The G-Stros couldn't complete the sweep last night. Here are my observations from the game.
On The Mound:
Lance McCullers made his third start of the season for Greeneville. He got off to a great start striking out the first three batters. The defense was not as crisp behind him and it resulted in extra pitches in innings and that along with his lack of control caused him to just make it through three innings. I heard a report that McCuller's fast ball was hitting 96 during the game.
Brad Propst pitched a solid inning in relief.
Kevin Comer came in and pitched three innings for his G-Stro debut. He got out of a first and second with no on out in the fifth. He also pitched out of a bases loaded one out situation in the sixth. He had a clean seventh. He surrendered one home run to lead off the sixth.
Richard Rodriguez was okay in the eight but was hit hard in the ninth inning. Michael Dimock came in to stop the bleeding to get the last out.
In The Field:
I was surprised to see Marc Wik at second tonight. He was charged with an error in the second that lead to two unearned runs scoring.
Ariel Ovando caught my eye again in a negative way. McCullers attempted to pick off a runner and Michael Martinez was charged with the error on a missed catch. The ball went up the first base line towards the bullpen area. Ovando in right field was very late in coming over to back up the play. The runner advanced from first to third on the error. In the debate of lack of effort or lack of focus; I am starting to lean towards lack of focus.
Rio Ruiz continues to impress at third. He made one very nice stop on a ball to his right.
D'Andre Toney has played a solid center all season and covers a great deal of ground in the outfield. On back to back nights, he has chased balls to the wall that he couldn't quite catch. The balls have bounced off the wall and he has had to go back and chase them down. Last night, the result was a triple. I am not sure if this is a case where he should read wall balls better or if it is a case where the corner outfielders are getting over to back up but it wasn't pretty.
At The Plate:
Greeneville was no hit until the fifth when Terrell Joyce smacked a HR to lead off the fifth. Joyce had his third straight two hit night.
Ernesto Genoves hit a home run and Jose Fernandez had two hits.
Ovando hit a double down the right field line. I was excited that Mike Newman from fangraphs was at the park and was able to get video of Ovando. The fans here accuse Ovando of not hustling down the line. I have had that feeling some but I also feel that Ovando's large frame takes a while to get going. I hope Mike is able to pull a home to first time off the video and will share that will us.
The Astros were not fond of the home play umps strike zone. Both Ruiz and Ovando gave dirty looks after called third strikes. Five of the 10 strike outs were looking.
Other Observations:
It was reported to me that Brian Blasik took some infield today and is close to being ready to play again. His defense plus his bat have been missed.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Eyewitness Report: 8/18/12 Gville 2 - B-Royals 0
It was a great night at the ball park. I had the pleasure of watching the game with several Astros bloggers. It was nice to put faces with names. We had such a good time we talked for over an hour after the game ended.
The game itself was also a pleasure. It was a good pitching, good defense kind of game that was played in under two hours! Let's get to my observations.
On The Mound:
Adrian Houser took the mound and pitched pretty well. Most notably, it was the first time in eight starts that he didn't walk a batter. There were some hard hit balls off of him but they were at people and the Greeneville defense was solid. He was pulled after five innings. My unofficial pitch count for him at that time was 59 pitches.
Tanner Bushue came in and bounced back from a rough outing last time out, with a solid outing. He allowed just one hit in two innings and struck out three batters. His August ERA is 0.84.
Zach Dando earned his first save of the season with his mom and dad in the stands. He struck out four over two innings. His August ERA is a healthy 0.96.
In The Field:
There were some outstanding plays in the field. The best was by Carlos Correa who made a diving snag of a line drive by Bubba Starling to start a double play. Correa dove to his left and caught the ball inches off the ground. The runner on first was easily doubled off 1st because every one in the park expected that ball to get through.
The other good play was by Terrell Joyce. In the top of the second, Burlington's DH hit a double down the line with two outs. The Royal's manager chose to insert a pinch runner (IN THE SECOND INNING!). The next hitter singled on a ground ball to left field. Joyce was aggressive in fielding the ball on the run and came up throwing. His throw was perfect and catcher Ernesto Genoves did a nice job of not reacting to the throw until the last minute. The made the catch and the tag and the shutout was still intact.
At The Plate:
Correa continues to show he can hit. His two for four night moved his average since his promotion to .458. Again, I noticed how well he lets the ball travel in the zone. He was called on to sac bunt in this game and he did so effectively. He appears very fundamentally sound.
Angel Ibanez and Joyce had two hit nights as well. Ibanez scored both runs for the G-Stros.
Other Observations:
Ariel Ovando was held out of the line up for the second night in a row. This follows poor fielding performances on Wednesday and Thursday. I am not sure that is a coincidence.
The game itself was also a pleasure. It was a good pitching, good defense kind of game that was played in under two hours! Let's get to my observations.
On The Mound:
Adrian Houser took the mound and pitched pretty well. Most notably, it was the first time in eight starts that he didn't walk a batter. There were some hard hit balls off of him but they were at people and the Greeneville defense was solid. He was pulled after five innings. My unofficial pitch count for him at that time was 59 pitches.
Tanner Bushue came in and bounced back from a rough outing last time out, with a solid outing. He allowed just one hit in two innings and struck out three batters. His August ERA is 0.84.
Zach Dando earned his first save of the season with his mom and dad in the stands. He struck out four over two innings. His August ERA is a healthy 0.96.
In The Field:
There were some outstanding plays in the field. The best was by Carlos Correa who made a diving snag of a line drive by Bubba Starling to start a double play. Correa dove to his left and caught the ball inches off the ground. The runner on first was easily doubled off 1st because every one in the park expected that ball to get through.
The other good play was by Terrell Joyce. In the top of the second, Burlington's DH hit a double down the line with two outs. The Royal's manager chose to insert a pinch runner (IN THE SECOND INNING!). The next hitter singled on a ground ball to left field. Joyce was aggressive in fielding the ball on the run and came up throwing. His throw was perfect and catcher Ernesto Genoves did a nice job of not reacting to the throw until the last minute. The made the catch and the tag and the shutout was still intact.
At The Plate:
Correa continues to show he can hit. His two for four night moved his average since his promotion to .458. Again, I noticed how well he lets the ball travel in the zone. He was called on to sac bunt in this game and he did so effectively. He appears very fundamentally sound.
Angel Ibanez and Joyce had two hit nights as well. Ibanez scored both runs for the G-Stros.
Other Observations:
Ariel Ovando was held out of the line up for the second night in a row. This follows poor fielding performances on Wednesday and Thursday. I am not sure that is a coincidence.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Eyewitness Report: 8/16/12 Gville 2 - B-Sox 3
Other things at the park kept me from taking detailed notes on this game. I will share with you that the box score doesn't tell the whole story on a disappointing loss.
The whole game turned on the fifth inning. Michael Feliz had cruised through the first four innings. He had seven strike out of the first 12 outs. In the fifth, with a 2-0 lead, Feliz walked the bases loaded. Three walks in an inning will hurt you every time. BUT! He should have been out of the inning. The triple that cleared the bases was a fairly routine line drive to right. Ariel Ovando was there for the ball, he was just about three feet too far in to field it. It simply was misjudged. I am not sure if it was a bad read of the bat or if it was a lack of focus but it was a very poor play. He makes that play, Greeneville wins. I have said several times that Ovando has looked much better in the field this year. However last night, he looked like the Ovando from last season.
If ifs and buts, were candy and nuts......
There were other aspects of the game that could have gone better, such as getting at least one hit with runners in scoring position (0-8). And there were some positive plays, pitches and at bats. Yet when your team is fighting for a playoff spot, you have to beat teams that have 13-35 records. Greeneville let one get away last night.
Other Notes:
Brian Blasik was hit on the hand while attempting to bunt Thursday night. He was sporting two finger splints on right hand.
Blogger Invasion
I am thrilled to get to meet some folks that I have gotten to know on the interwebs this weekend. Jayne from What The Heck Bobby, Mike Newman from FanGraphs, and Tim and Brooks from The Crawfish Boxes are all going to catch at least one game at Pioneer Park this weekend. I look forward to meeting them and getting their observations on this team.
The whole game turned on the fifth inning. Michael Feliz had cruised through the first four innings. He had seven strike out of the first 12 outs. In the fifth, with a 2-0 lead, Feliz walked the bases loaded. Three walks in an inning will hurt you every time. BUT! He should have been out of the inning. The triple that cleared the bases was a fairly routine line drive to right. Ariel Ovando was there for the ball, he was just about three feet too far in to field it. It simply was misjudged. I am not sure if it was a bad read of the bat or if it was a lack of focus but it was a very poor play. He makes that play, Greeneville wins. I have said several times that Ovando has looked much better in the field this year. However last night, he looked like the Ovando from last season.
If ifs and buts, were candy and nuts......
There were other aspects of the game that could have gone better, such as getting at least one hit with runners in scoring position (0-8). And there were some positive plays, pitches and at bats. Yet when your team is fighting for a playoff spot, you have to beat teams that have 13-35 records. Greeneville let one get away last night.
Other Notes:
Brian Blasik was hit on the hand while attempting to bunt Thursday night. He was sporting two finger splints on right hand.
Blogger Invasion
I am thrilled to get to meet some folks that I have gotten to know on the interwebs this weekend. Jayne from What The Heck Bobby, Mike Newman from FanGraphs, and Tim and Brooks from The Crawfish Boxes are all going to catch at least one game at Pioneer Park this weekend. I look forward to meeting them and getting their observations on this team.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Patton On The DL and other transactions
I normally don't do much posting about transactions because they are too numerous for me to keep up with but there have been several over the last few days that are worth noting.
In A Garage....Really?
Troy Patton (2004) was placed on the DL by Baltimore after spraining his ankle walking in the garage of the hotel where he stays.
Two former 2nd round picks by the Astros have been released recently. Earlier this week, Ralphie Henriquez (2005, 2006) was released by the Mariners. He made it as high as AAA.
Yesterday Jay Austin (2008) was released by the Astros. He never made it higher than Hi A ball.
Trio Promoted
Three 2012 G-Stros have been promoted to Tri Cities. Pitchers Euris Quezada and Scott Zuloaga were moved up along with Jean Batsita. Batista leaves Greeneville with 19 doubles meaning the doubles record of 20 by Jose Altuve & Ronald Ramirez will be safe for another year.
In A Garage....Really?
Troy Patton (2004) was placed on the DL by Baltimore after spraining his ankle walking in the garage of the hotel where he stays.
"I was walking in the garage where I stay and caught it on the edge of the curb, at angle, and just turned it quick," he said. "I didn't think it was very bad until I woke up the next day, and it was very, very swollen. I thought it was just a little tweak, no problem."..."It's just a sprain. I'll be back in 14 days, since it's retroactive. I'll be back as soon as I'm allowed to be back, and I'll be ready to go."Former G'Stros Released
Two former 2nd round picks by the Astros have been released recently. Earlier this week, Ralphie Henriquez (2005, 2006) was released by the Mariners. He made it as high as AAA.
Yesterday Jay Austin (2008) was released by the Astros. He never made it higher than Hi A ball.
Trio Promoted
Three 2012 G-Stros have been promoted to Tri Cities. Pitchers Euris Quezada and Scott Zuloaga were moved up along with Jean Batsita. Batista leaves Greeneville with 19 doubles meaning the doubles record of 20 by Jose Altuve & Ronald Ramirez will be safe for another year.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Eyewitness Report: 8/14/12 Gville 10 - B-Sox 0
Some observations from tonight's game. I didn't keep a book because I didn't get in the park until the bottom of the first due to giving blood. When I got in the park, my son had struck a conversation with some folks from out of town and we spent a fair amount of time talking. So my observations won't be as detailed.
On The Mound
Fredrick Tiburcio pitched a good game. He walked a tight rope a few times but he stranded all eight base runners he allowed. There was only two hard hit balls that I recall. One went for a double and the other was a single that Brian Blasik laid out for and almost caught. His game score for the night was 72.
The bullpen did their job with Brad Propst pitching the eighth inning and fanning two and Andrew Walter pitching the ninth; striking out the side.
At The Plate
This was my first look at Carlos Correa and Rio Ruiz. They impressed me. They didn't do anything that was amazing but both did little things well. Correa's hit on the night came on a full count. He let the ball travel deep in the zone and roped it down the first base line. He also reached once on a fielders choice that would have been a double play had he not given good effort and hustled down the base line. That play scored a run, that wouldn't have scored if had had not hustled. It was also a play where I saw a little thing from Ruiz that impressed me.
He was on first and was forced out at second on the play. When he saw that Correa had beat out the throw, he clapped his hands celebrating his team scoring, popped up and hustled off the field. He was glad the team scored despite being forced out on the play. Ruiz's double was a well hit ball in the first that got the scoring started. He did take a while to leave the batters box after a called third strike.
This was a strong lineup. When the two guys tied for the fifth best average in the league are hitting fifth and sixth, you have a deep line up. Ernesto Genoves had a good night going two for three with a double and a sac fly. Each position in the line up got on base at least one time.
In The Field
Nothing spectacular happened in the field. Ruiz handled things well at third and made several tough plays. Correa didn't see much action at short. Blasik continued his solid and gritty infield play and Martinez did a nice job at first. The outfield only saw seven balls all evening.
Overall
It was a night where the little things created big results. Blasik stealing second and being able to advance to third on an errant throw by the catcher. Correa hustling down the line to prevent a double play. Genoves & Monzon producing sac flies to produce runs. Positive chatter in the dugout. This team appears to know that it is in the midst of a playoff race and each game counts.
On The Mound
Fredrick Tiburcio pitched a good game. He walked a tight rope a few times but he stranded all eight base runners he allowed. There was only two hard hit balls that I recall. One went for a double and the other was a single that Brian Blasik laid out for and almost caught. His game score for the night was 72.
The bullpen did their job with Brad Propst pitching the eighth inning and fanning two and Andrew Walter pitching the ninth; striking out the side.
At The Plate
This was my first look at Carlos Correa and Rio Ruiz. They impressed me. They didn't do anything that was amazing but both did little things well. Correa's hit on the night came on a full count. He let the ball travel deep in the zone and roped it down the first base line. He also reached once on a fielders choice that would have been a double play had he not given good effort and hustled down the base line. That play scored a run, that wouldn't have scored if had had not hustled. It was also a play where I saw a little thing from Ruiz that impressed me.
He was on first and was forced out at second on the play. When he saw that Correa had beat out the throw, he clapped his hands celebrating his team scoring, popped up and hustled off the field. He was glad the team scored despite being forced out on the play. Ruiz's double was a well hit ball in the first that got the scoring started. He did take a while to leave the batters box after a called third strike.
This was a strong lineup. When the two guys tied for the fifth best average in the league are hitting fifth and sixth, you have a deep line up. Ernesto Genoves had a good night going two for three with a double and a sac fly. Each position in the line up got on base at least one time.
In The Field
Nothing spectacular happened in the field. Ruiz handled things well at third and made several tough plays. Correa didn't see much action at short. Blasik continued his solid and gritty infield play and Martinez did a nice job at first. The outfield only saw seven balls all evening.
Overall
It was a night where the little things created big results. Blasik stealing second and being able to advance to third on an errant throw by the catcher. Correa hustling down the line to prevent a double play. Genoves & Monzon producing sac flies to produce runs. Positive chatter in the dugout. This team appears to know that it is in the midst of a playoff race and each game counts.
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