Welcome to Appy Astros, a blog dedicated to following current & former Greeneville Astros, the Appalachian League affiliate of the Houston Astros. Here you will find reports on current G-Stros, updates on the development of former G-Stros and occasionally an update on what has happened to the guys who have hung up their spikes.
Showing posts with label McCullers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label McCullers. Show all posts

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Appy Astros Alumni of the Month - May 2013

We are getting closer to seeing baseball in Greeneville.  The draft is next week and players will report on the 16th of June.  Until that time, we spend our time watching box scores of former G-Stros.  Here are the alumni who stood out in the month of May. 

Quad Cities - Low A

Hitters

No doubt who this one goes to this month.  Carlos Correa hit .349/.423/.442 with six doubles and a triple for the month.  He raised his average from .221 at the end of April to .292.  What may be more exciting is that his strike outs dropped from 23 in April to just 12 in May.  He was also 4 for 5 in the stolen base department.

Honorable mention goes toe Jordan Scott who bounced back from a .217 April with a .319 May.  At the same time, his OBP jumped from .347 to .473 thanks to increasing his walk total from 12 in April to 23 in May.

Pitchers

This month we have co-Alumi of the month in this spot. Lance McCullers continues to put up impressive numbers in QC.  In his seven appearances in May, he struck out 26 batters in 24 innings pitched with a 1.88 ERA.  He did struggle some with walks, offering 14 free passes to batters. 

As good as McCullers has been, Jordan Jankowski deserves a mention as well.  In his six appearances in May, he has struck out 32 batters in 29 1/3 IP.  He only allowed four walks during the month.  His ERA in May was 2.15. Jankowski at 24 is older than league average of 22.2 but he is putting up impressive numbers. It looks like he might be ready for the next challenge.

Honorable mention goes to Mike Hauschild who in seven appearances amassed a 3.09 ERA in 29 2/3 IP.  He fanned 19 while giving up nine walks.  He did not allow a home run during the month.

Lancaster - High A

Hitters

Despite missing some time with an injury to his hand. Delino DeShields put up impressive numbers in May.  He his .312/.418/.442 with 12 walks and 15 strike outs in 20 games.  After going 5 for 11 in stolen bases in April, he was 7 for 9 in May. 

Pitchers

Despite his struggles during the month in general, when you pitch four innings of a combined no hitter (5/12/13), you get the nod for pitcher of the month.  So we give the nod this month to Luis Cruz.

Corpus Christi - AA

Hitters

In what may be the biggest bounce of the month, Jonathan Meyer jumped his average from .165 at April's end to .250 as of 5/30.  In May, he put up a .321/.364/.481 line.  Eleven of his 34 hits for the month went for extra bases.  At the same time, he doubled his walk total (from 4 to 9) and he reduced his strike out rate (20/85 in April to 15/106 in May).

Honorable mention goes to Rene Garcia who put up another solid month - .304/.364/.405.  He leads the team and is 5th in the league with a .315 average on the season.


Pitchers

Michael Foltynewicz earns top props this month.  Since his promotion from Lancaster earlier this month, he has been lights out.  In 25 IP, he has only surrendered 13 hits and three earned runs.  His ERA for the month is a measly 1.08.  He has struck out 25 batters and has walked 10.

Honorable mention goes to his piggy back starting mate David Martinez.  Martinez had another good month with a 2.30 ERA.  His season total is 1.83 and is second in the league.  The Hooks have won 11 of the 13 games in which Martinez has made an appearance.

Oklahoma City - AAA

Greeneville only has one alumni in OKC.  Ross Seaton showed improvement in May, dropping his ERA from 11.57 at the end of April down to 7.78 at the end of May.

Minors - Other systems

Hitters

There was some movement among former G-Stros outside of the organization.  Both Jordan Parraz and J.R. Towles were released by their teams and picked up by others.  Parraz in now in AA with the Twins organization and Towles landed with the Dodgers in AAA.  No one really excelled to earn the Alumni of the month for this category.

Pitcher

Fernando Abad pitched seven scoreless outings to earn the Alumni award before being promoted to the big leagues.  Since his arrival in Washington, he has appeared in four games.  He has allowed no runs and one hit in 2 1/3 IP with two strike outs and no walks.

MLB

Hitters

J.D. Martinez had a very good month of May.  He hit .299/.325/.506 with 10 of his 23 hits going for extra bases.  It is nice to see the pop back in Martinez's bat.  It might be an indication he is finally fully healed from the broken Hamate bone and subsequent surgery.

Pitchers

J.C. Gutierrez gets the nod for Alumni of the month with his good work in limited action out of the Royals pen.  In 8 1/3 IP (6 appearances) he allowed no runs and just five hits with seven strike outs and no walks.

Honorable mention goes to Jose Cisnero, who except for one rough outing on 5/4/13 had a very good month.  When you take that one outing out, he put up 12 2/3 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 4 BB and 14 K.  So the month was much more good than bad for Cisnero.


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Appy Astros Alumni of the Month - April 2013

The first month of the season is in the books.  Let's check on the progress of the former G-Stros both in and out of the Houston organization and recognize those who put up good numbers this month.  We will look at a hitter and a pitcher at all levels.

Quad Cities: 

Hitter of the Month: 
Roberto Pena hit .365 in 13 games for the River Bandits.  Of his 19 hits, he had two HR and three doubles.  The 20 year old is starting the season in low A for the third time.  He is doing his best to show he is ready for a new challenge. 

Honorable Mention: Jesse Wierzbicki, who hit .261 for the month but had eight extra base hits and is tied for fourth in the league with 20 RBI. 

Pitcher of the Month: 
Vincent Velasquez finished the month on a rough note last night giving up four earned runs in 2 2/3 IP, yet that only raised his ERA for the month to 2.45.  He has struck out 31 batters in 25 2/3 IP.  His 31 Ks tie him for the league lead.

Honorable Mention: Lance McCullers Jr., who in five appearances amassed a 1.93 ERA with 19 K in 18 2/3 IP.

Lancaster: 

Hitter of the Month:
The options for hitter here are slim as there are just three former G-Stros position players on the Lancaster roster.  Delino DeShields gets the nod this month despite a bit of a slump towards the end of the month.  In April, he hit .250 with three doubles and three triples.  He made just two errors in 63 chances at second base during the month. 

Honorable Mention: Telvin Nash joined the team late in the month after rehabbing an injury in extended spring training.  In the seven games since he joined the team, Nash is hitting .346 with a double and two home runs.  He has taken four walks against six strikeouts.  If he can put those numbers up over a whole month, he will be a shoo in for Alumni of the month.

Pitcher of the Month: 
Likewise, there are only three options to choose from for Appy Astros Alumni of the Month among the pitchers in Lancaster.  Luis Cruz is the choice based on his three starts in the tandem pitching rotation.  In his three starts, he has a 0.61 ERA with 19 strike outs in 14 2/3 IP.  He has not fared as well coming in as the second half of the tandem but overall he finishes April with a 3.47 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings pitched.  He is tied for 8th among league leaders in strikeouts. 

Honorable Mention: Michael Foltynewicz got off to a rough start but has rebounded with several strong outings later in the month. 

Corpus Christi:

Hitter of the Month
This was one of the toughest calls of the month.  Ben Orloff gets the nod with a .322 average in 20 games this month. He struck out just four times in 59 at bats.  That is one K every 15 at bats!  He also took eight walks on the month.  He has also moved around the diamond this month.  He has played five games each at 1B,  2B, and SS while adding three games at 3B and one game as DH.

Honorable Mention: Rene Garcia made this a tough call.  He has only appeared in 13 games but when he has gotten his chances, he has hit the ball.  He hit .333 with four doubles and a HR to his credit for the month.  He has gunned down 50% of would be base burglars so far this season as well.

Pitcher of the Month
David Martinez has quietly put up solid numbers in his AA debut. In 22 2/3 innings pitched, he has allowed just 15 hits and five walks for a WHIP of 0.88 (3rd best in the Texas League).  He has not given up an earned run in his past 13 2/3 innings pitched. 

Honorable Mention: Carlos Quevedo started the month in Lancaster but was quickly promoted to Corpus Christi.  Since arriving he has appeared in six games with one of those being a start.  In 16 2/3 IP, he has a 1.62 ERA with 14 strikeouts.

Oklahoma City

Hitter of the Month - No former G-Stro qualified for the award this month.  Only two former players have appeared in games for OKC this season.  Ruben Sosa was sent down to EST after just two games and Chris Wallace was traded after limited action. 

Pitcher of the Month 
Jordan Lyles gets the nod here.  He had one rough outing that inflates his numbers but he heads to Houston to join the big league Astros after completing April with a 5.32 ERA.

Minors- Other Affiliations

Hitter of the Month
Albert Cartwright is off to a hot start with Reading (AA-Phillies).  The second baseman is hitting .326 with three doubles, a triple and a HR.  He is tearing up lefties with eight hits and 16 at bats.

Honorable Mention: Chris Wallace was traded to the Indians organization during the month.  He played in eight games for Akron hitting ,.367 before being promoted to Columbus (AAA).  Since arriving back in AAA, he went 5 for 7 in his first game in a Clippers uniform.

Pitcher of the Month
Fernando Abad started off the year with eight straight scoreless outings. Despite giving up a run in his last two outings of the month, he still ended April with a 1.93 ERA.  He is pitching for Syracuse (AAA- Washington). 

Honorable Mention: Tom Vessella appeared in nine games for the Richmond Flying Squirrles (AA- Giants). The lefty finished April with a 1.08 ERA in 16 2/3 innings pitched.

Majors

Hitter of the Month
It is very hard to select anyone but Jose Altuve. Altuve continues to show he belongs in the big leagues.  He hit .330 in April and finished the month with 37 hits which ties him for the league lead.  He also continues to make impressive plays in the field

Honorable Mention: Brandon Barnes has come to the plate in 15 games so far this year and has reached base in 14 of those games.

Pitcher of the Month
Jose Cisnero came up from OKC to give the bullpen a fresh arm and he has shown he belongs in the bigs.  The 14th G-Stro to make the show has appeared in three games since his call up allowing just one earned run in 7 2/3 innings pitched out of the Astros' bullpen.  He has allowed just five hits and one walk while striking out five opponents. 

Honorable Mention: Troy Patton has appeared in 11 games out of the Baltimore bullpen. He is holding opponents to a measly .220 batting average.

Overall not a bad showing by the alumni of the Greeneville Astros!  Can't wait to see who shines in May.