Houston Astros 2014 Season Thread

[KABrother88]

A case similar to this is one of Washington Nationals top pitching prospect Lucas Giolito. He was considered the top HS arm in the 2012 class with a serious shot to go 1.1 until a strained ligament in his elbow forced him to shut it down for the year...the Nationals took a chance on him at 16 overall with the expectation that he would probably need TJ surgery...it took $800,000 more than slot value to sign him ($2.925 MM vs 2.125 MM). He made one appearance pitching 2 innings before the team decided TJ would be needed. The difference in this case is they knew in 2 years they would have a 20 year pitcher just really starting his professional career vs Hoffman would be a 23 year old. I have seen some reports saying teams are still going to consider him the middle of the first round however. At this time the only candidate I could see even possibly giving us a Correa size discount to be aggressive in the comp round if Hoffman falls would be Kolek, just for the fact he's a hometown kid. Speaking of Kolek, I've mentioned before that scouts say he's is more of a thrower vs a pitcher at this point and struggles with command...then I saw his stats for his senior year...in ~45 innings he had 100 Ks to 6 BB...so about 1.2 BB/9 IP...I don't know if that is more HS batters starting a swing before he releases the ball to catch up with it or HS umps not seeing a 100MPH fastball...or combo of both...but on paper he looks to have command of it

[eagle eye]

A case similar to this is one of Washington Nationals top pitching prospect Lucas Giolito. He was considered the top HS arm in the 2012 class with a serious shot to go 1.1 until a strained ligament in his elbow forced him to shut it down for the year...the Nationals took a chance on him at 16 overall with the expectation that he would probably need TJ surgery...it took $800,000 more than slot value to sign him ($2.925 MM vs 2.125 MM). He made one appearance pitching 2 innings before the team decided TJ would be needed. The difference in this case is they knew in 2 years they would have a 20 year pitcher just really starting his professional career vs Hoffman would be a 23 year old. I have seen some reports saying teams are still going to consider him the middle of the first round however. At this time the only candidate I could see even possibly giving us a Correa size discount to be aggressive in the comp round if Hoffman falls would be Kolek, just for the fact he's a hometown kid. Speaking of Kolek, I've mentioned before that scouts say he's is more of a thrower vs a pitcher at this point and struggles with command...then I saw his stats for his senior year...in ~45 innings he had 100 Ks to 6 BB...so about 1.2 BB/9 IP...I don't know if that is more HS batters starting a swing before he releases the ball to catch up with it or HS umps not seeing a 100MPH fastball...or combo of both...but on paper he looks to have command of it

 

Sounds like another Texas pitcher named Ryan. Began his career as a thrower who didn't have the control Kolek seems to have. If Kolek can have that kind of career I'll take it. BTW, Ryan was drafted in the 12th round in the 1965 draft and 27 years, 7 no-hitters, 5,714 stride outs, 324 wins and one World Series later he called it a day.

[KABrother88]

Hello George Springer! Finally got his 1st HR of his career today on an opposite field line drive in Detroit...now has his batting average up to .228 (at this point of today's game) after being around .180 - .190 for a while...and he's hit .333 the last 6 games...also making some highlight reel catches in RF

[eagle eye]

Kudos to Springer who also grounded into a double play today to dampen his milestone day. The real hero of the game was Dallas Kuechel who went 7-2/3 allowing only 2 runs on 6 hits with 9 K's and walk. Victor Martinez hit a solo homer in the 4th and a double by Nick Castellanos that plated Andrew Jackson for the only 2 runs Detroit scored.

 

One item of note is that former Astro JD Martinez is now a Detroit Tiger. Talk about going from the outhouse to the penthouse! JD batted in the six hole and went 1-4 today. He's batting .269 so far in 2014.

 

So far, in 2014, with challenges allowed in close plays Bo Porter is showing he has a knack for this new system. As of today he's 6-8 in challenges. The sixth successful challenge happened in the 4th inning on a play on a ground ball to Jose Altuve and his throw to 1B Jesus Guzman. The 1B umpire called Austin Jackson safe and Porter immediately came out and challenged the call which was subsequently overturned.

 

The Astros broke a 5 game losing streak with the win and the Tigers ended an 8 game winning streak with their loss.

 

The Astros announced that Collin McHugh, who has gone 2-1 filling in for Scott Feldman, will remain in the starting rotation for at least one more game. Feldman returns tomorrow to start the series opener against Baltimore followed by McHugh on Saturday. Jared Cosart will close the series on Sunday.

 

What is it about the nine hole lately? Jonathan Villar has been batting in the 9th spot for the most of the season but lately he's been on fire raising his BA more than 100 points highlighted by a 3-4 night on Tuesday night against Detroit. Today, with Dexter Fowler hitting 3rd as Jason Castro got the day off Villar was moved up to the 2. How'd he do? 0-4. What's even more amazing is LJ Hoes hit 9th and went 3-3. Today's game still wasn't enough to get Hoes above .200 but it got him close at .180.

[eagle eye]

Well, Houston got their one win of the week Sunday against the O's. They almost got 2 but the bullpen gave up a ninth inning lead and losing to the O's on Saturday in extra innings. Actually, Houston could've, and should've, won all three as Scott Feldman came back with six strong innings on Friday's opener heading to the dugout with a tidy 2-2 no decision but Jerome Williams gave up 2 more to seal the deal for Baltimore. Paul Clemens and Anthony Bass combined to blow the game on Saturday as Houston's bullpen woes didn't end in 2013. These aren't minor league arms pressed into service like last year, these are veteran guys who are blowing leads and games left and right. Everyone from the owner down to Bo Porter has to be scratching their heads wondering WTF. Houston is tied for 2nd in most blown saves with Colorado, the Mets and Philly with 8. One behind league leading Pittsburgh with 9. Houston had to think they would be better than this when they signed so may veteran pitchers to strengthen the bullpen after they tied for the MLB lead with Arizona in 2013 with 29. Guess what? Houston is right on pace to equal that shameful 2013 total this season. Think about what that means for just a second. If Houston only blows 3 saves which is the league average Houston has 5 more wins. I'll tell you 17-22 looks a lot better than 12-27 which is where Houston sits now. Houston needs to tighten it up. They just can't have this or there will be some pitchers on the trading block in July. Unfortunately, if the bullpen doesn't get better they will hard to trade.

 

BTW, the bullpen had nothing to do with Houston's series opening loss to the Rangers last night by a score of 4-0 and even the bullpen can't do anything about their offense getting shut out. Houston had their opportunities. After all they had 10 hits but not one that was clutch enough to score a run. You just knew it was going to be bad when in the first inning Jose Altuve leads off with a single but he was caught stealing second base right before Dexter Fowler hit what would have been an RBI triple. It never really got better than that for Houston. Brad Peacock tried his best but he gave up 4 runs in his six inning of work and Texas only needed one. Colby Lewis coming back this season after an injury plagued 2013 stymied the Astros for 5.2 innings and 4 relievers combined to shut out the home team. What kind of voodoo has Texas got over their in-state rivals? Who knows but it a strong magic.

Dallas Kuechel goes to the hill for Houston with Matt Harrison going for Texas. Hopefully Kuechel has some magic of his own.

[eagle eye]

Including last night's loss Houston is 0-11 at home vs the Rangers. Hopefully they can break the streak. BTW, Texas starting pitcher Matt Harrison is trying to make the Astros the last American League team he hasn't beaten so far in his career. So far the Astros are spoiling his night as they lead the Rangers 3-0 in the top of the 3rd.

[eagle eye]

Holy crap on a cracker! When Houston breaks a streak they break a streak! Houston was 0-11 at home vs the Rangers until last night. Dallas Kuechel was awesome getting his first career shutout and giving Houston their first complete game by a starter this season winning 8-0 and paying the Rangers back in spades for a 4-0 shutout the night before. He didn't allow a run while scattering 7 hits through 9 innings with 7 K's and no walks. In the 4th Prince Fielder led off the inning with a shot down the left field line and a close play was ruled safe at second base. Left fielder LJ Hoes threw a strike to Matt Dominguez at second who made a good tag on the play. Bo Porter challenged the play saying Fielder was out. After a replay review it was decided Porter was right and they reversed the call declaring Fielder out at second. Porter is now 7 of 10 in challenges this season.

Back to Kuechel, he threw 108 pitches on the night and the shutout was the first since Bret Oberholtzer did it last Sept 1st against Seattle. Last night give Kuechel 6 quality starts out of the 8 games he's pitched this season and it ups his season record to 4-2.

The Astros offense finally gelled a little bit too as they were able to get a clutch hit with men on base. Bo Porter said after the game it was probably the best game the team has played this season. Homers by LJ Hoes with 1 on and no outs in the 2nd inning and Carlos Corporan in the 5th with 2 on and no outs highlighted another 11 hit attack. It was the second game in a row the Astros had eleven hits but the difference in last nights game was Houston hit in the clutch and hit with some power. It's actually the fourth game in a row Houston has recorded 11 or more hits. They are 2-2 in those games. George Springer had a nice night working a MLB career high 3 walks as he hit in the 2 hole last night. His one hit came in the fourth on a 3-2 pitch which scored Jose Altuve who tripled in front of Springer.

Houston now has a chance to win their first series off the Rangers for the first time since 2008 with Scott Feldman (2-1 1.93 ERA) vs Nick Tepesch (0-0 11.25 ERA).

 

Jose Cisnero is done for 2014 as he will have to undergo Tommy John surgery on his pitching arm. This means two of the 3 veteran pitchers earmarked to upgrade the bullpen are on the DL. Matt Albers has had shoulder problems and hasn't pitched since being put on the DL April 22nd. He received a cortisone shot Tuesday and he will not throw for at least the next 10 days.

 

Houston's 15th ranked prospect Josh Hader combined with relievers JD Osborne and Daniel Minor threw a no-hitter for the A-Advanced Lancaster JetHawks last night. Last nights no-no was the third in JetHawks history with the second happening just last season. Hader came to the Astros organization in the Bud Norris deal with the Orioles last summer and he's pitcher very well since. In 60 innings between Class A Quad Cities and Lancaster, he has a 2.80 ERA and has struck out 61 batters and walked 27. This season, he leads the JetHawks in ERA (2.56) and strikeouts (45).

(Info from Astros.com)

[KABrother88]

Finally figured out how to keep the bullpen from blowing the game...by keeping them in the BULLPEN!!!

[eagle eye]

They actually did it. The Astros broke the streak of 15 straight series wins by the Rangers last night even though for more than half the game it didn't look good. Starter Scott Feldman gave up 10 hits and 4 earned runs in his five innings of work and when he left the game the Astros were trailing 4-0. The Astros offense decided it was time to go to work beginning with the 6th inning. They closed the lead to 4-2 on the strength of a couple of walks and a couple of RBI singles by Jesus Guzman and Chris Carter. The damage could have been a lot worse considering the Astros had the bases loaded with only one out. Marwin Gonzalez struck out on an inside breaking ball that he shouldn't have swung at because it was inside from the time it left Rangers pitcher Jason Frasor's hand. Then Jonathan Villar was retired on 4 pitches on a simply horrendous at-bat. Villar took ball one on the first pitch but he also took 3 straight strikes, two of which he could've, and should've, swung at. It didn't matter as it turned out because Jose Altuve led off the seventh inning with a hit and George Springer followed up with his first Juice Box home run to tie the game. A scoreless 8th led to the dramatic end of the game in the 9th. The Rangers went down 1-2-3 in the top of the inning and it was time for Houston to go to work. George Springer led off with a K but Dexter Fowler, who had a huge night going 3-3 with 2 walks, got his final hit of the game. Jason Castro followed with a walk which brought up 3B Matt Dominguez. Dominguez had a really nice at-bat. After falling behind 0-2 Dominguez worked the count to full. Rangers pitcher Nick Martinez probably didn't want to chance walking Dominguez to load the bases so came in with a fastball that Dominguez crushed off the wall in right center for a walk off hit to end the game and the Astros misery vs the Rangers--for now--with a final score of 5-4.

 

> The Astros recorded 11 hits in the game giving them eight games this season of having 11 hits and it made it 5 games in a row the Astros recorded 11 hits which is a franchise record.

> Four relievers shut out the Rangers over the last four innings. Darin Downs (.2 innings), Paul Clemens (1.0 innings), Tony Sipp (1.2) who has been a nice pick up for Houston and Chad Qualls (.2) who got the win.

> It was reported earlier this week on Astros.com that Matt Dominguez has been putting in extra time in the batting cage and it certainly has been paying off. Dominguez has driven his BA up to a respectable .255 which includes last night's 2-5 effort including the walk off hit to end the game.

> Last night Houston had twelve players in the batting order including starters and substitutes and only two players had a BA below .200. The ten other players all had BA's above .200 ranging from Jesus Guzman's .211 to Jose Altuve's .298. I won't list all the BA's but needless to say this is a huge improvement from two weeks ago when more than half of any given lineup was under the Mendoza line. The one guy you hope gets going is C Jason Castro who once had his BA in the .230 range has slid back down to .216. You just know he's better than that.

> Earlier this week Bo Porter moved George Springer up in the line up to the 2 hole and it seems to have been a good move. I believe putting Springer rotating between the 3 and 4 holes just put too much pressure on the rookie to produce. Hitting behind Jose Altuve and before Dexter Fowler has helped all three see better pitches and given the rookie a little comfort zone he probably needed. I'd like to see Bo Porter stick with this lineup for a while.

> Relief pitcher Anthony Bass was put on the 15 day DL after pulling his intercostal muscle stretching for a ball during pregame throwing on Tuesday. The Astros will recall Josh Fields from OKC to fill in. Fields was sent down to OKC recently because he had been terrible in his last few outings. At OKC in his last 3 appearances Bo Porter said that Fields has been dominant. Fields has a upper 90's/100 fastball and a good change up but Porter believes he just lost confidence. Hopefully, that confidence has returned and he figured out what he was doing wrong in his previous stay in Houston.

> Jeff Luhnow said this week that slugger Jon Singleton is "on deck" meaning he will be moving up to the big club soon. Here's an explanation from Astros.com about why Houston may be waiting to bring Singleton up. The Astros say it's about their plan for him but from the article it looks like they are trying to save some money by delaying his call up.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140514&content_id=75451498&notebook_id=75511904&vkey=notebook_hou&c_id=hou

[Big T]

The sixteenth time is the charm! BTW, Matt Dominguez is turning into a hell of a player. He will never hit for a high average, but he can hit for power and he can hit in the clutch.

[eagle eye]

The Astros added another veteran arm to their bullpen when they signed RHP Kyle Farnsworth today before the game against the White Sox. To make room for Farnsworth the Astros optioned Paul Clemens was optioned to OKC Friday night. Farnsworth was released by the Mets this past Wednesday despite the fact he had recorded 3 saves and had a 3.18 ERA in 19 appearances. His first appearance for Houston came later on when he was brought on in the 8th with a 6-3 lead. He gave up 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walk in 2/3 of an inning of work before Bo Porter pulled him for Darin Downs who recorded the last out of the inning maintaining a 6-5 lead which held up for the Astros win. The Astros have had crap luck with the veteran guys they hoped would solidify the bullpen. Hopefully, this was just a hiccup by a guy who just came into Houston today. It is thought that Farnsworth will act as setup man for Chad Qualls who has been pitching better of late recording saves in two of the past 3 games.

[Big T]

I am actually liking some of what I am seeing from this team. A little power, timely hitting, and good pitching from the starters. Keep it up and we may see a little run out of these guys. I do believe, however, that it is time to bring up Singleton. We are getting no production at all from first base and yes his K rates are very elevated. But it is time to either let him sink or swim at the MLB level.

[eagle eye]

I'm not so sure about the timely hitting thing. Yesterday Houston stranded 21 runners on base. 21! They've been hitting well enough to win 3 of the last 4 but Houston has been guilty of stranding a lot of runners all season. What is encouraging is they are getting on base.

[eagle eye]

The Astros won their second series in a row by beating the White Sox in a bit of a rout today 8-2. Brad Peacock got his first win of the year and the Astros displayed some power with home runs by Chris Carter and 2 by Matt Dominguez. Peacock has run into some real bad luck up until today as he came into the game with an 0-4 record. All the pieces fell right into place for Peacock from timely double plays to some long overdue run support.

This makes the first time this season the Astros have won back to back series and they have won 4 of their last 6 games in the process.

Overall this season coming into the weekend the Astros had won only 4 series and split two until beating the White Sox for the series win this weekend. Beginning last Tuesday Houston was 12-26 and as the week ends they have improved to 16-28. Hopefully, Houston can keep their recent hot streak going as they hit the road for 10 games with the Angels, Mariners and Royals.

 

Some observations concerning the Astros going into that road trip.

> The starting pitching continues to be solid. Even when they struggle they battle and keep the team in games.

> The bullpen is still inconsistent but it looks like they are improving as they made solid contributions to the team's success this past week. It looks like Chad Qualls is taking a firm grasp on the closer's role.

> The Astros are hitting better and they are a lot more consistent. The move of George Springer to the 2 hole and Dexter Fowler to the 3 hole have paid big dividends and Matt Dominguez has been on fire the last week. As batters get on base more and more the team will start to learn to get that clutch hit to score runs.

> Houston is quite dependent on the home run but as long as they can hit 'em I'll take it. I would still like to see the Astros play small ball more efficiently. They actually stranded 21 base runners in Saturday's game. That is not good. Instead of winning 6-5 they should have won by 10 runs at least. I think they will evolve and become better at the plate. They are still prone to the strike out and they need to cut down on that mark but, all in all, they are getting better.

[eagle eye]

I didn't intend to post after every game the Astros play. I know so far that's just what I've been doing with an exception or two. It just seems Houston is doing something worth noting just about every day. It may be good or bad but something happens almost daily with these guys. With Houston beginning a west coast swing last night I open up the ESPN site to check on scores and what do you know? Houston won again! This is worth noting because it is the first time Houston has won 3 games in a row in 2014. No kidding, it's true! Not only that but starting pitcher Dallas Kuechel came within one stinking out of getting his second complete game shutout in the last 3 starts. He had two out in the 9th but back to back singles by Mike Trout and Albert Puhols and the fact that he had thrown a career high 128 pitches caused Bo Porter to come out and pat his pitcher on the back and send him to the showers. Porter brought in reliever Josh Zeid who promptly gave up a two run triple to Howie Kendricks to spoil the shutout. Zeid retired the next batter, CJ Cron, on a groundout to 3rd. It wouldn't be the Astros if the bullpen didn't have some sort of hiccup. Fortunately, Houston had built a 5 run lead so there was at least a little cushion for the 'pen to play with. The Astros got to the Angels starter Garrett Richards, who was 4-0 going into last night's game, for 10 hits and 5 runs. The Astros got 3 runs in the first and one each in the 2nd and 3rd. Jose Altuve, Jason Castro and Matt Dominguez all went 2-4 on the night and one item of note the Astros didn't score one single run off the long ball. This is unusual not to mention only stranding 3 base runners for the game. Kuechel has been spectacular and the two runs he got charged to his ERA is inherently unfair considering his performance. Zeid, on the other hand should get kicked in the cods for letting the shutout get away from him. Fact is, the bullpen as a whole needs a good swift kick about once a week until they start taking better care of their business. Kuechel logged 8 K's vs only 1 walk with 5 hits and I applaud Bo Porter for giving the guy a chance for the complete game despite the high pitch count. He also induced 16 ground ball outs which is just phenominal. Even the hits by Trout and Puhols in the 9th were ground balls. Give credit to a solid performance by the defense with so many opportunities.

[eagle eye]

Want to get chills about the future of the Astros? Check this article out about Carlos Correa. If it doesn't make the hair on the back of your neck stand up and give you goose bumps then you must not be an Astros fan after all.

 

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article/hou/top-astros-prospect-carlos-correa-eager-to-achieve-big-league-dream?ymd=20140520&content_id=76119232

[eagle eye]

The Astros giveth and the Astros taketh away. After recording their first 3 game winning streak of the season they go and give the 3 games away by losing the last 3 in a row. The middle game of the recent Angels series was lost by a poor outing by Scott Feldman who gave up 8 runs in 4 innings but only 3 earned as errors by 1B Chris Carter and SS Jonathan Villar killed the Astros chances of keeping the game close. The bullpen didn't help much with Darin Downs and Jerome Williams less than stellar. It was the 10th game in a row with the Astros logging in 9 or more hits but they just could string anything together.

The Angels finale featured a nice pitcher's duel between Houston's Collin McHugh and Angels ace Jered Weaver with Weaver tossing a complete game in the Angels 2-1 win. Can't fault Houston's offense here because Weaver was just shy of unhittable--as in Houston got only 2 on the night. A solo homer by George Springer in the 4th and double by Jason Castro in the 7th was the only damage the Astros could do. Weaver threw only 94 pitches allowing only 2 hits, 1 walk and 5 K's. Cosart threw 112 in his seven innings and he allowed only 4 hits with 2 BB's and 7 K's. It was the 2 runs he allowed that did him in. No shame there especially when you consider one of the hits was the solo shot by Albert Puhols in the 6th which was his 500th career homer. Weaver also ended the 12 game hitting streak by Jose Altuve.

In the opener against the Mariners last night the Astros got a good performance by Jarred Cosart who went 6.1 innings giving up 5 hits, 4 walks and notching 6 K's. Cosart wasn't dominant but he battled and the 3 runs he was charged with should only have been 1 but reliever Tony Sipp, who had logged 21 innings of scoreless ball since coming to Houston, went to sleep on a 2-out ground ball to 1B Jesus Guzman and he was slow to cover the bag allowing Mariners OF Michael Saunders to out hustle Sipp to the bag which also allowed runners on 2nd and 3rd to score. The Astros only managed 4 hits in the game including Jose Altuve doing his best Craig Biggio by hitting the first pitch of the game over the left field wall. Unfortunately that was the whole of the Astros threats on the night.

[KABrother88]

Hoping to have a good breakdown later this week about some of of top prospects and a few under the radar guys I mentioned a while back on this thread but a couple things I wanted to mention today.

 

The Astros now have 9 players in MLB.com's list of top 100 prospects (Correa #7, Appel #14, Springer #19, Singleton #43, McCullers #45, Foltynewicz #47, DeShields #57, Santana #98, Velasquez #99). Of course that drop very soon when Springer surpasses 130 ABs but that it's still impressive to have that many in the top 100.

 

The other thing was an interesting story from last night's class A Quad Cities game. 1st baseman, and 2013 4th round pick, Conrad Gregor hit a go ahead 3-run HR in the 6th inning of QC's eventual 5-2 win. It was the first HR of the season for Gregor but what was interesting about it was the catch in the stands...happened to be by a man names Marty Gregor...Conrad's father.

 

http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=33139953&sid=t565

[Big T]

George Springer is on a tear! Three 2 run HR's in the last two games. Altuve is going off the chain right now. Finally this offense may be getting some consistency from a couple of players.

[Big T]

Hoping to have a good breakdown later this week about some of of top prospects and a few under the radar guys I mentioned a while back on this thread but a couple things I wanted to mention today.

 

The Astros now have 9 players in MLB.com's list of top 100 prospects (Correa #7, Appel #14, Springer #19, Singleton #43, McCullers #45, Foltynewicz #47, DeShields #57, Santana #98, Velasquez #99). Of course that drop very soon when Springer surpasses 130 ABs but that it's still impressive to have that many in the top 100.

 

The other thing was an interesting story from last night's class A Quad Cities game. 1st baseman, and 2013 4th round pick, Conrad Gregor hit a go ahead 3-run HR in the 6th inning of QC's eventual 5-2 win. It was the first HR of the season for Gregor but what was interesting about it was the catch in the stands...happened to be by a man names Marty Gregor...Conrad's father.

 

http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=33139953&sid=t565

 

Velasquez is the best pitcher in the Astros system.

[eagle eye]

Talk about sour grapes. Seattle Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said after Dallas Kuechel's 4 hit complete game win that, "I saw average stuff," he said. "We didn't swing the bats very good. At some point, you've got to stop giving credit to average pitchers. That becomes a broken record. At some point, we've got to start swinging the bats.". I know he was probably just trying to give his team a little kick in the butt I don't think he really believes Kuechel has been "average" for the past month. Two out of the last 3 starts have been complete game wins and the third game he came within on out of a third against the Angels a week ago today. In Houston's 4-1 win yesterday even the one run Seattle scored was unearned due a bad throw by Kuechel to 1st after Cole Gillespie his what amounted to a swinging bunt down the 3rd base line. Kuechel fielded the ball and in his own words, "I made a bonehead throw. I felt I had enough time to make a good throw but kind of yanked it a little bit and was able to get [brad] Miller out and go from there. Defense played a heck of a game, and obviously Springer and Krauss were huge today."

Speaking of George Springer, has that guy been on fire or what? Even after missing several games due to a strained hip flexor he comes back into the lineup and just tears the cover off the ball. Springer seemed to have found his stroke at the end of April because since the beginning of May he's hit .287 with all seven of his homers and 20 RBIs. After yesterday's two run blast he is now tied with Matt Dominguez for the club lead in homers.

Another guy on a serious tear is Jose Altuve who is logging multi-hit games like crazy and he's upped his BA to a salty .326. With Jason Castro's recent struggles at the plate especially his tendency to strike out a lot he may need to take a look at some film of Altuve and apply it to his approach at the plate. Anyway, with Springer out of the lineup the first two games of the Mariners series the Astros O lacked some spark but since he came back in Saturday's game he's hit 3 home runs and given Houston that spark in back to back wins. Don't believe me? In the last two games Springer has gone 3-9 with 3 home runs, 7 RBIs and scored 3 runs. The 5 RBIs Springer had in Saturday's 9-4 win was enough to insure Houston's win by himself. It's looking like the move Bo Porter made earlier this month to put Springer in the 2 hole has paid the dividends he hoped and then some. It's also had to have helped Altuve to have Springer hitting behind him because opposing pitchers can't dink and dunk around Altuve because they don't want Springer coming up with a man on base and Altuve has been making the most out of the good pitches he's been seeing. Let's hope that the Astros can keep it going in Kansas City.

 

> Brett Oberholtzer was brought back to help give the starting rotation some rest and he did a good job. He notched his first win of the season going 6 innings giving up 3 runs, 2 earned, scattering 6 hits with a walk and 8 Ks. The demotion to AAA has allowed him to work on some things that have apparently helped him. The Astros starting pitching has been pretty darn good all season and some of these pitchers are reaping the benefits of some run support including Obie.

> L J Hoes has struggled at the plate all season long and it's not like he hasn't been given his chances to come out of his slump but the Astros finally had to send Hoes down to OKC to try to work out his problems. Jeff Luhnow seemed to think Hoes needs more starts which means he will get more at-bats than he will get as a platoon player in Houston. To fill Hoes spot the Astros are recalling Robbie Grossman who was sent down two weeks into the season giving him another shot in the bigs. In OKC Grossman was hitting right at .300 and the Astros are hoping that having the switch-hitting Grossman will add another dimension to the offense. Last season Grossman was brought up and he struggled at the plate hitting .198 before being sent back to OKC. After his recall he hit .322 with an OPS of .816 in the last 3 months of the season. If Grossman returns to that form the Astros will have seriously upped their ante in the batting order.

 

[KABrother88]

 

Hoping to have a good breakdown later this week about some of of top prospects and a few under the radar guys I mentioned a while back on this thread but a couple things I wanted to mention today.

 

The Astros now have 9 players in MLB.com's list of top 100 prospects (Correa #7, Appel #14, Springer #19, Singleton #43, McCullers #45, Foltynewicz #47, DeShields #57, Santana #98, Velasquez #99). Of course that drop very soon when Springer surpasses 130 ABs but that it's still impressive to have that many in the top 100.

 

The other thing was an interesting story from last night's class A Quad Cities game. 1st baseman, and 2013 4th round pick, Conrad Gregor hit a go ahead 3-run HR in the 6th inning of QC's eventual 5-2 win. It was the first HR of the season for Gregor but what was interesting about it was the catch in the stands...happened to be by a man names Marty Gregor...Conrad's father.

 

http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=33139953&sid=t565

 

Velasquez is the best pitcher in the Astros system.

 

He definitely makes a strong case to be considered the top arm. Only thing that has been able from dominating in Lancaster has been a recent groin injury...went 4-1 with a 2.89 ERA and a 33/9 K/BB ratio in 28 innings at the hitter friendly Cal League level before getting hurt...Josh Hader has been even more dominant there going 4-0 with a 2.64 ERA 60/18 K/BB ratio in 47 innings.

[eagle eye]

With a recent spate of posts concerning the minors how about this item: This article from Astros.com about the Advanced A Lancaster Jethawks featuring Carlos Correa. If the guys on this roster keep up the great work they will all move up to AA Corpus Christi by mid summer.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/hou/houston-astros-prospect-carlos-correa-hits-home-run-for-lancaster?ymd=20140525&content_id=76850610&vkey=news_hou

 

Or this item from MLBpipeline.com about Domingo Santana and Mike Foltynewicz and their play at OKC which has been pretty good of late. Both seem to be vying for a summer call up along with Jon Singleton.

 

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article/hou/houston-astros-prospect-domingo-santana-has-two-home-run-game?ymd=20140525&content_id=76722898&vkey=news_hou

 

There is another pitcher that is getting notice in the Astros farm system at AAA OKC. On Sunday Nick Tropeano tossed a big game against Marlins top prospect Andrew Heaney and the New Orleans Zephyrs. It was supposed to be the AAA debut of the Marlins top ranked prospect and while he showed up for the Zephyrs by limiting OKC to one run on 7 hits in 5 innings of work the Astros No 17 prospect outpitched Heaney by tossing 6-2/3 scoreless innings allowing only 3 hits with 8 Ks helping OKC to a 3-2 win in extra innings. People probably don't realize Tropeano led all Astros pitchers in strikeouts in 2012. He took a step back in 2013 but the Astros are encouraged by his 2014 start. So far he has a 2.53 ERA in 46.1 innings pitched. He has started 7 games and appeared in 10 with a 2-3 record with a WHIP of 0.971 and 41/15 K/BB ratio.

 

Here's an update on Astros #2 prospect Mark Appel. Appel was forced to undergo an appendectomy in late January that set him back in spring training. He is spending time in extended spring workouts to get back into a pitching routine before returning to Lancaster. Talk about a stacked team in Lancaster California. Holy Crap!

 

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140522&content_id=76458882&notebook_id=76466780&vkey=notebook_hou&c_id=hou

[KABrother88]

4 for 4 with a HR, 2 Doubles, a walk and 5 runs scored...that's the type of ability that gave me a man-crush on George Springer. He's starting to cut down on the Ks as well...still striking out at a high rate but not nearly the 44% he was at a couple weeks ago. Also playing a very solid RF. I think he's gonna have his name right in the ROY conversation before the season is over...long shot to win it with Abreu and Tanaka in the AL but I feel he'll get noticed

[eagle eye]

4 for 4 with a HR, 2 Doubles, a walk and 5 runs scored...that's the type of ability that gave me a man-crush on George Springer. He's starting to cut down on the Ks as well...still striking out at a high rate but not nearly the 44% he was at a couple weeks ago. Also playing a very solid RF. I think he's gonna have his name right in the ROY conversation before the season is over...long shot to win it with Abreu and Tanaka in the AL but I feel he'll get noticed

 

I agree completely although let's see if he can be consistant and not a one month wonder. Also, if Jose Altuve doesn't get back to the All Star game this year there is no God. Castro, on the other hand, isn't near what he was last season. Just think if he was. Houston would be 5-7 games better than they are. Let's hope he can turn it around.