April 14th, Houston Astros Minor League Recap: Minors Is As Minors Does
By Mac Wolff
The three affiliates that were in action all struggled in their own way, as the system has a case of the Mondays and goes 0-3.
But there is good news on the horizon! Lancaster is having a theme for their game this Friday, AND IT’S FOREST GUMP NIGHT! So not only is AMC starting Forest Gump week, but we can all head out to the Hangar this Friday dressed as our favorite Gump character (Sally Fields naturally). It’s probably like Lebowski-fest but not nearly as cool.
So once you stop your celebratory jig, sit down, grab a Dr. Pepper, a shrimp on a stick and come with me on a journey through the wondrous place known as the minor leagues.
First and foremost, the organization had a couple honors collected this week as Jon Singleton picked up PCL Player of the Weed Week as he hit his way to a .325 BA and 4 HRs. As well as Vincent Velasquez taking home the Cal League Pitcher of the Week as he posted 1-0 record with a .69 ERA in 13 innings with 16 Ks.
Triple-A: Oklahoma City Redhawks (8-4) Loss 14-8
Sooooomething BIT ME! In this particular case it was poor pitching. Not a bullet in the buttocks.
The Redhawks squared off against the New Orleans Zephyrs, the Marlin’s affiliate (and formerly of the Astros) in the close out of a two game series. OKC was 2/13 with runners in scoring positions so they gave themselves a chance to go blow for blow with the Zephyrs but couldn’t seal the deal. The actual problem was extremely poor performances from all OKC pitchers who entered the game. The offense pulled it to a two run deficit in the seventh at 9-7 but then Nola threw up 4 runs of their own in the following innings. Springer whacked his 2nd homerun of the season over the center field wall but despite the 8 runs there weren’t a whole lot of flashy performances from the lineup.
George Springer – 2/3, 1 HR (2)
Max Stassi – 1/4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K
Jon Singleton – 1/3, 2BB
David Martinez – 4IP, 5 ER, 6H, 2 BB, 0 K
Bobby Doran – 3.1IP, 4H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
Double-A: Corpus Christi Hooks (8-3) Loss 2-1
“You can sit here if you want too.”- Hook’s bench coach as each player walked back to the dugout empty handed.
Not as many baseball related quotes in Forest Gump as I was hoping for…Anyways, as can be assumed in a 2-1 loss, the Hooks struggled with the bat tonight as one of their strongest pitching tandems continues to tear the league up.
Luiz Cruz and Ross Seaton combined for 9IP, 3H, 2R (1ER), 2 BB, 8 K baseball. The more exciting of the two is Luiz Cruz who might be the best left hander in the system as he continues to grow into his frame. Ross Seaton unfortunately has “organizational player” written all over him which is unfortunate because his star did rise rather quickly. He is now old for the level, and he struggled mightily at OKC last year. If he can’t become a sharpshooter with his average fastball then Corpus might be the final stop for him.
Andrew Aplin batted in the 3 hole and drove in the only run as really only he and Nolan Fontana participated at the plate. Leo Heras, who was picked out of the Mexican League last year by Luhnow and is supposed to be a specialist in contact, continues to struggle out of the gates.
Andrew Aplin – 3/4 all singles
Nolan Fontana – 2/3, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 BB
MP Cokinos – 1/3
Luis Cruz – 5IP, 2H, 2R (1ER), 2 BB, 3 K
Ross Seaton – 4IP, 1 H, 5 K
Advanced A – Lancaster JetHawks (8-4) Loss 10-9
So on top of Gump Night (I know, how does it get better?) they are also bringing in Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band for a May 10th concert. I don’t know if these events are related since there is always a reason to want the Gary Sinise around, but it’s obviously a game changer for Lancast…nay, Californ…nay, the World.
Lancaster is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.
So yesterday’s contest was a 3-2 pitchers battle and tonight pitching was optional. I got to listen to Jason Schwartz’s call at the end of this one as Carlos Correa was put in a two out, tying run on second, 3-2 count that was very entertaining. Unfortunately Correa swung through strike three after working the count to 3-0 originally, but we’ll call it a learning experience. Mark Appel had a reasonable start allowing 3ER in 3 IP while striking out 4. Everyone else pretty much got shelled.
Carlos Correa – 2/6, 1 K
Teoscar Hernandez – 3/5, 2 2B, 1 BB
Rio Ruiz – 4/5, 2 2B, 1 HR (1), continues to mash and now is batting .356
Mark Appel – 3IP, 5H, 3 ER, 4 K, ERA now at 5.06
Mike Hauschild – 3IP, 8H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO
Single A – Quad Cities River Bandits – Postponed due to snow.
The biggest tragedy of all is that there wasn’t a single stolen base in the system so therefore no catalyst to use the most famous line from the movie.
And thats all I have to say about that.