Former G-Stros in Minor's Mini Camp

The top talent in the system has been invited to report to camp early for a minicamp. Brian McTaggart posted the list of invitees yesterday. Here are those who were invited along with the year(s) they appeared in Greeneville:
 Ruben Alaniz (2010)
Michael Foltynewicz (2010)
David Martinez (2009)  
Lance McCullers Jr. (2012)
Vincent Velasquez (2010)  
Roberto Pena (2010)  
Carlos Correa (2012)  
Chase Davidson (2011)
Jonathan Meyer (2009)
Jiovanni Mier (2009)  
Rio Ruiz (2012)

In addition to those players a few other players will be participating some since they reported early to camp. Two of those are former G-Stros Telvin Nash (2010) and Ruben Sosa (2011 & 12)

Going Camping: Former G-Stros Edition

Let's check in on how a few of the former Greeneville Astros are doing in camps around Major League Baseball this spring.

Troy Patton - Baltimore - How many lefty's in the O's bullpen is too many? 

"That's too far down the line to be speculating on," he said. "I tell you this: We did OK with one left-hander down there, and the reason was the six right-handers were pitching well. That's just conventionally set up, and I'm not married to that. We'll take our best seven guys down there.....Those things can fluctuate depending on who your starters are.
"I think it comes more into play when your starters are predominantly right-handed that you need a second left-hander, preferably to be a long reliever. I think Patton is capable of doing both. I think he can pitch long and short, especially with his starting pitching background."

J.R. Towles - Cardinals - is really a long shot to make the major league roster.  

Felipe Paulino - Royals - is about a week away from throwing off the mound and is still slated to return at the All Star Break.  He is recovering from Tommy John Surgery.

Juan Gutierrez - Royals - had a great winter ball campaign in Venezuela.  He was named the closer of the year in the LVBP. Gutierrez talked about the impact the injury from 2011 that required Tommy John surgery had on him.

"I matured a lot," he said. "It was the kind of pitcher that threw hard as I did not worry about working, by lifting weights and stuff. With rehabilitation forced me to work hard and now that I have become routine. I strengthened my muscles, I improved as a player and I learned that you have to work very hard to keep. "  (via google translate)

According to reports during winterball, his fastball was back to 93 mph.   He is not on the 40 man roster but has a shot at making the team out of camp with a solid spring.

Fernando Abad  - Nationals - might get a look as a starter in Nationals camp. 

Getting To Know the New G-Stros Manager Josh Bonifay

When the Astros announced their minor league coaching staffs for the upcoming season,  I was excited to see Josh Bonifay returning the Greeneville as the manager for the 2013 season.  He had been the hitting coach for the 2011 team.  I scoured the internet for background on Josh Bonifay and here is a summary of what I found.  Let's look at Josh's background and get to know him a little bit.

Josh is the son of former Pittsburg Pirate GM Cam Bonifay.  He played college ball at UNC-Wilmington where he hit .321/.441/.689 in his final season in 1999.  He was then drafted in the 24th round by the Pirates.  He climbed a level each year through 2003 when he reached AA. There his career stalled. He played four seasons at AA, the final one in 2006 when he played for Corpus Christi and appeared in 113 games and hit .261/.318/.480.  During his minor league career, he played every defensive position except catcher and short stop. He even pitched an inning in one game. He also started a triple play for the Hooks during game four of the Texas League finals.

After the 2006 season, he returned to college to finish his degree at UNC-Wilmington.  To give you an idea of how seriously Bonifay took his course work, one of his professors explained one interaction to the Star News when Bonfay found a course he needed to take was already closed.

"He did a great job of explaining his situation and why he was interested in the class,'' Rowe said. "He told me what he was looking to get out of it. He also mentioned his background in terms of coming back to UNCW. He was obviously very committed and interested in it. Normally I don't let students in after it is closed. In his case, we made an exception."..."When students are younger, they might talk a big game, but not always follow it up," Rowe continued. "In his case, he touched on a lot of the personal issues he has dealt with and his friends and everything and why he is coming back. He was confident he would do a good job in the class. He has exceeded that.''

He officially retired for the 2007 season due to shoulder issues and returned to school full time where he graduated with his Business Management degree with honors. 

He returned to minor league baseball in 2008 as a coach for the Hickory Crawdads.  It is important to note that his father had been fired in 2001 from the Pirates yet it was a Pirates affiliate that gave him his first coaching job.  He coached for the West Virginia Power in 2010 before joining the Astros organization in 2011.  He spent 2011 in Greeneville and then 2012 in Lexington as the hitting coach.

Earlier during the off-season, Bonifay was slated to move up to Lancaster as the hitting coach but then when the front office looked at filling the Greeneville manager position, Bonifay was re-assigned after an interview process that Bonifay called a learning experience.

The Astros put him through a series of extensive interviews with three executives and a statistical analysis expert. Each interview lasted more than an hour. The conversations covered topics from game management, people skills, hypothetical game situations, running a clubhouse, even philosophy on bunts and hit and runs.

"It was a very good learning experience, even if I had not gotten the job,'' Bonifay said. "It was great to pick the brains of so many great and qualified men in baseball who possess so much knowledge of the game.''

In return, Bonifay asked about pitch counts, relievers' roles and the ability of everyone in the lineup to sacrifice or bunt for a hit

 Bonifay is making his managerial debut about an hour away from where he played high school baseball.  He played for Robinson High School in Asheville, North Carolina.  He says he will be trying to use his high school coach, Tom Smith, as one of his role models for this position. 

“Coach Smith is one of those people I want to be in this new gig,” said Bonifay... “I want to be somebody players can look up to, somebody players can call, somebody players know has their back and somebody who always teaches them the right way to go about their business.”

Coach Smith thinks highly of Bonifay as well.

“From his experiences, you could say he’s got a master’s degree or a doctorate in baseball,” ... Smith continued. “This is what he wants to do. I’d even thought he might get into the college ranks because he’s a really good teacher. He works with our kids from time to time. ... What a great opportunity this is for him.”

Smith is currently the head coach of UNC-Asheville and has had more than 20 players drafted but Bonifay is the first of his former players to manage professionally.

The more I read about Bonifay, the more excited I am that we may have a real up and coming managerial prospect at Pioneer Park this summer.  I am looking forward to watching him work.  

J R Towles in Making Himself Useful In Cardinals Camp

Pitchers and catchers officially report today!  It appears that former Greeneville Astro J.R. Towles is in camp and finding ways to make himself useful to the Cardinals.  Whether it was catching bullpen sessions for early arriving pitchers or taking ground balls; Towles continues to show, he just wants to be on the field.

The taking ground balls was at 2nd base.  This was a part of a drill for the Cardinal's Matt Carpenter who is making the transition to 2nd this season.  Towles took balls at 2nd in order to give Carpenter a break during the drills.

J. R. Towles, the sub -- Towles did drills along with Carpenter in order to build in a break for the fielder. Oquendo worried that if he didn't have a second glove out there taking grounders, doing the drills, that Carpenter would wear himself out going over and over and over and over and over and over again.

There are few players that I remember watching play the game with more joy than Towles displayed during his time in 2004 with the G-Stros.  I hope he can put together a solid spring and successful 2013.

Best of luck to all the former G-Stros, regardless if they are a roster lock or a long shot, reporting to camp today.

Mier and Ovando Plus 3 Other Astros Make BA's 32nd Team

Baseball America has released it’s 32nd team this week.  Basically these are players who didn’t make the top 31 prospects of their organization but are still worthy of following.  What is interesting is there are five Astros' minor leaguers on this list.  

Bobby Borchering who is an outfielder we acquired from the D-Backs in the Chris Johnson deal.

Bobby Doran who excelled as a RHP in Lancaster last year and will be at AA this year.

Teoscar Hernandez who will play in the outfield at Quad Cities this year.

and two former G-Stros

Jiovanni Mier, who needs a healthy season of hitting to re-establish himself as a top prospect in the organization and may eventually be moved into more of a utility role. He played third a fair amount in the Arizona fall league.

Ariel Ovando, who apparently has worked at first base in instructional league. The article talks about how shoulder issues and “lack of overall athleticism” have lead to this move.  They project him to be in Tri Cities next season.

While it is discouraging to see a former first round pick and the player who received the largest international bonus in franchise history on the list and out of top prospect status; this list of players shows the depth that has been added to the Astros system over the year and a half.