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. 

Baseball American Ranks 3 Former G-Stros in Top 10

Baseball America released their Top 10 Astros prospects for 2011 today.  While those prospects acquired in trades make up over half of the list, former G-Stros still appear on the list. They represent three of the four players on the list drafted by the Astros.

Number eight on the list is Delino DeShields Jr..  He was also mentioned as the fastest base runner in the system.

Number nine on the list is Mike Foltyenwicz. 

Number 10 on the list is Telvin Nash. 

The list of best tools in the system included former Greeneville catcher Roberto Pena as the best defensive catcher in the system. 

BA says Santo Luis "had maybe the best arm in independent ball"

Former G-Stro Santo Luis was released by the Red Sox this season and latched on to Lincoln of the American Association.  Baseball American had this to say about the big righty in their write up of those indy players who might get a shot at affiliated  ball next season. 

(Luis) had maybe the best arm in independent ball....Luis has a true plus fastball. It consistently sits at 92-94 mph, and he pairs it with a short slider and a split. His delivery has a lot of effort to it, which explains why he's had trouble with consistency throughout his affiliated minor league career. But at his best, Luis can be dominating, and he's struck out 11.3 batters per nine innings for his minor league career.

At 27, Luis' career chances are getting shorter but here's hoping he can get a look in spring training with an affiliated team and maybe a chance to get a call up for some major league time. 

Altuve & Hinze Lead Minors At Half Way Point of Season

Baseball American did a write up on the minor league statistical leaders at the half way point of the season. Jose Altuve and Kody Hinze got a great deal of discussion in the piece.

Altuve is leading MiLB in batting average at the half way mark. His .395 batting average leads the second place batter by .018. Here is what BA had to say about the little guy with the big stick.

Jose Altuve hit .301 at two Class A stops last season (561 plate appearances), on the heels of a cumulative .306 showing in two years in the Rookie-level Appalachian League (360 PA), so he has a clear track record of hitting for average. His crazy .395 average this year has been propped up by an otherworldly showing at home in the high Class A California League prior to his bump to Double-A. Altuve hit .464 (52-for-112) in 28 home games for Lancaster, collecting a hit slightly more than half the time he put the ball in play (50.5 percent).

This is a polite way of saying "the Lancaster effect". We say hooey on that. Let's focus on the fact that since his promotion to AA he has hit .381. We know this is a small sample size (no pun intended) but the leader in AA for average for the season is at .357. So let's quit trying to explain away his success and recognize him for being a solid hitter.

Hinze is among the leaders in HR (19 - Tied for 7th) and Slugging Percentage (.622 - 14th) but he is THE leader in On Base Percentage. Here is what BA said about the big first baseman.

Kody Hinze, from Houston's Nimitz High, failed to come to terms with the Pirates as a 46th-round draft-and-follow selection in ’05. He twice went undrafted out of Angelina (Texas) JC before signing with Houston as a free agent that October ’07.... Hinze toiled for two years in rookie ball and has yet to advance past high Class A, but he's on to something this year with Lancaster. He's clubbed 19 homers and drawn 64 walks, the latter of which ranks second only to the Padres' Jaff Decker in the minors. Hinze's walk rate (20 percent of PAs) leads the way among this group .

Hinze may also be benefiting from "the Lancaster effect" but the numbers don't show as much difference as they do with Altuve. In fact, Hinze's home and away numbers are almost identical. At home he has a slash line of .333/.463/.620 and his away slash line is .326/.467/.636. He is having a monster June, hitting .359 /.495/.679. All this indicates, he is ready for AA. Hopefully he will get that call soon. Hinze is a bit too old for the California League and needs to move on.