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 Brunnemann. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brunnemann. Show all posts

Monday, September 2, 2013

Appy Astros Alumni of the Month: August 2013

Well another summer is drawing to a close.  Playoff baseball has returned to Greeneville and many of the Astros affiliates are preparing for their playoffs to start.  Let's look at the former G-Stros in affiliated ball and see who stood out in August.

Tri City ValleyCats:

Pitcher of the Month
Gonzalo Sanudo appeared in seven games in August and got six saves.  He struck out 17 batters in 11 1/3 innings pitched. He allowed just three hits and one walk. 

Honorable Mention goes to Michael Feliz is having a break out season in Tri-City.  In August, he pitched in five games (four starts) and had an ERA of 1.75.  He struck out 26 batters in 25 2/3 innings pitched.

Tyler Brunnemann also gets a nod.  He appeared in seven games after his call up from Greeneville.  In those appearances, he struck out 10 batters in 8 1/3 innings and allowed just one earned run.

Hitter of the Month
Tyler White hit .265 in August and had more walks (9) than strike outs (7).   

Quad Cities River Bandits

 Pitcher of the Month
Three relievers will share the award for this month.

Andrew Walter appeared in five games (10 1/3 IP) and had a perfect 0.00 ERA. He fanned 10 batters.  

Mitchell Lambson appeared in eight games (18 1/3 IP) and only allowed one run for a 0.49 ERA with 25 strike outs.  He allowed just nine hits and four walks for the month.

Jamaine Cotton appeared in eight games (21 IP) and had an impressive 0.86 ERA with two saves.  He only struck out 12 but he only allowed 13 hits.

Hitter of the Month
Carlos Correa hit .336 for August with a .430 on base percentage and 13 extra base hits.

Honorable Mention goes to Rio Ruiz who hit .298 for the month and had 17 extra base hits.

Lancaster JetHawks 

Pitcher of the Month
Michael Dimock appeared in eight games (14 2/3 IP) and only allowed two earned runs (1.23 ERA).  He struck out 14 batters while only allowing three walks.

Hitter of the Month
Delino DeShields hit .365 in 23 games this month with an impressive on base percentage of .455.  He also stole 11 bases in 13 attempts.

Corpus Christi Hooks

Pitcher of the Month
Carlos Quevedo had a great month out of the CC bullpen.  He didn't allow a run in 8 appearances (16 IP). He allowed just five walks and five hits while striking out 18 batters.  

Honorable Mention goes to Michael Foltynewicz who maintained a respectable 3.63 ERA in August.  It appears he is beginning to tire some as his strike out numbers reduce (just 13 in 22 1/3 IP) but he is still pitching well.

Luis Cruz has shown he belongs in AA.  In his four appearances since arriving in CC, he has a 0.53 ERA in 17 innings pitched.  He has struck out 21 batters during that time. 

Hitter of the Month
Luis Alvarez gets the nod this month not because of his average in Corpus Christ (.235 for August in six games) but because in a span of about a month and a half, he moved up from SS-A ball to A to Hi-A to AA.  That is a rare four level season and deserves notice.

Oklahoma City RedHawks

Pitcher of the Month
Pat Urckfitz appeared in nine games for the RedHawks bullpen in August.  He allowed a 2.08 ERA in 8 2/3 innings pitched.

Hitter of the Month
Rene Garcia continues to represent himself well with the bat.  He hit .258 in 17 games after his promotion from CC.  He also had thrown out four out of nine base runners so far.

Non Astros Affiliates

Pitcher of the Month
Arcenio Leon pitched in 11 games for Huntsville (AA-Brewers) in August.  He allowed just two runs in 13 2/3 innings out of the bullpen for a 1.32 ERA. 

Hitter of the Month
Jordan Parraz hit .319 for New Britan (AA- Twins).

MLB
It wasn't a stellar month for former G-Stros in the big league. So we are going to leave these honors vacant for the month. 

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Eyewitness Report: 8/4/13 G-Stros 17, K-Mets 1

It only counts as one win in the standings but it was a solid statement.  Greeneville stretched its two game lead to three with an all around dominate performance.  Here are the highlights:

The night got off to a good night when Little Appy and I got our Jose Altuve give away t-shirts when we walked in the gate.

On The Mound
When a team scores 17 runs in a game, it can be tempting to overlook the pitching but that would be a mistake.  Jordan Mills started the game for the G-Stros and pitched five solid innings facing just one batter over the minimum. His line read: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K.

Unofficially, I had him at 58 pitches with 43 of them for strikes!  Of the seven strikeouts, five were swinging and two were looking.  The two hits were both doubles.  One was a ball that bounded over third baseman Tyler White down the left field line.  The other was another ball down the left field line.   

Austin Chrismon relieved Mills and pitched the next three innings.  The first pitch he delivered was deposited over the wall for a solo HR.  After that, he settled down allowing just one more hit.  He struck out three and walked one.  He threw several very nice curves on the night.

Tyler Brunnemann finished off the game with a rather eventful ninth.  After striking out the first batter, he walked the next batter on four pitches.  He the gave up a double down the right field line that luckily went under the gate for a ground rule double. Otherwise it is a run scoring triple.  He walked the next batter on a full count pitch to load the bases before getting a visit from the pitching coach.  The very next pitch went for a 4-6-3 double play to wrap up the game.

At The Plate

15 hits. 6 BB. 1 HBP and 1 reached on a drop third strike. That is 23 base runners on the night and 17 scored.   The team was 7-10 with runners in scoring position.  Every Astro who played scored a run.  Even Angle Ibanez who struck out in his only at bat.  He reached when the third strike got by the catcher and he reached first safely.  It was just one of those nights.

Marc Wik went 4 for 5 with three singles and a bases clearing stand up triple to the gap in right center. Wik scored three runs on the night to lead the team. 

Tyler White was 2 for 4 with a two run homer before leaving the game in the seventh.

Chase McDonald went 3 for 4 - all singles - plus a walk.  The one time he got out required a nice play by the shortstop.  McDonald hit the ball toward left field.  The SS dove to his right and threw from his knees to nab McDonald or he perfect night.

Juan Santana only had one hit but it was a big hit.  A three run HR to left field.  He also had a sac fly to plate the final run of the game.

Ariel Ovando went 2 for 4 on the night and led the team with five RBI.  He had three run HR to RF that got out in a hurry.  He latter had a hustle double on a ball hit in shallow center.  He rounded first and realized that both the shortstop and the second baseman had gone out to try to catch the ball and 2nd was unattended.  He cruised in for a stand up double on a ball that was just out of the reach of the second baseman.  He later walked in the game with the bases loaded for his final RBI of the night.

Brian Holberton was 2 for 4 with both of his hits coming in the seven run third inning.  He lead off the inning with a single to left and then added a double down the right field line later in the inning.  He added a walk in the ninth. 

The game was out of hand in the ninth but the K-Mets couldn't get the Astros out so they resorted to bringing in their closer who got a double play ball with the bases loaded to put an end to the massacre.

In The Field

Tyler White made several nice plays at third.  He made a leaping grab of a line drive and a nice play ranging to his left in the third.  He added another good play to his left in the fourth.  He also applied a tag to catch a runner attempting stealing third in the first.   The runner was out by two feet thanks to a great throw by Brian Holberton.

The other play I have circled in my score book as a 3-6-1 double play to end the seventh.  First baseman McDonald fielded the ball moving to his right.  He made the throw to the SS Thomas Lindauer who threw back to pitcher Austin Chrismon covering first.  Just like you work on in in PFPs.

The one error of the night was charged to Lindauer on a ball that was hit up the middle.  He got to the ball in time but couldn't field it cleanly to make the throw.  It would have been a very nice play had he pulled it off. He made a similar play later in the game. 

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Eyewitness Report - 7/27/13 - Pulaski Pulls Out Two Wins From G-Stros

In what could be a potential play off preview, the Pulaski Mariners pulled out two late comebacks to defeat the Greeneville Astros twice Saturday night.  The first game was the conclusion of Friday's suspended game.  The Mariners scored four runs in the in the seventh to take a 5-4 decision.  Then in the seven inning night cap, they got a two run homer in the sixth to secure a 2-1 win.  Here is a closer look at what I observed last night.

Game 1 - Pulaski 5, Greeneville 4

The game picked up with Greeneville up 2-1 in the bottom of the 2nd.

On the Mound

Christian Garcia threw three very effective innings.  His fast ball sat in the upper 80's but he mixed speeds well and keep batters guessing.  He fanned five in the three innings and retired the first 8 batters he faced.  He had a walk and a hit batter but no base hits.

Sidewinder Ryan Connolly came in next and was effective in the 6th before the wheels came off in the 7th.  He struck out a batter to start the 7th but then a short hop couldn't be handled by Tyler White at third for an E-5.  The next three batters followed with a triple, a single and a triple.  An inning that started as a 4-1 lead ended with a 5-4 deficit.

Tyler Brunnemann finished off the game.  I was pleased to see that some improvement in his mechanics.  When I saw him earlier in the year, he would touch the ground with his glove on his follow through.  Now he tucks the glove to his chest as he follows through.  He is not repeating the tuck perfectly as it was sometimes at his chest and sometimes at his hip but it shows improvement.  He only had one strike out but induced three ground balls and two pop outs to short.  He gave up one hit, a double.

At the Plate

Brett Phillips started the third off with a hard ground ball inside the bag at third for a double.  It is fun to watch him run.  He is fast! He also reached on a walk.

Edwin Gomez reached base three times with a walk and two singles.  However he was .500 in getting out of base running goofs.  In the third, with the bases loaded, Tyler White hit a fly ball to shallow right field.  Phillips was tagging on the play but did not try to advance.  However, Gomez took off from second and was almost to third when the throw reached the catcher.  The catcher threw to second to try to get Gomez coming back to the bag but the ball ended up in center and both Phillips and Gomez scored.

He wasn't as fortunate in the seventh.  He scorched a ball that appeared to be leaving the yard but bounced off the top of the fence.  He was nabbed at second with a great throw from the left fielder.  Some people sitting around me said Gomez had started his home run trot, I don't know if this is accurate because I was trying to follow the trajectory of the ball.  If he was, I am sure the coaching staff will let him hear about it.  If not, it was a great play by the Mariners.

Those three were the only players with hits for the continuation portion of the game.  Ariel Ovando and Darwin Rivera both took walks but no one else reached base.

In The Field

Other than the error by White on a tough play coming in on a short hop, the defense looked pretty good.  Darwin Rivera was at 2nd and looked pretty comfortable there.  More so than he has looked at third. 

Game 2: Pulaski 2 - Greeneville 1:

This game was a seven inning game due to the completion of the suspended game.

On The Mound

Chris Lee was impressive last night.  Lee's fastball was sitting in the 93-95 range (thanks to the scout two rows in front for holding his radar gun in a position so I could peek) and his slider was getting a great many swings and misses.  His delivery was smooth and effortless.  I had him at 78 pitches when he was pulled with one out in the sixth with 53 being for strikes (68%). I also had him with first pitch strikes to 17 of the 24 batters he faced (71%).

He led off the second striking out the Pulaski clean up hitter on three pitches. The final pitch resulted in the Pulaski hitter winding up on the seat of his pants after an unsuccessful attempt to check his swing. He ended up striking out five batters on the night.  All of them swinging.

He was helped by the ground rules in the fourth.  After striking out the first two batters, the next batter reached on a hit to short stop.  Thomas Lindauer made a nice backhanded play on a sharply hit ball but couldn't recover for the throw.  The next batter hit a ball into the right field corner that went under the gate for a ground rule double.  If not for the gate being there, it would have been an RBI triple - Pulaski's third of the evening.

In the sixth, Lee had a different kind of luck. After hitting the first batter, he induced a ground ball to second. Marc Wik had to come in to field the ball and made a swipe at the runner going by before throwing to first.  The umpire ruled Wik didn't tag the runner going to second.  Both Wik and Lindauer were adamant the tag had been made.  From my angle, it appeared the umpire made the safe sign before Wik even attempted the tag. 

Lee had the next batter in a 1-2 count and left a pitch up in the zone that was sent over the left field wall.  After giving up a bunt hit to the next batter, his night was done.  He deserved a better fate than taking the loss.

Gonzalo Sanudo came into finish off game getting five straight outs.  Four of them were air outs and three went to the outfield.

At The Plate

When you get three hits as a team, there is not too much to write about here.

Thomas Lindauer had the big hit of the night, a RBI double to left that scored Wallace Gonzalez from first.  

Marc Wik singled in the first after fouling off five pitches.  He was in an 0-2 whole and ended up seeing a total of eight pitches that at bat before reaching on a bouncer up the middle.  He was robbed of another single by a nice play by the second baseman to lead off the sixth.

Tyler White had a solid single to left to lead off the fourth but was erased on a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Angel Ibanez hit a ball hard up the middle that the short stop made a nice play on to prevent him from having a hit on the night.

A bit of good news - the Mariners are second in the league in most strike outs by their pitchers.  They came into the games just two K's behind the G-Stros pitchers.  In the 16 innings played in the series so far, G-Stro batters have just five strike outs.  Meanwhile the G-Stro pitchers added 15 to their total. 

In The Field

Lindauer also made the play of the game in the field as well.  He climbed the ladder and nabbed a line drive to end the fifth inning.

Ibanez made a nice play at third in the sixth.  With a runner on third, he fielded a ground ball on a short hop and made a nice throw to catcher Ricky Gingras to get the runner who had been going on contact.

Tyler White made a nice play at first on a hard hit ball in the second inning.  

Overall

After being 10-1 in one run games, they lost two last night.  Just not enough offense to get the job done.  


Friday, July 26, 2013

G-Stros Pitching Leads Way

The 2013 Greeneville Astros got off to a 1-5 start.  During that stretch, they allowed 40 runs. That is averaging giving up 6.67 runs per game.  In the 27 games since then, the G-Stros are 22-5 and have only given up 67 runs.  That is an average of 2.48 runs per game.  That is a dramatic difference and points to the strength of this edition of the Greeneville Astros.  Pitching.  Let's look closer at the team pitching stats.

Leading The League As A Team
Team ERA is 2.51, which leads the league by a comfortable half a run margin.

They are tied for the most shutouts with four.

The bullpen has the most saves with 14 and the most holds with 13.

They are second in the league allowing just 233 hits and tied for the fewest walks with 89.  But together, they lead the league with the lowest WHIP with 1.11.

They lead the league with 312 strikeouts.

They have allowed the second fewest HR with 9.

They have given up the second fewest runs with 107 but have given up the fewest earned runs with 81.

The only area they are not in first or second is in hit batters.  They have hit 17 batters which is the fifth most.

Individual Leaders
Despite leading the league as a team in ERA by a large margin, only Frederick Tiburcio is listed in the league leaders for ERA.  He is 2nd with a 1.09 ERA.

Only Chris Lee is in the top 10 for strike outs.  He is tied for 5th with 32 Ks.  Tiburcio is 11th with 30.

Gonzalo Sanudo and J.D. Osborne are tied for second in saves with six each.  Osborne has already been promoted.

Tyler Brunnemann is in second with three holds, while Krishawn Holley and Austin Chrismon are tied for third with two each.

There is no G-Stro in the top 22 for hits allowed!

Team Effort
The domination of the pitching staff with the relatively light representation on the individual leader board shows that this is definitely a team effort.  

Nine pitchers have more strike outs than innings pitched. 

Fourteen pitchers have a WHIP under 1.20.

Ten pitchers have an ERA below 3.00.

Jordan Mills highlights this team effort.  He has appeared in eight games with four of them being starts.  He has a hold and a save as well.  In 25 innings pitched, he has a 1.08 ERA, a 0.92 WHIP and 26 strikeouts.  Whatever he has been asked to do for this team he has done it and done it well.

Definitely a fun pitching staff to watch. 

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Eyewitness Report: 6/28/13 Greeneville 2 Kingsport 1

Wow! What a night.  After the teams traded solo home runs in the fifth, there were no runs for nine innings.  Finally in the bottom of the 15th, Greeneville walked off without the benefit of a hit.  Tanner Mathis walked, and was moved to second on a sac bunt by Jack Mayfield.  Darwin Rivera then hit a ground ball to first which should have just moved over Mathis to third but the K-Mets first baseman booted the ball.  It rolled to the edge of the grass and Josh Bonifay took a risk and sent Mathis home.  The throw was slightly up the line and the catcher had to stretch to take Mathis as he zoomed by.  The glove appeared to hit Mathis shoulder and the ball dropped free allowing the winning run to score. 

Here are my observations from the game.

On The Mound: 
A great deal went right here.  Just one run allowed in 15 innings with a team record 25 strike outs.  Let's take a quick look at each pitcher. 

Frederick Tiburcio had a solid start to the game.  He fanned seven and gave up just two hits and walked one in five innings.  The lone damage given up was a solo home run to left by 17 year old, Ahmed Rosario, whom the Mets signed for 1.7 million in the 2012 international signing period.  It was his first professional home run.

Tiburcio threw an unofficial 67 pitches in five innings.  To have that low of a pitch count with that many strike outs is impressive.

Tyler Brunnemann pitched the next two frames.  This was my first time to see Brunnemann pitch.  He has an extreme follow through. When he finishes his pitch his glove hand (left) and his left foot are both touching the ground as he falls toward first base. It is a violent motion that I didn't see him repeating very well.  It was effective when repeated as evidenced by the four strike outs in two innings.  But he also gave up two walks, both on full counts.

Ryan Connelly pitched the eight inning.  The submarine pitcher was the only pitcher of the night not to record a strike out.

Gonzalo Sanudo came in for the next two innings.  He pitched out of a jam in the ninth.  After a lead off double and a ground ball to 2nd to move the runner over, he was faced with a runner at third and one out.  He got Michael Bernal to strike out in a seven pitch at bat for the second out of the inning.
That at bat got circled in my score book as a key out of the game. Bernal had a rough night at the plate. He accounted for 20% of the teams strike outs, going 0-5 with 5 Ks.  Sanudo ended the night with three Ks in his two innings.

Gerado Ramirez came in and may have had the outing of his life time.  He pitched a career high four innings allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out nine K-Mets.

The final pitcher of the night was Christian Garcia.  Garcia pitched the 14th and 15th innings fanning two batters in each inning.  In each inning the lead off runner reached but never made it past first base.

At The Plate: 
Tanner Mathis reached base in five of his six plate appearances: E1, single, and three walks.  This is exactly what you want out of a lead off batter.  Also my 13 year old son observed he has the best walk up music this season.  He is going old school with some Run DMC - It's Tricky.

Wallace Gonzalez hit a towering home run in the fifth.  They had success pitching him away but they left that pitch over the inner half of the plate and he made them pay. Gonzalez appears to be pulling out when he swings so outside pitches are going to be an issue for him. Gonzalez added a single later in the game.

Ariel Ovando and Jack Mayfield also had two hits. 

In The Field:
Parker Hipp made a great play snagging a soft liner to start the game.  I was sure that ball was going to fall for a hit.

Wallace Gonzalez had a nice outfield assist on a shallow fly ball to left.  The runner was moving on the play and Gonzalez throw beat the runner back to first for a double play. 

Jack Mayfield made an outstanding diving stop on a ball in the hole at shortstop.  He popped up and made a good throw to first that Angel Ibanez made a nice stretch to complete the put out.

The defensive star of the night was Cristian Moronta. He was three for three in throwing out runners stealing second.  Two of those were on balls that he blocked and runners broke when he had trouble locating them.  Those three outs were huge in a ballgame this tight.  One ended an inning and two were to nab the hitter who had reached to start the inning.

Final Thought: After the 25 game strike out performance, the G-Stros now lead the Appy League with 104 strikeouts in just nine games. That puts them 16 Ks above second place Johnson City.