Ladies and Gentlemen: Your World Champion 2014 Lancaster Jethawks

Yes, pure hyperbole here in discussing the Astros High A Lancaster Jethawks. But there is a lot to be excited about for this team and it is not just the hitters that may be opening eyes in the baseball world. Some of the best pitching prospects in the organization are here. On at least one list I looked at – 5 of the Astros top 10 and 9 of their top 20 prospects were starting the season at Lancaster.

The Gold Standard –

These are some of the cream of a very rich crop at A+ ball.

Carlos Correa – The youngest player on the Jethawks may have the shortest stay in California. The #1 overall pick in the 2012 draft is the #1 prospect in the system. He already has 10 RBIs in 9 games and probably will spend more time working on his fielding than his hitting here. Yeah, who wants a young 6′-4″ SS who can hit and field?

Lance McCullers Jr. – Forever known as the guy the Astros could sign because Correa took less than the maximum bonus bucks – McCullers has been pitching like a young stud – good ERA and big strikeout numbers. He has started off solid at Lancaster though allowing two solo shots in 7 IP – Hey if he puts up an ERA anywhere on the good side of 4 it will mean a lot at this stop.

Mark Appel – After appendix surgery – the former overall #1 pick is being eased into the tandem rotation. I would expect them to take it easy on him this season and maybe not push for a promotion until late in the year. He is coming off a good start there – so hope it keeps up.

Vincent Velasquez – The 21 year old may have the most impressive and consistent minor league numbers of any Astros farm hand since being picked in the 2nd round in 2010. Yes, he missed all of 2011, but outside of that and outside a cup of coffee (3 starts) in Lancaster last season – we have seen – WHIP ranging from .989 to 1.182, ERA from 3.07 to 3.35 and K / 9 IP of 7.7 to 10.1. He has started 2014 strongly and he could be knocking on the major’s door in a year or so.

Rio Ruiz – like McCullers – Ruiz was supposedly enticed to sign by money left over after the Correa discount. His numbers in 2013 look pedestrian, but as our bloggers have pointed out – he started off horrendously and then improved throughout the season. If he puts up numbers like he trended towards last season – he could be a quick riser as a 3B.

Josh Hader – He just turned 20 this week and he may be the gem of the Bud Norris trade with the O’s. His combined numbers in A ball last season were strong – 2.77 ERA, 1.258 WHIP and 8 K / 9 IP.

Under the radar

You may not have heard of all these guys – but there is a chance you will hear of some of them.

Mitchell Lambson – A 19th round pick in 2011 – this 23 year old lefty has put up excellent numbers at every stop – cumulative 2.99 ERA, 1.130 WHIP and 10.1 K / 9 IP. Since there always seems to be room for any decent lefty – he could be knocking on the door very soon.

Teoscar Hernandez – 21 year old who has had solid numbers in the minors so far. He showed a bit more power last season at Quad Cities with 13 dingers and 55 RBIs – but his 97 runs scored with 24 SBs in 123 games standout.

Kyle Westwood – He turns 23 on Sunday so he is a bit older than the other kids. He was drafted in the 13th round last season and pitched excellently in a short stint at Tri-City – 0.81 ERA and .761 WHIP in 44 IP. If he pitches well at hitter’s haven Lancaster they may move him to CC quickly.

Danry Vasquez – Just turned 20 in January – he came to the organization from Detroit in the Jose Veras trade. His stats have been slowly building as he has worked his way up the organization – listed at 6′-3″ and 177 lbs this OF probably has power coming as he puts on a bit more weight and muscle. His combined A numbers last year included 9 HR 60 RBI and a .731 OPS in 129 games.

Kyle Smith – Came here in the Justin Maxwell trade with KC – the 21 year old RHP has had good numbers everywhere but Lancaster (at the end of last season and the beginning of this one). That is not unusual – hopefully he will learn how to pitch from adversity.

J.D. Osborne – A 36 rounder from Wofford College last season – he is on the under the radar list for one reason – 13.2 K / 9 IP so far in all relief appearances in the minors. We will see if the 23 year old keeps this up as he picks on kids closer to his own age.

Tony Kemp – If he keeps stroking it in A+ ball this 2B may appear on the radar soon. He played at A- and A ball last season and put up mediocre BA – good OBP and no power. He may be a typical slap hitting infielder, especially since he is only slightly bigger than Jose Altuve.

Aging Quickly

Nothing wrong with these players, but 23 and 24 year olds at A+ need to get promoted soon.

Brandon Meredith – This 6th round OF from the 2011 draft is already 24 so the very good numbers he has put up the last two seasons including last years .399 OBP and .906 OPS at Lancaster have to be taken with a sack of salt – but a good early performance here could earn him an early promotion.

Mike Hauschild – Another 24 year old – he has risen quickly – 3 levels since being taken in the 33rd round of the 2012 draft. The RHP put up fine numbers until his promotion to Lancaster, where he like many others before him saw his ERA inflate above norms. This is a key year to see if he will keep swimming upstream.

Carlos Perdomo – A typical utility infielder – hits OK with no power and can fill in at multiple positions. At 24 he could slide up and be another Marwin Gonzales type or fade away.

Dan Gulbransen – 16th rounder out of 2012 draft – this is his 3rd season in the system – but he had only 114 games under his belt starting this season. To date in 335 ABs – this OF has 75 R, 13 HR and 76 RBIs – which are decent numbers but again he has been playing against younger players generally.

Jamaine Cotton – This 23 yr old RHP has put up middle of the road numbers since being drafted in 2010. He tends to give up too many hits per 9 IP. A good performance at Lancaster would give his career a shot in the arm.

Chris Devinsky – This 23 yr old RHP was the PTBNL in the Brett Myers trade with the Chi-Sox. He was putting up solid numbers with decent ERAs and good K numbers until… he went to Lancaster last season. He needs to step it up because there is not a lot of space above him in the minors.

Daniel Minor – A 9th rounder in 2012 – the RHP had an excellent start in Asheville, a decent year at Quad Cities – but needs to rise above last year’s numbers to force himself up the pipe.

Filling Time and Space

That is probably a little harsh – but these guys look like they may just be guys.

Justin Gominsky – Looking at this 11th round pick’s stats from his first three seasons (OPSs of .587, .617, and .628) – I have no idea why this OF has been promoted up to A+.

Roberto Pena – He is only 22 and he has thrown out 38% of the runners against him – so he has that going for him as a catcher. But his minor league career OPS under .600 has to change or he is just filling time and space.

Jake Rodriguez – 19th rounder in 2013 – this catcher’s resume is really light – but he has not shown much of a bat yet. Improvement on the offensive side is the only way for him to distinguish himself.

Juan Minaya – Looking at this 23 yr old RHP stats – he looks like he does not belong here – minor league ERA over 5 – but it is possible that it is a matter of control – he is averaging almost 5 walks a game and perhaps fixing that will give him a route up.

Jordan Scott – After 1270+ ABs this OF has 2 HRs in the minors. He stole 25 bases last season and scored 58 runs – he has an OK BA – .268 and solid OBP – .348,  but really needs to do more to be more than a guy.

 

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72 responses to “Ladies and Gentlemen: Your World Champion 2014 Lancaster Jethawks”

  1. I would like everyone to note that because of the Springer call up this post was pushed back a little bit from when I wrote it – some numbers will be a few games out of date.

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  2. Nice, Dan. My suspicion is that at least a few of your key guys get a cup of coffee with CC after the AS break. QC has a lot of talent too, though.

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    • Promotions will be very interesting and telling among the top 3 minor league teams. There are certain spots that are not as big a vacuum anymore (I’m talking in the minors). The next couple years will be fascinating.

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  3. nice post dan.
    not every move a gm makes is gonna work, we’ve seen a few that didnt or havent yet. but i like that you have reminded us of one shrewd move by our gm that brought three quality players. he passed on appel (that year, only to get him the next) and signed a future star short stop at a discount and with the savings signed a top of the rotation starter and a promising 3b. i still like him and back his plan. now manager i am having some problems with.

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  4. A few notes: Appel is Hauschild’s tandem partner, but Appel is getting to start every time and Hauschild is the stepson reliever. For this reason I expect Appel to be moved sooner. He seems to be the tandem exception
    UPDATE: Hauschild is starting tonight
    Gominsky was sent back to EST in Kissimmee a couple of days ago and Ruben Sosa is in Lancaster from OKC.
    Westwood and Hader have pitched much better as starters than in the back of the tandem and LMJ has pitched better in the back tandem than as the starter so far this season. Velasquez, Kyle Smith have done pretty well both ways..
    Rio Ruiz and Teoscar Hernandez are both hitting real well in Lancaster and have had some defensive problems there with errors. Perfect examples of the Lancaster effect..
    From my observation the tandem system has cost Lancaster three losses so far.

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    • Since the management team does not mind losing at the MLB level in support of their “plan” I’m sure they don’t mind losing at A+ ball for their tandem scheme. The things you noted are very interesting.

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  5. As a “blackoutee” could someone explain the Dominguez bonehead to me. From the video it looks like Carter is almost standing on 3rd. The proper throw would go to 2nd base to keep Dominguez out of scoring position. So what could he possibly have been thinking, and I have to wonder where was the first base coach on the play. I realize it ultimately is Matt’s fault, but when the OFer releases the ball, it would appear that Matt was within shouting distance of first base. I know he is slow, but 1/2 the replay is waiting for him to get to second. He made no attempt to return to first. Very confusing.

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    • I was at church and did not see the offending play. Reading the write-up about it – apparently Bo Porter sat there in silence for 15 seconds or so before answering the question about the play and mostly he just said it was stupid with a 5-0 lead to do it. Dominguez had no answer – just sounded like he had a brain f%^& or something.
      I don’t know what or why with this – all I know is that Dominguez is slower than most catchers and has no business trying to stretch anything on the base paths.

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    • Altuve has a good .365 OBP against leftys and a poor OBP around .305 against rightys. And of course Gray is a righty. I’ve given up applying logic to their lineups

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      • News report – “Astros today claimed the lack of a Comcast deal is good for the health of the people of Houston.”

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      • There are two ways to look at it. On one hand, charging $5 to each subscriber to get the mega team network is kind of shady. On the other hand, not having a deal with guaranteed big revenue for the team hinders their ability to spend with the deep pocket owners.

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    • Now Chip they are only down 8-0 after 2 IP tonight. With our kick butt offense we should be able to come back from that. Games are 27 innings long aren’t they?

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  10. I’m just a baseball fan at this point of my life. But I have a somewhat credible baseball resume that covers quite a few years, beginning with Little League at the age of eight, prior to the introduction of tee ball. Plus, I know beer and hotdogs. There is simply no rationale for screwing around with a line up the way Bo Porter has. When you start jacking around a kid who has just two major league games under his belt, well, that’s a sign of panic, and totally irrational. Bo might not make it back to Minute Maid after this road trip.

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    • If you are a gm who doesn’t care about winning, why would you bother to fire the manager? Just to make it appear as though you care?

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    • They are back to playing almost exactly like the end of last season – yarrgghh.
      I’m not sure if Porter can make a huge difference here – but I am sure he is not making things better.

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  11. OK, second night in a row for every minor league team to lose.
    -OKC Every player in the lineup got at least one of the sixteen Redhawk’s hits except the leadoff guy who was 0 for 5. That was Robbie Grossman. Singleton had three hits w/ a homer and Stassi had 2 hits w/ a homer and Kike Hernandaez had four hits. BUT! Bobby Doran, Rhiner Cruz, David Martinez and Chia jen Lo gave up 19 hits and Lo blew the save in the ninth and Col Springs wins 10-9.m David Martinez pitches lights out in starts but like a blind man when he is the back tandem.
    -CC Aaron West pitched four shutout innings but was pulled. CC scored 3 in the sixth but the back end of the tandem, Jankowski, gave up 4 in the seventh and CC loses 4-3. They only had 6 hits and Sclafani had two of them.
    -Lancaster- The starter, Mike Hauschild pitched a great 5 innings tonight, giving up 1 run on 4 hits w 5 Ks and no BB. But the tandem guy, Daniel Minor gave up 5 runs in one-third of an inning. Three walks and two homers. Then JD Osborne gave up three more runs in his 2 innings. Lancaster had 5 hits and 14 strikeouts in a 9-0 loss.
    -Quad Cities- Andrew Thurman was the starter and gave up a run on 4 hits and struck out 8. His tandem guy gave up 3 hits and 3 BB in 2 innings, blew the save. That was Chris Lee. Then Andrew Walter came in and lost the game, giving up 2 runs in the ninth. QC had only 6 hits, lost 4-3 and had their manager thrown out in the 7th.
    As I type this the Astros are down 10-3 in the seventh.

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      • Dan, I have never commented about the tandem pitching until today. The tandem pitching is bad for pitchers because it teaches them to waste pitches, and it takes a pitcher who is throwing well out of the game and that really is bad for the position players.. I can tell you that 99% of the pitchers in the organization despise it privately and it will backfire on the organization.
        That’s it. I said it once.

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      • oldpro – I know they did some tandem last season, but I thought they did it part of the season and then picked the real starters based on results?
        I know it is supposed to give more potential starting pitchers a chance to pitch multiple innings – but would you be just as well off with a 6 man rotation or something like that. It is not rewarding a pitcher for pitching well by letting him continue and it is not letting them stretch out.

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      • A quick question on the tandem. How many innings does the starter go? 4 or 5 (supposing they’re pitching well)? And what if they finish their innings and have only pitched 60 or so pitches. Do they go to the bullpen and throw 30 more?

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      • Starter goes 5 innings or 75 pitches, whichever comes first. Manager’s discretion on going less pitches or less innings, but not more.

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  12. I’m okay with the concept in the first half of the season, as long as they stretch guys out in the second half as they did last year. It’s a creative way to get consistent innings for more guys. But oldpro, you’re 100% correct in that a kid who’s been a dominant starter since the age of 8 is going to be pissed when yanked out of a game after 4 innings. Any competitor would be offended.

    My only real concern is that a guy coming out of our minor league system will not be ready to throw 200 innings at the ML level.

    By the way, if anyone is interested, my guy Bo’s team has lost 22 of their last 27.

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    • Lots of good points daveb.
      The concern is that a kid throws 100 IP and then they need to lmit his next season to 130 or so – so as not to risk injury.
      As far as Bo goes – hey they won 5 since mid- September! Look on the brigbt side.

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    • Devin I did not see it – but I understand he was yelling at Lowrie to go to his position after Lowrie was complaining to Altuve that he had been thrown at…is that what you meant by antics or was there other stuff happening?

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  13. old pro –
    md57 (a little ways up) is asking some specific questions about how the tandem is applied. I believe that the starter comes out after 4 or 5 IP even if they are pitching well and even if they have not thrown that many pitches. I assume they do not go throw in the bullpen after that (if they threw 60 in the game they don’t throw another 30 or 40) but I don’t know that.
    OP – do you know any more details about it?

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  15. I haven’t heard the “99%” figure, but I do understand the premise of making sure the key players get innings. And, it does put pitchers in a variety of circumstances, which can’t be all bad. I know this may not be popular, but it’s not about the winning in the minors, it’s trying to get the right players ready for the big club.

    Since many pitchers will start out in the pen (remember Oswalt? Wade Miller? even J.R. Richard?), it can’t hurt to give them a taste there. I would think. No?

    This isn’t necessarily an endorsement of the tandem plan, but I can see — at least in theory — some of the reasoning.

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  16. Chip thanks for that link above to Luhnow discussing the tandem system.
    He sure has reasons for everything but I think he is going to have a hard time explaining a 4th straight worst record for the Astros.

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  17. Dan, I don’t think the tandem and the possibly 4 straight are tied together. But, yes, patience seems to be wearing thin…as seen in a number of comments from a variety of sources recently. Singleton may well be up by Monday and other changes may be on the way.

    We’ll discuss more early next week (yes, a little tease).

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    • Yeah what I was trying to say is that Luhnow’s tandem discussion was very reasoned but separately any discussion on their current putridness (word?) Would not.
      Part of me wishes that a Carter was playing well enough to be traded for something worthwhile. The other part of me thinks that it might take this kind of badness to force the callups.

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      • Dan, let me tell you how bad it is: I was looking at some numbers this morning and thinking maybe the team was hitting a tad better the past few games. Then, I realized I was looking at the OBP column instead of batting averages. Whew… Most of the Astros’ OBP averages don’t even closely approach OKC batting averages. Yes, I understand there is a correlation between OBP and BA, but geez.

        Unfortunately, we find ourselves extrapolating the number of losses for this team. And…at this point, that’s 114. Frankly, this team shouldn’t be in that position this year.

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    • Chip,
      i think the first homestand after the 19th for singleton. and guys i hate to keep being an optimist but its only 3 weeks into the season, maybe a bit early to panic about a 4th straight worst record?

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      • rj – Of course you are right and maybe the kids coming off the farm will help some, but they are in just such a crash and burn mode.

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    • Dave we talk about whatever you folks want to talk about. Look at this post about Lancaster where 90% of the comments are about other things.
      We are accommodating.

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  20. After last night and speaking of Cosart, may we ix-nay on the all-hay of ame-fay comment of mine earlier. Really jinxed him.

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    • For some reason this makes me feel like the Three Stooges are taking over the blog with the Pig Latin.
      OK no more Hall of anything about anybody. Until somebody gets voted in…

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    • O.K. – DaveB (I think) and some others jumped on my first Cosart comment and DanP, now you call me Curly (if he was the bald one). This is one tough blog. I would say something about Sat game, but am going to go and cry in my corner.

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      • Astro 45 – please don’t despair – bald is in – bald is beautiful – Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Walter White…..
        But none of this helps the pain from today’s game….

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      • Yeah 45, it was me. I did say it was a bit premature to be talking HOF for Cosart. But I do think he’s got a bright future ahead of him. So don’t go shaving your head.

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      • Astro45,This is not a tough blog. It’s a great blog and you are one of the great posters. We get a little cranky sometimes but these people here are like a family and we have a lot to say but we still give hugs and handshakes and say “have a great day” to each other. We are true Astros fans and we desparately need to keep sharing the facts, sharing the dreams and keeping the faith. Personally, Villar has been a delight, Feldman is such a surprise even after burying his dad he comes out and gives what little he has left in his tank. Springer doesn’t seem lost out there and Singleton hit #7 bomb tonight. There is no way we can keep him down if he keeps this up.
        White, Crain and Wojo will be back and we’ll have some more fun with them.
        My post about tandems was intended to give some info on how things are happening down on the farm. Tandems have their merits and their drawbacks, but it is fascinating discussing it with all of Chip’s friends.

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      • 1OP, I had my tongue pressed against my cheek as I was typing, but I guess it did not come across. And speaking of you, I remember back in early ST you saying that this team was not much of an improvement over last years (My words, not yours). Right now their play is making you look smarter than Bopert trashing out Crane. When I clicked on Gameview and they were down 7 runs in the 1st inning, I just started to cry. I wanted to use “GGGRRRRRRRrrrrrr” but Becky has a patent on that one.

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  21. I missed the game today. But I’ve just seen the low lights. And some of you might think I’m picking on my favorite manager. You’d be correct. The Stros got the first two guys on base in the ninth. Wouldn’t you try to move those guys over, to avoid a double play, and have runners on second and third with one out? Of course Dominguez came up and promptly bounced into a double play. Hoes then went down looking, stranding Springer. All the while, our best hitter, Castro, sat on the bench.

    Then of course, Qualls came in. He’d been out with the flu and had not pitched in eight days. Wouldn’t you have Fields or Valdes warm in the pen, just in case things didn’t work out with Qualls? No such luck.

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    • I missed it too today – family stuff.
      I think he is nailing that lid shut on himself. I knew Qualls had not pitched in awhile.
      I think Porter is awfully stubborn about things and makes poor decisions. Not a good combo.

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    • daveb –
      I’m not a Bo-hater, but those are my thoughts exactly. You could cut him some slack and say that he watched Bass and Albers get in and out of trouble and make it through their innings, and subsequently thought Qualls would do the same. But with 6 straight losses staring you in the face, I think I would have at least had Fields up and ready in the event that Qualls’ eight day layoff would affect him the way it did. That, along with with not moving the runners over and pinch hitting Castro, made me very disappointed in Bo.

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  23. Astro 45 – I was reading your comment that tongue in cheek does not carry its meaning too well when blogging. It reminded me of an episode of Big Bang Theory where Leonard has to hold up a sarcasm sign to cue Sheldon who does not pick up on these things. Maybe we need that on the blog – haha.

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  24. So Altuve gets thrown out trying to steal 3rd with a lefty at bat. This is followed by a walk and a single by Springer that are wasted.
    Can we get thru a game without losing runners on the base paths?

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  25. Our manager either gave him a green light or sent him in that situation. Regardless, bad baseball with our two best hitters at the plate and on deck. Again and again.

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    • Peacock pitched well after giving up 2 in the first. He was being squeezed early.
      I’m sick of silly outs – bugs me and yes the manager needs to stop some of this.

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  26. On the bright side, our big lefty in CC, Thomas Shirley, went the last four innings today, 6 K’s, no hits. The sooner we have too many quality lefty starters, the sooner we have good lefties in the pen.

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