Results tagged ‘ Astros ’
Minor League Players of the month released
The Astros player development department has named the following Players of the Month for April: Oklahoma City: LHP Dallas Keuchel, IF Scott Moore, OF Fernando Martinez; Corpus Christi: LHP Kevin Chapman, OF Brandon Barnes, IF Jose Martinez; Lancaster: RHP Ruben Alaniz, OF Telvin Nash, IF Jonathan Meyer; Lexington: RHP Mike Foltynewicz, IF Zach Johnson, OF Andrew Muren. These awards are chosen every month by the field staff of each team.
Triple A Oklahoma City
LHP Dallas Keuchel, Pitcher of the Month: 4-1, 1.62 ERA (6ER/33.1IP), 16 SO, 7 BB in 5 starts in April
IF Scott Moore, Offensive Player of the Month: .397 (25×63), 12 2B, 2 HR, 21 RBI in 23 games in April
OF Fernando Martinez, Defensive Player of the Month: 22 games in the OF, .976 FP (1E/42TC), 2 OF assists this season
Notes: Dallas Keuchel finished April with a 4-1 record and a 1.62 ERA in five starts, which tied for the organizational lead in wins and ERA…he began his season strongly, winning the first Pacific Coast League’s Pitcher of the Week Award in 2012 after opening the year with two scoreless starts (13IP)…Scott Moore’s current .347 (25×72) batting average ranks second among all Astros minor leaguers…Fernando Martinez has played 22 total games in the outfield this season, 21 in left field, posting a .976 fielding percentage with two outfield assists.
Double A Corpus Christi
LHP Kevin Chapman, Pitcher of the Month: 1-1, 1.38 ERA (2ER/13IP), 19 SO, .260 (13×50) opponents avg. in 9 relief apps. in April
OF Brandon Barnes, Offensive Player of the Month: .353 (30×85), 18 R, 14 2B, 4HR, 21 RBI, .398 OBP in April
IF Jose Martinez, Defensive Player of the Month: 23 games at 2B, 1.000 FP (0E/116TC), 14 double plays turned this season
Notes: Kevin Chapman, acquired this spring in the Jason Bourgeois and Humberto Quintero trade to Kansas City, posted a 1.38 ERA in nine relief appearances, while fanning 19 hitters in 13.0 innings pitched…Brandon Barnes, who currently leads the Texas League in batting average and doubles, has already twice been named the Texas League’s Player of the Week this season…Jose Martinez has not committed an error in 22 games this season, 116 total chances, as Corpus Christi’s everyday second baseman.
Class A Advanced Lancaster
RHP Ruben Alaniz, Pitcher of the Month: 2-0, 2.90 ERA (10ER/31IP), 26 SO, 7 BB in 5 starts in April
OF Telvin Nash, Offensive Player of the Month: .247 (19×77), 14 R, 2 2B, 9 HR, 15 RBI in 20 games in April
IF Jonathan Meyer, Defensive Player of the Month: 24 games at 3B, .952 FP (4E/84TC), 54 assists this season
Notes: Ruben Alaniz, an undrafted free agent signed out of high school in 2009, went 2-0 with a 2.90 ERA in five starts with Lancaster in April…in his two home starts, at the extremely hitter-friendly Clear Channel Stadium, Alaniz is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA (3ER/13IP)…Telvin Nash leads the California League and all Astros minor leaguers with his nine home runs in 22 games this season…Jonathan Meyer has been named a Defensive Player of the Month in the Astros system for the fifth time in his four-year career, after posting a .952 fielding percentage in 24 games as Lancaster’s everyday third baseman this season.
Class A Lexington
RHP Mike Foltynewicz, Pitcher of the Month: 3-1, 1.98 ERA (6ER/27.1IP), 27 SO, 10 BB in 5 starts in April
IF Zach Johnson, Offensive Player of the Month: .275 (25×91), 13 R, 9 2B, 4 HR, 30 RBI in 24 games in April
OF Andrew Muren, Defensive Player of the Month: 21 games in the OF, 1.000 FP (0E/42TC)
Notes: Mike Foltynewicz, the Astros first-round pick and the 19th selection overall in 2010, went 3-1 with a 1.98 ERA in his five April starts…Foltynewicz currently ranks fourth in the South Atlantic League in ERA…first baseman Zach Johnson, led all Astros minor leaguers in RBI in April and currently ranks second in the SAL in that category…Andrew Muren has not committed an error in his 21 games in center field this season.
Astros lineup Tuesday vs. Mets
Jordan Schafer, who has reached base in 23 consecutive games to start the season — two shy of the club record — is out of the starting lineup Tuesday, with Carlos Lee returning for the first time since Friday because of a sprained ankle.
Here’s the lineup:
2B Jose Altuve
SS Jed Lowrie
LF J.D. Martinez
1B Carlos Lee
3B Matt Downs
RF Brian Bogusevic
CF Justin Maxwell
C Chris Snyder
P J.A. Happ
Astros-Mets preview
- The Astros and Mets each came into the National League in the expansion of 1962. Since then, the Astros have arguably enjoyed more regular-season success, though only the Mets have won world titles.
Category Mets Astros
Wins (regular season) 3,824 3,952
Postseasons 7 9
First Place 5 6
World Championships 2 0
Head-to-head wins 256 304
- The Astros are drawing over a walk more per game this season than they did in 2011. Last year, they were last in the league at 2.5 walks per game. So far this season, they’re seventh at 3.6 walks per game.
- Right-handed hitting third baseman Chris Johnson has demonstrated a reverse platoon split through the season’s first month. He enters Monday hitting .333 against right-handers (23-for-69) and .067 against left-handers (1-for-15).
- After going 3-for-5 on Sunday, Jose Altuve’s .373 batting average ranks among the best ever by any Astros player through the team’s first 22 games. The only higher averages through 22 games are Cesar Cedeno in 1972 (.375), Joe Morgan in 1966 (.375), Billy Hatcher in 1987 (.391) and Derek Bell in 1998 (.402).
- It’s been five days since Bud Norris pitched last Tuesday. Unlike 2011, when he fared much better on only four days of rest, Norris’ early returns in 2012 when working on longer rest have been more positive. He’s 1-1 with an 8.49 ERA on four days of rest and 0-0 with a 3.46 ERA on five days of rest.
Astros lineup Wednesday vs. Brewers
Lineups for Wednesday’s game between Astros and Brewers (12:10 p.m. CT start):
ASTROS
CF Jordan Schafer
2B Jose Altuve
LF J.D. Martinez
1B Carlos Lee
SS Jed Lowrie
RF Brian Bogusevic
3B Chris Johnson
C Chris Snyder
P J.A. Happ
BREWERS
2B Rickie Weeks
CF Carlos Gomez
LF Ryan Braun
3B Aramis Ramirez
RF Corey Hart
SS Alex Gonzalez
C Jonathan Lucroy
1B Travis Ishikawa
P Shaun Marcum
Norris takes up for his teammates
Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks was hit in the back by Bud Norris on his first pitch of Tuesday’s game in apparent retaliation for the Brewers’ Mat Gamel flattening Astros catcher Jason Castro at home plate on Monday. Norris said the pitch simply got away from him, but hinted it wasn’t on accident
“It kind of got away from me,” he said. “I’m going to go out there and stand up for my team. I think the umpires handled it professionally, our team handled it professionally and Rickie handled it professionally as well. Nothing personal against him. It is what it is.”
Castro and Gamel were was out of the starting lineup Tuesday, but Astros manager Brad Mills said Castro wasn’t scheduled to play anyway and, other than a sore neck, Castro was feeling fine.
Mills said Gamel would have had a good shot at being safe had he slid and said he didn’t have to bowl over Castro, who was knocked back and hit the back of his head off the ground and held onto the ball for a double play to end the sixth inning. He stayed in the game.
“My first thought was he must have the plate blocked and then I found out he didn’t have the plate blocked and I said, ‘C’mon, man,’” Mills said. “It was a situation he was trying to knock the ball loose, but I thought Jason did a great job.”
Veteran catcher Chris Snyder said it’s important for catchers to expose the plate to the runner to avoid violent collisions that occurred Monday.
“At this level, more times than no you see guys that know what they’re doing and the catcher is going to give them the plate,” Snyder said. “You see what’s happened over the year with guys getting concussions on both sides of it and what happened to [San Francisco’s Buster] Posey last year. It’s a reaction.”
Snyder said collisions are a lot more common in the Minor Leagues, where young players are for the first time able to collide with the catcher in an effort to knock the ball loose.
“I got lit up quite a bit in the Minor Leagues because there you have kids just out of high school and college and there have been rules against it and they’re just excited to be able to finally do it and they don’t know how to do it,” he said.
When asked specifically about Gamel’s leveling of Castro, Snyder thought it was unnecessary.
“I didn’t like it,” he said. “He had the plate. It’s a 6-2 ballgame. I didn’t like it.”
Astros try to snap 9-game losing streak to Brewers
The Astros will try to snap a nine-game losing streak at the hands of the Brewers when the teams meet in the first of a three-game series tonight at Miller Park. This is Houston’s first game of the season against a division foe.
Before we get to the lineup, here are some pre-series notes:
- Astros pitcher Lucas Harrell will be making just his ninth career start tonight. In his previous eight starts Harrell has struggled in the first inning, but has calmed down thereafter. He has a career ERA of 11.25 in first innings and 2.23 in the second inning and beyond.
- The Brewers’ nine-game winning streak over the Astros is tied for the second-longest active winning streak over an opponent in the Majors. The Tigers have beaten the Indians 10 games in a row, which is the longest current streak in Majors.
- The Astros have used the home run to score less than 25 percent of their runs this year, which is the fourth-lowest total in the Majors. Only the Phillies (16.3), Cubs (16.9) and Mariners (21.7) have used the home run for a fewer percentage than their runs than the Astros.
- Astros CF Jordan Schafer has reached base safely in 16 consecutive games, which is the fourth-longest current streak in the Majors. Only Lance Berkman (31), Carlos Santana (21) and Torii Hunter (19) have longer streaks, dating to last season.
- Ryan Braun has dominated the Astros in his career, hitting .345 (98-for-284) against Houston. The only player who has worn out a club more with a minimum of 300 plate appearances is Minnesota’s Joe Mauer, who’s hitting .346 against the Indians and .348 against the Royals.
- Nine of Brewers outfielder’s Corey Hart’s 13 hits this season have been for extra bases, the highest percentage in the Majors.
- Zack Greinke’s team has posted a win in each of his last 19 starts at home (which includes 17 home starts with the Brewers). That is the second-longest streak since 1921
Here is the Astros’ lineup:
CF Jordan Schafer
SS Jed Lowrie
LF J.D. Martinez
1B Carlos Lee
RF Brian Bogusevic
3B Chris Johnson
C Jason Castro
2B Jose Altuve
RHP Lucas Harrell
Astros return home to face Dodgers
The Astros (5-8) send J.A. Happ to the mound tonight at Minute Maid Park to face the Dodgers. Here is the lineup:
ASTROS
CF Justin Maxwell
2B Jose Altuve
LF J.D. Martinez
1B Carlos Lee
3B Chris Johnson
SS Jed Lowrie
RF Brian Bogusevic
C Chris Snyder
LHP J.A. Happ
Check out this pregame notes:
- The Dodgers have won four in a row against the Astros, who have scored a total of one run in those four games with only 17 hits (The Astros had 17 hits on Thursday against the Nationals). The Dodgers have outscored the Astros, 15-1, in their last four meetings.
- The Dodgers have outscored their opponents, 14-3 in the first inning this year, which continued a trend from last year. The Dodgers’ plus-48 run differential in all of last season and the first two weeks of this year is the largest in the Majors.
- The Dodgers are 8-1 when scoring first this year.
- The Astros have lost six games in which they’ve blown a lead this year, which is tied with the Cubs for the most in the Majors.
- Astros second baseman Jose Altuve has been on fire the first two weeks of the season, hitting .348. That’s the highest batting average for players in the Majors whose primary position is second base.
- Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp are the third pair of teammates in the live-ball era to each collect 18-plus RBIs in their team’s first 13 games. What bodes very well for Ethier and the Dodgers is that half of his RBI have come off left-handed pitching; he had just 13 RBIs off southpaws all season in 2011 and his ninth (and 10th) did not come until June 28.
- Since returning from the Minor Leagues last year, J.A. Happ is 3-1 with a 2.76 ERA. He was 4-14 with a 6.26 ERA in 22 last year prior to getting sent to Triple-A.
- Dodgers starter Ted Lilly is 7-3 lifetime versus the Astros — though he has not beaten them since Sept. 2, 2009 — and only three active starters have a lower career ERA against them — Adam Wainwright (1.56), Jake Peavy (2.31) and Chris Carpenter (2.62).
- Carlos Lee has 54 career plate appearances against Lilly, most among active players, and Lilly has never struck him out; that is the most times that any active hitter has faced any active pitcher without being fanned.
Buck optimistic about hamstring injury
Travis Buck’s string of consecutive starts likely came to an end at three Wednesday after he left a game against the Nationals in the fourth inning with a mild left hamstring strain. He’s listed as day to day.
Buck, starting in left field in place of J.D. Martinez, injured the hamstring while hitting an RBI grounder to first base in the fourth inning. He went to the outfield to play defense between innings, but came back to the dugout when he decided he couldn’t go.
“It’s pretty cold tonight and I felt loose during the whole game,” he said. “It just happened right when I swung before I even got out of the box. I just felt it tighten and put an awkward swing and just tried to run it out. Fortunately enough we scored a run out of it.”
Buck said the hamstring is the same one that’s given him problems throughout his career. He said he strained it pretty seriously last year and only missed six days, and that this strain isn’t anywhere as bad as the one he had last season.
“It’s just the nature of the game,” he said. “I want to go out there and continue to play but you’ve got to be smart enough. You don’t want to make it a DL issue or something bigger than it really is. I’m hoping to take it day by day but I should be back sooner rather than later.”
Wandy tries to get Astros on track
The Astros, who have lost four out of five games, will send Wandy Rodriguez to the mound tonight against the Nationals. Rodriguez (0-1, 2.38 ERA) lost to the Braves at home five days earlier after pitching 6 1/3 innings on Opening Day without allowing an earned run. The Astros have made four errors in each of his two starts.
Here are the lineups:
ASTROS
CF Justin Maxwell
SS Jed Lowrie
LF J.D. Martinez
1B Carlos Lee
3B Chris Johnson
RF Travis Buck
C Chris Snyder
2B Jose Altuve
LHP Wandy Rodriguez
NATIONALS
SS Ian Desmond
2B Danny Espinosa
3B Ryan Zimmerman
CF Jayson Werth
1B Adam LaRoche
RF Mark DeRosa
LF Xavier Nady
C Jesus Flores
LHP Gio Gonzalez
Here’s a few notes:
- The Nationals are 21-7 since last Sept. 11, which is the second-best record in baseball in that span behind the Rangers (22-4).
- The Nationals enter Tuesday having only allowed two home runs, the fewest in the Majors.
- After hitting four home runs in the first two games of the season, the Astros have suffered a power outage lately, hitting three homers in their last seven games.
- The Astros’ .339 on-base percentage entering Tuesday is the third-highest in the NL, but their 77 runners left on base is second-most in all of baseball. Which team has stranded the most runners on base this year? The Nationals with 90.
- Entering Tuesday, J.D. Martinez was tied for third in the NL in average (.371), tied for fourth in total bases (25), sixth in slugging percentage (.714) and sixth in OPS (1.150).
- Astros center fielder Jordan Schafer has scored eight runs from the lead-off spot this year, which is tied for the third-most in the Majors. Ian Kinsler has scored 11 and Austin Jackson has scored 10.
- Whether pitching for Boston or Houston, Kyle Weiland has always pitched much better on the road than at home. He’s 0-3 with a 10.26 ERA in his career at home and 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA on the road. I know, it’s a small sample, but interesting nonetheless.
http://brianmctaggart.mlblogs.com/2012/04/17/wandy-tries-to-get-astros-on-track/
Norris ties to stop the Astros’ 3-game skid
The Astros will try to snap a three-game losing streak in the middle game of a three-game against the Marlins at 6:10 p.m. CT Saturday at Marlins Ballpark. Bud Norris will start against the Astros’ former NL Central nemesis Carlos Zambrano, who is 16-8 with a 2.72 ERA in 34 games (32 starts) against the Astros.
While Norris and Zambrano have only faced each other once in their careers, 1B Carlos Lee has seen Zambrano 75 times in his career and is hitting .358 (24-for-67) against the right-hander with five home runs and a .427 on-base percentage.
Here are some other tidbits:
- Astros starters have posted a 3.57 ERA in the first seven games this season, recording four quality starts. Their starters rank seventh in the NL in ERA, while the staff as a whole ranks sixth (3.38 ERA).
- The Astros have outscored their opponents 32-30 this season. The team’s .258 batting average is third in the Majors, while their .328 on-base percentage ranks fourth.
- J.D. Martinez (.385) is the only Astros player to hit safely in all seven games this season (tied for the longest streak in the Majors). Chris Johnson (.346) has hit safely in his last six games, and Jordan Schafer has reached base safely via hit or walk in all seven games this season (.406 OBP).
Brian McTaggart
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