Towles Talks To McTaggart

Astros.com beat writer, Brian McTaggart, has posted an interview with J. R. Towles. Here are a few highlights but head over there and check out the video.

On dealing with the ups & downs of his journey:

"You always assess the situation, but then I try not to think about it too much," he said. "I try to stay upbeat and not get too down. It's hard when you see everybody else playing and doing well and you know you're capable of being out there with them and helping the team win, and you're not. It is a little discouraging at times. You have to keep a good attitude and keep your head up and be ready for whatever is next."

On his confidence he can play at the MLB level:

"It's not like I'm not going to be able to hit or catch," he said." I've always worked hard and done well and had success where I've been. I know I'm capable of playing up there. I just need to have a shot up there and take advantage of it."

What To Watch For In 2011 - Former G-Stros First Basemen

This is one of the thinnest positions in the Astros farm system. After seven seasons, there are only three former Greeneville Astros first basemen left in organized ball. Here is what I am watching for from them this year.

First Base
Koby Clemens - (2005 - 24- AA) - How does he handle the pitching in MLB Spring Training? Can he cut down on strike outs and bring up the batting average back above .250?

Kody Hinze - (2008 - 23 - A) - Can he get more hits than strike outs? How much will his power numbers jump in Lancaster?

Marcus Nidiffer - (2010 - 24 - SS A) How fast can he move through an unclogged system? Can he hit as he moves up?

Projected Placement

Oklahoma (AAA)
Clemens

Lancaster (HiA)
Hinze

Lexington (LoA)
Nidiffer

What To Watch For In 2011 - Former G-Stros Catchers

For those of us who live in short season towns, spring training is just a tease. Our seasons don't begin until the middle of June. So to keep me occupied until then, here are some of the things I am going to be looking for from former Greeneville Astros. The year they played in Greeneville will be in parenthesis along with their age at the start of the season and the highest level they played at last season.

Catcher
Contrary to what the Bleacher Report says, I think this is one of the deepest positions in the farm system. The three players added in the 2010 draft (Heath, Pena, Wallace) should all be challenging at positions on full season squads. This makes this a big spring for several players who have been in the system for a few years.

Frederico Hernandez - (2008 - 23 - AA) - Can he hit at AA? Can he improve his caught stealing percentage?

Rene Garcia - (2008 - 21 - High A) - Can he continue to throw out base stealers at a 41% clip as he moves up a level to High A?

Roberto Pena - (2010 - 18 - Low A) - Lexington or Tri Cities? Can the bat improve? Can he keep up the 44% caught stealing percentage?

Chris Wallace - (2010 - 22 - SS A) - How fast can he progress through the system? Can he keep up the 45% caught stealing percentage?

Bubby Williams - (2009-10, 22 - Low A) - This is one of the guys I was talking about when I said it is an important year to show progress. Can he show more progress this year with the bat?

J. R. Towles - (2004 - 26 - MLB) - Yesterday, I posted a retrospective of his journey. Can he recapture the hitting magic of 2007? Can he stay healthy? Will he be traded?

Placement Predictions

Oklahoma
Towles

Corpus Christi
Hernandez

Lancaster
Garcia

Lexington
Wallace
Pena

Tri Cities
Williams

What are your thoughts?

Towles' Up & Down Journey

Photo by Karen Warren/Chronicle

By far, the fan favorite of the 2004 Greeneville Astros was J.R. Towles. Mitch Einertson put up the big numbers but he was shy and aloof. Towles was humble, kind and polite. He said sir & ma'am, smiled alot and signed plenty of autographs. The fact that he added Phil. 4:13 after every signature endeared him to the good church going folks of Greeneville. Everyone liked him but it was clear, he wasn't the best player on the team. He was a good catcher and a neat kid.

Then next season, on the way up to Tri Cities to play for the ValleyCats, he gets a phone call. That phone call that changed his destination to Lexington. I have to say this for J.R., he took advantage of that opprotunity. He hit over .300 in 05 and 06 in Lexington. In 07, he got off to a rough start in Salem. Then opprotunity knocked again. He was sent to fill in at Corpus Christi for a brief time and ended up getting promoted to Round Rock and later in the year to Houston. Once in Houston, he again took advantage of the opprotunity, hitting .375 in 14 games and knocking in a record 8 runs in one game. What a magical season!

The last three years have been spent, battling injury and expectations from his magical run in 2007. Last year, he started the season in Houston and struggled. He was sent down all the way to AA where he played in just a few games prior to being injured and missing the rest of the season.

So what does this year hold? Since my crystal ball is on the fritz, I can't say for sure. However, I will give a few possibilities.

1. Towles is traded. This would be the best case scenario for the Astros & J.R. . The Astros are committed to Jason Castro as their #1 catcher. Humberto Quintero is a solid veteran back up. That makes Towles expendable. With other solid catching prospects coming up the system, maybe he could be traded for a less deep position player to help out the system depth. He is young enough and talented enough to be beneficial to another organization who is not deep in catching.

2. Towles starts in AAA. This is most likely. The same factors that make option 1 attractive, make option 2 likely. He would be a call up should Castro or Q become injured.

3. Towles has another break out spring and makes the roster. This is highly unlikely. But remember this is the Phil. 4:13 kid. If this happens, there will be a bunch of happy fans in Greeneville.

A Few Updates

Nothing earth shattering, just keeping you abreast of the latest regarding the former G-Stros.

Delino Deshields Sr. is the manager of the Dayton Dragons, Reds low A ball affiliate in the MidWest League. In article today, it was learned that it is not just the boys in the family who are talented. Former G-Stro DeLino Deshields Jr's little sis is making a name for herself.

Diamond, a 6-foot-2 guard who can dunk, was the Georgia big-school basketball player of the year as a freshman. Now a sophomore, she plans to visit Connecticut, Tennessee, Duke and Xavier, among others.

The article also told us that Lino is slated to be heading to Lexington to start the season.

Jordan Parraz is in spring training with the Yankee's this year after they picked him up on waivers from the Red Sox who had claimed him on waivers from the Royals. NJ.com introduced him to the Yankee fans this way.

OF Jordan Parraz, 26, owns a .289 (672-for-2,324) career batting average with 147 doubles, 54 home runs and 325 RBI in 634 minor league games in the Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals organizations. In 2010, he played the entire season with Triple-A Omaha (KC), batting .266 (115-for-432) with 58 runs, 27 doubles, 11 home runs and 61 RBI in 123 games. Following the season, he played with La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League, batting .306 (22-for-72) in 25 games. Parraz was originally selected by Houston in the third round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft.

Fifth starter and bullpen are two hot topics for the Astros in spring training. Fernando Abad is finding himself square in the middle of those discussions. The following quotes are from Brian McTaggart's recent interview with Astros GM Ed Wade:

What do we do with Fernando Abad? He just went 7-1 in the Dominican, a lot of it was as a starter. What's his role on our club? Do we put him in the bullpen? Do we roll him out and let him compete for a starting job? Those are things that we'll have to address...

I just think what Fernando did this offseason, all of a sudden you've got to say, 'Wow, this is pretty significant.' Philosophically, I'm a believer - I've said this before -- I'm a believer that if a guy shows a potential for being a starter you exhaust those possibilities... bullpen guys are far less expensive than starting pitchers, and starting pitchers make a lot of money for a reason 'cause there aren't very many of them around.