Top four affiliates begin regular season play this Thursday
HOUSTON, TX - The Houston Astros have set their preliminary 2014 minor league rosters for four of their affiliates, Triple A Oklahoma City, Double A Corpus Christi, Class A Advanced Lancaster and Class A Quad Cities. The announcement was made by Astros Director of Player Development Quinton McCracken.
These rosters are subject to change and will not be officially finalized until the minor league Opening Day. Rosters do not include Disabled List players.
Oklahoma City:
PITCHERS
Jake Buchanan
Jose Cisnero
Paul Clemens
Bobby Doran
Darin Downs*
Mike Foltynewicz
Chia-Jen Lo
David Martinez
Collin McHugh
Rudy Owens*
Jason Stoffel
Nick Tropeano
Pat Urckfitz*
Josh Zeid
CATCHERS
Ryan McCurdy
Carlos Perez
Max Stassi
INFIELDERS
Japhet Amador
Erik Castro*
Jonathan Meyer
Gregorio Petit
Jon Singleton*
Ruben Sosa#
Ronald Torreyes
OUTFIELDERS
Adron Chambers
Domingo Santana
George Springer
Austin Wates
* - denotes left-hander
# - denotes switch-hitter
Corpus Christi:
PITCHERS
Travis Ballew
Colton Cain*
Luis Cruz*
Jorge De Leon
T.J. Geith*
Matt Heidenreich
Jordan Jankowski
Andrew Robinson
Brady Rodgers
David Rollins*
Ross Seaton
Tommy Shirley*
Alex Sogard*
Aaron West
CATCHERS
Rene Garcia
Tyler Heineman#
INFIELDERS
M.P. Cokinos
Matt Duffy
Nolan Fontana*
Enrique Hernandez
Jio Mier
Joe Sclafani#
OUTFIELDERS
Andrew Aplin*
Delino DeShields
Chris Epps*
Leo Heras*
Preston Tucker*
Lancaster:
PITCHERS
Mark Appel
Jamaine Cotton
Chris Devenski
Michael Dimock
Josh Hader*
Mike Hauschild
Mitchell Lambson*
Lance McCullers
Juan Minaya
Daniel Minor
J.D. Osborne*
Tyson Perez
Kyle Smith
Vincent Velasquez
Kyle Westwood
CATCHERS
Roberto Pena
Jake Rodriguez
INFIELDERS
Carlos Correa
Tony Kemp*
Brandon Meredith
Carlos Perdomo
Rio Ruiz*
OUTFIELDERS
Justin Gominsky
Dan Gulbransen*
Teoscar Hernandez
Jordan Scott*
Danry Vasquez*
Quad Cities:
PITCHERS
Tyler Brunnemann
Patrick Christensen
Chris Cotton*
Kent Emanuel*
Michael Feliz
Evan Grills*
Jandel Gustave
Adrian Houser
Chris Lee*
Albert Minnis*
Zach Morton
Gonzalo Sanudo
Andrew Thurman
Andrew Walter
CATCHERS
Brett Booth
Brian Holberton*
Jobduan Morales#
INFIELDERS
Austin Elkins#
Conrad Gregor*
Jack Mayfield
Chase McDonald
Chan Moon*
Tyler White
OUTFIELDERS
Jon Kemmer*
Tanner Mathis*
Brett Phillips*
James Ramsay*
Climbing the Charts:
Over the past two seasons, the combined record of the Astros minor league system has been the best in baseball (915-754, .548)...Houston set a franchise record when their top six minor league affiliates all qualified for the playoffs in 2013, and two clubs ended up winning championships (Class A Quad Cities, Class A Short Season Tri-City)...the Astros became the first organization to have six domestic affiliates qualify for the postseason since the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2003...along with the Royals and Mariners, the Astros were one of three organizations to have multiple championship teams in 2013.
The RANKINGS:
This Spring, the Astros minor league system was rated as the best in baseball by both ESPN.com and The Sporting News...Baseball America, who ranked the Astros system as the worst in baseball in both 2009 and 2010, tabbed Houston's system as the fifth-best in the Majors...seven Houston prospects made the 2014 MLB.com Top 100 Prospects list, which ranked tied for second among all 30 clubs...of the top 100 prospect lists put out by ESPN.com, Baseball Prospectus, Baseball America and MLB.com, the following Astros prospects made at least one of those lists: SS Carlos Correa, RHP Mark Appel, CF George Springer, 1B Jon Singleton, RHP Mike Foltynewicz, RHP Lance McCullers, OF Delino DeShields, RHP Vincent Velasquez.
The accolades:
There were 25 Astros prospects who were named All-Stars in their respective leagues across all eight levels of the minors in 2013...CF George Springer hit 37 home runs and stole 45 bases, becoming the first minor leaguer to reach the 30-30 plateau since Oakland's Grant Desme in 2009...Springer was named Minor League Baseball's 2013 Offensive Player of the Year and was named the Double A Texas League Player of the Year...at 18 years old, SS Carlos Correa was the second-youngest player in the Class A Midwest League but still led the league in OPS (.872) while finishing second in OBP (.405) and third in batting average (.320)...Correa led all Midwest League shortstops in fielding percentage.
the TALENT INFUSION:
Since Jeff Luhnow was appointed Astros General Manager in November of 2011, the Astros have acquired talent through the draft, trades and international signings...when looking at Baseball America's top 30 Astros prospects, 17 were acquired during Luhnow's current tenure with the club:
Through the Draft: SS Carlos Correa (#1), RHP Mark Appel (#3), RHP Lance McCullers (#5), 3B Rio Ruiz (#11), RHP Andrew Thurman (#15), OF Andrew Aplin (#19), SS Nolan Fontana (#20), LHP Kent Emanuel (#23), OF Brett Phillips (#30)
Via Trade: RHP Asher Wojciechowski (#10), C Max Stassi (#12), LHP Josh Hader (#14), LHP Kevin Chapman (#17), RHP Kyle Smith (#22), RHP Gonzalo Sanudo (#26), OF Danry Vasquez (#29)
International Signings: OF Leo Heras (#25)
The SYSTEM BY THE NUMBERS:
Last year, the Astros minor league system led all 30 organizations in OPS (.731) and on-base percentage (.342) while finishing second in walks (3208), homers (611) and runs (4101)...on the pitching side, Houston's minor league system ranked second among all 30 organizations in walks per 9.0 innings (3.1) and strikeout to walk ratio (2.53)...led by Domingo Santana (25 HR), George Springer (19 HR) and Max Stassi (17 HR), Double A Corpus Christi finished third in the minors with 158 homers...Class A Advanced Lancaster led all of the minors in runs, walks, OBP and OPS in 2013.
2014 breakdown - MLB.com astros top 20 prospects by team:
- Triple A Oklahoma City (6): Jon Singleton (#2), George Springer (#3), Mike Foltynewicz (#6), Domingo Santana (#9), Nick Tropeano (#17), Max Stassi (#18)
- Double A Corpus Christi (2): Delino DeShields (#7), Nolan Fontana (#18)
- Class A Advanced Lancaster (9): Carlos Correa (#1), Mark Appel (#2), Lance McCullers (#5), Vincent Velasquez (#9), Rio Ruiz (#11), Teoscar Hernandez (#13), Josh Hader (#15), Kyle Smith (#19), Danry Vasquez (#20)
-Class A Quad Cities (2): Michael Feliz (#10), Andrew Thurman (#16)
-ASTROS-
