Appy Astros Alumni of the Month: May 2012

Well, I have let June slip up on me and I haven't gotten the highlights from May wrapped up.  Better late than never.  We have two months of full season ball under our belts now, let's see who put up solid months in May.

Lexington Legends: 
Hitter of the Month-
Last month, we gave the award to Alex Todd, he has absconded to Lancaster.  In May, we are going to Delino DeShields Jr..  I know he only hit .252 in May but 1/3 of his hits went for extra bases.  But it is more about what happened when he got on base.  He stole 16 bases in 20 attempts in May.  He had 32 total stolen bases in 36 attempts this season.

Honorable Mention: Chan Moon hit .283 in his first 13 games with Lexington and Jordan Scott who hit .270 for the month with nine doubles and two triples. 


Pitcher of the Month-
Last month, the honor went the Mike Foltynewicz.  He had another good month (3-0 with a 2.84 ERA) but Luis Cruz was better.  He made five quality starts in the month and finished with a 1.85 ERA in 39 innings pitched.  The little lefty looks like he is putting together a quality year in his third season in Lexington.

Honorable Mention: Folty and Carlos Quevedo who made nine appearances out of the pen (19 1/3 IP) and allowed just 3 earned runs (1.40 ERA).  Also worth of a mention is Murilo Gouvea who made 11 relief appearances (16 IP) and struck out 19 batters while amassing a 2.25 ERA.  



Lancaster JetHawks
Hitter of the Month 
Jonathan Meyer cooled off in May hitting just .265 and Telvin Nash hit a rough patch seeing his average plummet while his strike outs continued to climb.  So this month, the Almni hitter of the month is Ben Orloff who hit .287 for May.  He also had more walks than strike outs. 

Honorable Mentions: Rafael Valenzuela who in limited playing time, hit .270 with eight of his 20 hits going for extra bases.

Pitcher of the Month
This month, we are going to the bullpen to give the award to Jose Trinidad. Trinidad pitched in 10 games in May.  Eight were in relief and two were starts.  In those appearances, he covered 22 1/3 innings pitched and only allowed 6 earned runs for an ERA of 2.42 for the month.

Honorable Mention to RJ Alaniz and Tyson Perez  who both had good starts in May but also had a few where the game got away from them.  But there was more good than bad.


Corpus Christi Hooks
Hitter of the Month
Here we have another situation where the incumbent, Brandon Barnes, was promoted to the next level during the subsequent month; so he was not here to defend his stats as alumni of the month.   There is not much to write home about with the remaining Greeneville alumni on the roster.  However, in limited action, Chris Wallace put together a .273 average in seven games (8 at bats).  With the struggles of other former G-Stros Hinze and McCurdy; Wallace is the best chose this month.

Pitcher of the Month 
Ross Seaton was very good this May.  In six starts, he pitched six plus innings in five of them and in those five, he did not give up more than three runs.  His ERA for the month was 2.70.  When you consider he was charged with four earned runs in his first start of the month; his solid ERA at the end of the month is more impressive.


Oklahoma City RedHawks
Hitter of the Month
Brandon Barnes brought his hitting with him to OKC.  In the four games after he arrived late in the month, he hit .333 with five singles in fifteen at bats.  

Pitcher of the Month 
Jordan Lyles made three starts in OKC in May.  His ERA over those starts was 3.68.  It has been announced that he is in Houston to stay for the foreseeable future so this may be his last shot at AppyAstros Alumni of the month in AAA for a while.

Outside of the System - Minors

Hitter of the Month - Vacant
This section might be called dishonorable mention.  No one stood out.  Jordan Parraz went 0 for 16 in May before landing on the DL with a broken hand.   Ralph Henriquez was promoted to AAA Tacoma after hitting .228 in AA.  J R Towles hit .231 for the month.  Wlad Sutil hit .224 for May.  Albert Cartwright couldn't get above .188 for the month.  Amandeo Zazueta hit just .148.  Koby Clemens was sent down to high A ball and then further down to a short season roster as the work with him on possible returning to catcher. 

Pitcher of the Month
Sammy Gervacio appeared on the roster of the Rieleros de Aguascalientes of the Mexican league in May.  He appeared in nine games (10 IP) and maintained an ERA of just 1.80 and struck out 12 batters.  The Mexican League is AAA but it is unaffiliated.  It will be interesting to see if his pitching catches the attention of an affiliated team in the near future. 

Major League
Hitter of the Month - Jose Altuve
El Escorpion continues his solid performance at the plate.  He hit a solid .283 with six more walks.  While this is down from April.  It is still worthy of recognition.  

Pitcher of the Month - Troy Patton
Patton repeats as Pitcher of the Month.  He was called on 11 times out of the Oriole bullpen and he responded with a 3.55 ERA and also started striking batters out more.  After striking out just four in 10 innings in April, Patton fanned 16 in 12 2/3 innings pitched in May.

What To Watch For In 2012 - Former G-Stros First Basemen

There are more former G-Stros at first than there were last year but the majority are a bit long in the tooth for the levels they were at last year.   Here is what I am watching for from them this year.

First Base
Koby Clemens - (2005 - 25- AAA) -  Signed a minor league free agent deal with the Blue Jays.  Where will he land when spring training breaks?  Las Vegas (AAA) or New Hampshire (AA)? Will he be at 1st or 3rd? 

Chase Davidson - (2011 - 22 - SS A) - Hit .335 in 43 games with Greeneville before a brief promotion to Tri Cities.  Saw only 10 games at 1B in the 2011 season.  How will he hit when he faces more age appropriate competition? Can he cut down on the K's?

Kody Hinze - (2008 - 24 - AA) - Made the two level move last year, blistering Lancaster and putting up solid numbers in AA.  Is the best defensive first baseman in the bunch, with a career .991 fielding percentage.  Can he increase his power numbers against advanced pitching?

Marcus Nidiffer - (2010 - 25 - Low A ) Was released by the Astros and later signed with the Angels last year.  They moved him back to catcher, where he played in college.  He hit .230 for Cedar Rapids in the Midwest League.  Will he get a shot to play ball again this season or will he be considered to old for the level? 

Telvin Nash - (2010 - 21 - Low A) Made the move to 1B last season and was off to a great start at he plate when he broke the hamate bone in his hand. He is the best prospect of the bunch.  Just how many prodigious HR will he hit in Lancaster this year?  Can he stay healthy?  Can he reduce the K's?

Rafael Valenzuela - (2010 - 24 - SS A) The NDFA out of Arizona missed part of 2011 with injury but hit a solid .316 in 31 games with Tri Cities. In his minor league career, he has 42 games at 1B and 37 at 3B. Will he get a shot at full season ball in 2012?   Which side of the diamond will he land on?


Jesse Wiersbicki - (2011- 23 - Rookie) Played 37 of 45 games at 1B for the G-Stros in 2011.  He hit .265 and had five HR.  Will he get to jump to full season ball in 2012?  Can he continue to show good OBP (358 in 2011) against advance competition?

Projected placement of those in the Astros organization. Last year, I was two out of three.

Oklahoma (AAA)
Hinze 

Corpus Christi

Lancaster (HiA)
Nash
 
Lexington (LoA)
 Davidson
Valenzuela 

Extended Spring Training
Wiersbicki

Blast from the past
2004 G-Stro Ole Shelton was still playing indy ball in 2011.  He hit .304 for the Saint Paul Saints.

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

Lets finish our trip around the infield with a look at what we are watching for out of former G-Stro third basemen in 2011. The theme for this position appears to be 'getting old fast'. Remember we covered Koby Clemens in our series when I discussed first basemen. In parenthisis are the year(s) they played in Greeneville and their age on opening day this year.

Third Basemen
Neil Sellers (2004, 28) - After playing 3 seasons in the Phillies organization, he signed as a minor league free agent with the Marlins this season where he will likely be a AAA teammate of former G-Stro Victor Garate who also signed with Florida this off season. Can he improve on his poor AAA performance last season? Will the thinner ranks of the Marlins organization give him a shot at getting a cup of coffee in the bigs?

Jhon Florentino (2005, 27) - After progressing a step each year since 2005, he repeated at AA for 2010. His numbers didn't reflect any improvement in his second season there. He was a minor league free agent at the end of the season and I haven't seen him sign with anyone yet. So the only question is will he be in spring training at all?

Jonathan Meyer (2009, 20) - Will he repeat in Lex or get pushed on to Lancaster? Can he reduce the numbers of errors? Can he continue to improve at the plate?

Ebert Rosario (2007,08, 23) - He was sent back to the GCL last season and converted to a pitcher. So he will be in one of the short season teams working on learning to pitch. Let's hope he has as much success at that as Jorge DeLeon had last year.

Rafael Valezuala (2010, 23) - I am wondering if he will start in short season or jump to Lexington.

Johnny Medrano (2010, 23) - What is the status of his injured arm? If healthy will he get a shot at Lexington?

Hector Rodriguez (2010, 20) - Will he be back in Greeneville because of the glut of 3rd older 3rd basemen in the system? Will he be used more as a utility player or will he stay at 3rd?

Season Recap - On The Corners

In continuing to evaluate the 2010 Greeneville Astros, we will now examine the corner infielders. This is an older group of players with the youngest starting the season at 20 but finishing at 21. We will look at them in order of combined games played at the two positions. You will notice the games add up to more than the number of games the Astros played. That is because some of the appearances were as defensive substitutions.

Marcus Nidiffer (Games Played by Position 1B- 47, DH-1)- He was the old man of the bunch at 23. He was a NDFA who played catcher at Kentucky. He is also from nearby Bristol which made him a fan favorite from the beginning. Nidiffer played a solid first base, only making 4 errors on the season. He wasn't spectacular but he improved as the season progressed.

At the plate, Nidiffer started of the year hot and even though he faded in August, and was promoted to Tri Cities with half a month of games to play, he finished tied for the 9th best batting average in the league at .303. His 11 home runs were tied for 5th and .981 OPS was 2nd best. He was named to the Appy League All Star Team.

He exploded out of the gate in Tri Cities hitting two HR in one of his first games. He has since cooled off as he hit just .154 in his last 10 games in Tri Cities with only one extra base hit, a double.

Those close to the team gave Nidiffer high marks for his character and leadership as well. He will have a tough road to climb to make it very far in the system. His age and his status as a NDFA are working against him.

Expectations for next year - Tri Cities

Rafael Valenzuela - (Games played by position 1B - 22, 3B - 17) - Signed as a NDFA out of the University of Arizona. The 22 year old has played all over the diamond in college but played 1st & 3rd for the G-Stros. He was called up to Greeneville after spending 16 games with the GCL Astros.

In the field, Valenzuela was adequate but unremarkable for the G-Stros at either position. He was regularly used as a defensive replacement late in close games at 1st. After Nidiffer left, he was the best option the team had a 1st. Therefore, he spent a the last half of August at 1st.

At the plate, he made contact most of the time. However that contact resulted in ground balls over half the time. He was one of the few left handed bats in the line up.

Valenzuela has been offered the chance to play winter ball in Mexico.

Expectations for next year - Tri Cities if not released.

Jhonny Medrano - (Games played by position 1B - 11, 3B - 21, DH - 19) The 22 year old from Venezuela was the starting 3rd baseman for the season. He had been slated to be on the Greeneville roster in 2008 but he hurt his knee the day before the season started and had to miss the whole year. The next year, he had a disappointing year in Tri Cities. This year, it was expected he would show the ability that was the buzz when he was on the roster in 2008.

The injury bug bit Medrano again this year. On July 16th, he banged his elbow on a slide home and was out of the line up for much of the rest of July. When he returned, he didn't play 3rd any longer and after a failed attempt at him playing first, he was relegated to the DH role for much of August. At the last game of the season, he was seen in the dugout with a bulky brace on his elbow.

His hitting suffered after the injury. He had 23 of his 49 strike outs in just 71 at bats in August.

Expectations for next year: This was his sixth season after signing as a free agent as a 16 year old. Therefore, he will be a minor league free agent this off season. If the elbow requires surgery with significant rehab time, I don't see the Astros re-signing him.

Hector Rodriguez - (Games played by position 3b - 29, SS - 13, LF - 1) He was the baby of the group, starting the season at 20 years old. Rodriguez made the jump from the DLS Astros to Greeneville this season, with no stop at GCL. He was one of my favorite kids on the team this year. Not because of his play necessarily but because of his attitude. He was the first guy out of the dug out to welcome players off the field when an inning ended. He had a unique whistle noise he would make in the field or in the dugout when some one made a good play or when a pitcher made a good pitch. Occasionally, you would hear other players echo the whistle back to him. It was clear, he was having fun at the ball park.

In the field, he is a bit small to be playing 3rd at 6 foot and 150 pounds. He looks more like a shortstop than a 3rd baseman. He has the soft hands of a SS and ranges to his left well. He also made several nice plays coming in on the grass on bunts and dinks. He made one catch of a line drive over his head that showed off a quick reaction time and a solid vertical leap. he made 5 errors at 3rd. Most of those were on throws.

At the plate, he quietly put together a good season. He didn't have enough at bats to qualify for any league or team rankings, but he finished the year with a solid .303 average. He hits a bunch of ground balls and it might be that he is just getting lucky. Time will tell. He didn't strike out (25 K in 120 AB) but he also took only one walk all year. So he makes contact but will need to learn to be more selective.

Expectations for next year: Greeneville or Tri Cities

Chris Lovett - (Games played by position: 3B - 12, 2B -3, DH - 1. The 2009 12th round pick of the Braves was picked up at the end of July with the Braves released him. He started off getting a great deal of playing time but as his struggles at the plate grew, his playing time shrunk. Not a great sample size to pull from but hitting under .180 in 50 AB is not encouraging.

Expectations for next year: Released

In summary, there were not many prospects in the corner infield crop in Greenville this year. But what do you expect when three of the players were NDFA college kids, one is a oft injured soon to be minor league free agent.

Best Bat: Nidiffer
Best Glove: Rodriguez
Best Arm: Medrano (pre injury)
Best Overall Prospect: Rodriguez (though I considered putting none of the above)

Rafael Valenzuala's Off Season Plans

Based on what his local paper says about Valenzuela, it looks like he may have some plans to play some ball this winter.

Valenzuela’s former high school coach O.J. Favela said his former standout was also the second pick in the Mexican draft, so when the Astros’ season ends the youngster will likely report to the Obregon Yaquis, which is more like Triple A quality ball, according to Favela.

A player cannot sign with both an American and Mexican team, but it is not uncommon for American teams to pay expenses for one of their players to get some extra work in Mexico’s winter league.

With Marcus Nidiffer being called up to Tri Cities today, I expect Valenzuela will get more time at first.