Each month, I will post the Greeneville Astros Alumni who have had the best month at each level, plus one for the alumni who are outside of the Astros system. Let's begin looking back at April:
Lexington
Alumni Hitter of the Month: How can you not give this to Chris Wallace? All the 2010 G-Stro has done is hit .398 with 7 home runs and 24 RBI in the first month of the season. He is one of the leaders in several categories in the Sally League. He is the leader in Slugging %, OPS, total bases, RBI, and is tied for the lead in HR. In fact, his slugging % of .795 is the 2nd highest in all of Minor League Baseball. If he keeps this up in May, he might make a level jump like J. D. Martinez did last year.
Honorable mention to Telvin Nash.
Alumni Pitcher of the Month: This goes to a bullpen guy for April. Gabriel Garcia (2009 & 2010) has gotten off to a hot start in 2011. He appeared in 5 games in relief and has fanned 19 batters in 14 1/3 IP. He has only allowed 11 base runners (9 hits/2 BB) and opponents are hitting just .173 against him.
Honorable mention to bullpen mate Brian Streilein.
Lancaster:
Alumni Hitter of the Month: This one is as easy as Lexington. Jose Altuve (2008 & 2009) has returned to the Cal League on fire. He closes out April with his 40 hits leading all classifications of Minor League Baseball. His .435 average is 5th best in all classifications as well. Altuve is getting alot of attention because of these numbers and the fact that he isn't as tall as most players. He has also been solid with the glove, sporting a .990 fielding percentage only making one error so far in 22 games at 2nd base.
Honorable mention to Kody Hinze who has hit 8 homers in April which ties him for 4th in all of MILB.
Alumni Pitcher of the Month: Jose Cisnero (2009) has fanned 29 batters in just 17 1/3 IP. He has been inconsistent with his 5 starts. Three times he has made it to the 5th inning and twice he has not made it out of the second. Still when you are missing as many bats as Cisnero is, it tells me something is going right. It might just still be a work in progress.
Honorable Mention to Zachary Grimmett.
Corpus Christi
Alumni Hitter of the Month:Wlad Sutil (2004) is starting his 4th season at CC. He appears to be trying to show he doesn't belong there anymore. He hit .418 for the month with a very solid .480 on base percentage and a surprising .537 slugging percentage. He missed the last week of the season with an injury. We will have to see how he responds when he makes his come back.
Honorable mention to J. D. Martinez.
Alumni Pitcher of the Month: CC pitchers who are G-stro alumni have a 1/4 chance of getting pitcher of the month because there are only 4 former G-stros pitchers at the AA level. While several have qualities that could earn them pitcher of the month, April is going to Arcenio Leon. Leon has yet to allow an earned run in 11 IP in 7 relief appearances. However, he could also be named most likely to get burned because he is playing with fire. He has given up just 8 hits but has surrendered 9 free passes.
Honorable mention to Pat Urckfitz.
Oklahoma City
Alumni Hitter of the Month: Like the pitchers in CC, there aren't too many batters to choose from at the AAA level. In fact, before Brandon Barnes was promoted last week, Koby Clemens was the only non pitcher who was a G-Stros alumni. It is a good thing he produced a hitter of the month worthy month, otherwise this space would have been filled with awkward silence as we all looked at our shoes. However, Koby Clemens (2005) had a good month of April, hitting .295 with 5 HR.
Alumni Pitcher of the Month: Jordan Lyles (2008) finished strong to show why he is the top prospect in the Astros organization. He finished the month with a 3.67 ERA and is currently riding a 13 inning scoreless streak.
Honorable mention to Douglas Arguello who got a late start but has had two solid starts to begin the season.
Other Organizations:
Not all G-Stros are still in the Astros org. So lets look at the best of those outside the system.
Alumni Hitter of the Month: Jordan Parraz (2004) finished April hitting .304 for the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Berra Yankees, where his 3 triples lead the team.
Alumni Pitcher of the Month: Victor Garate (2005) has appeared in 8 games out of the New Orleans (Marlins AAA) bullpen. So far he has only surrendered one run in 13 IP. He has fanned 14.
Honorable mention to Troy Patton.
Major League Baseball:
Alumni Hitter of the Month: J. R. Towles is the only G-Stros alumni in the pros and it is a good thing he is having a hitter of the month worthy month. J. R. is hitting .365 in 10 games while sharing time at catcher for the Astros.
Alumni Pitcher of the Month: Of the three former Greeneville Astros in the big leagues, none of them had a month worthy of the pitcher of the month (insert cricket sound effects here).
