaseball.com and click on the "All leagues" link on the scoreboard...then select the team...it lists archived boxscores.  I couldn't find this early on and was miffed as to why they wouldn't have it.  Guess they had it all the time, I was just looking in the wrong places.

[Jacksonian]

Quote:
By the way...if you go to the minorleaguebaseball.com and click on the "All leagues" link on the scoreboard...then select the team...it lists archived boxscores.  I couldn't find this early on and was miffed as to why they wouldn't have it.  Guess they had it all the time, I was just looking in the wrong places.

Even easier, simply select your team from the pulldown menu top left, then click on "Schedule" on the left.  This gives you the schedule and boxscores.