So we did this last year, mostly for Bourn (I guess this year it will be Castro), thought we should do it again because, hey, we NEED something baseball-related to survive...

Position Players:
Jason Castro: 4 games, 15 AB, .200/.368/.200, 3 1B, 2 R, 3 K, 3 BB, 1 HBP
Jonathan Gaston: 4 games, 13 AB, .077/.250/.077, 1 1B, 2 R, 1 RBI, 9 K, 3 BB, 1 SB
Wladimir Sutil: 9 games, 29 AB, .379/.406/.483, 8 1B, 3 2B, 5 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB

Pitchers:
Chia-Jen Lo: 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 K, 0 BB, 1 H (0.00 ERA, INF K:BB, 0.250 WHIP, .077 BAA)
Evan Englebrook: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 K, 0 BB, 3 H (0.00 ERA, INF K:BB, 1.00 WHIP, .250 BAA)
Jose Capellan: 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 K, 3 BB, 11 H (2.84 ERA, 2:1 K:BB, 2.211 WHIP, .367 BAA)
Erick Abreu: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 K, 1 BB, 1 H (0.00 ERA, 5:1 K:BB, 0.667 WHIP, .100 BAA)

Castro is off to a slightly slow start, although it's encouraging to see he's still walking and posting a solid OBP. Gaston is...disappointing to say the least, hopefully he can turn things around. I thought Sutil was worth mentioning because he's a shortstop who plays excellent defense and had a pretty solid year at AA for us and, well, he's doing pretty well (though he's not big on walks). Hope to see him in ST.

Lo is looking awesome so far, albeit in limited innings. I wanted to mention Englebrook because he has pretty good stuff, but control has always been his problem that's held him back (his walk numbers in the minors are pretty terrible), but so far he hasn't walked anyone while maintaining his good strikeout numbers, if he gets things together he could be a solid reliever for us sometime in the not-to-distant future. Erick Abreu is someone to watch because, although he's still raw and a bit older than you'd like for someone at his level, he supposedly has incredible stuff and saw pretty good success last year before getting knocked around at AAA. As far as I'm concerned, any pitcher who can post a 2.77 ERA and 9.0 strikeouts per inning at A+ Lancaster's park deserves some attention, and he's looking pretty strong so far in Winter Ball.

Viva la Lo!

LOL thought you might like that. I'm not sold on him being the closer or anything just yet, but Gervacio has restored some of my faith in giving young guys a shot. Hopefully Lo will get an invite to ST and a legit shot to win a bullpen spot.

I think he should start the season in AAA. We'll see how he does from there.

Poor Gaston has been a whiff machine ever since the AS break...

"9.0 strikeouts per inning"

Heh, I guess that's possible if you were to throw six wild-pitches in the same inning.

Don't forget about Vallejo, by the way. He went 2 for 5 with a steal today. Meszaros is also on the roster, although he got burned (2 ER in 0.1 IP). In the same game Lo went two scoreless innings and notched another couple of punchouts.

Wesley Wright was supposed to play winter ball and be used as a starting pitcher. Has the plan changed?

Blah, I mean 9.0 strikeouts per NINE innings...

Not that I'm aware of, he's just not listed yet.

He might be scheduled to play in one of the other winter leagues; most of them haven't started yet.

Not much to report, though Lo has a few more innings now.

Chia-Jen Lo: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 8 K, (0.00 ERA, 8:1 K:BB, 0.500 WHIP, .100 BAA)

Wesley Wright got his first start in winter ball on 10/22. 5 IP, 0 Runs, 2 H, 6 K. Got 6 groundouts and 3 flyouts. He did walk 4, but all in all not too shabby.

Yeah, too many walks, but a good first start nonetheless.

Just checked winter league stats. It's good to see that Andrew Locke is playing now. Looks like he's taking up where he left off at Corpus Christi. Two games, 8 ab's, 3 hits (2 doubles), 1 BB & 2 rbi. Looks like there aren't any ill effects from his broken hand. I'm glad to see that. If he continues to perform like this through winter ball, I'm wondering if he will get an invite to spring training. I have some friends who attended quite a few of the Hooks games this past summer and they tell me he is the real deal.

I'm not sure where he would play....OF and 1B seem pretty covered for a couple more years. I like seeing CJ Lo doing so well.

I'm guessing Locke will spend 2010 at AAA. If he dominates at AAA like he did at AA, I think the 'stros should make every effort to make room for him on the ML team in 2011.

It is my understanding that Lee's NTC expires after the 2010 season; however, if he remains on the club through the 2011 season he becomes a 10 and 5 guy. So we have a window after the 2010 season (and before the end of the 2011 season) to trade Lee to whomever we want. I realize that it will not be easy to trade Lee because of his $18 million a year contract, but I think he should be traded even if it means the 'stros have to pick up some of his contract to do so. If we don't trade him after 2010, we're probably stuck with him through 2012. I like Carlos Lee. He is a heckuva hitter and seems like a real nice guy, but I hate to think we'll have to watch him rumbling and bumbling around LF for 3 more season. Carlos would be a great DH for some AL team and there are teams who really need an upgrade at DH.

If we had someone in LF (Locke?) who could cover some ground and field the position to go along with Bourn and Pence in CF and RF it would be shame on anybody who hits a fly ball to our outfield.

I too am impressed with Lo. He has done well at A, then AA and now is doing well in winter ball. I hope he gets an invite to SP this year. His WHIP and strikeouts per inning pitched have been outstanding at each level so far. Do you think he will be ready for the majors by 2011?

I could go for all that with Lee. I wouldn't count Bogusevic out yet either. That could be a nice speedy young OF.

As for Lo, I think we'll see him some time next year at the pace he is going. Not to start the season, but after an injury or two.

Mini-update for you all.

Pitchers:
Chia-Jen Lo: 7.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 9 K (2.45 ERA, 0.546 WHIP, 9:1 K:BB ratio)
Wesley Wright: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 6 K (0.00 ERA, 1.200 WHIP, 1.5:1 K:BB ratio)
Fernando Abad: 10.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 K (1.80 ERA, 0.900 WHIP, 3:1 K:BB ratio)

Position players:
Jason Castro: .217/.379/.348, 5 H, 4 R, 5 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Jonathan Gaston: .227/.414/.318, 5 H, 4 R, 6 BB, 12 K, 1 3B, 2 SB
Wladimir Sutil: .333/.354/.400, 15 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 3 2B, 4 RBI, 1 SB

Since he's easily been one of the best pitchers of ours so far, I thought I do a little post on Fernando Abad, a name most have likely never heard of.

Signed as an un-drafted FA in 2002 out of the Dominican Republic, he'll be turning 24 this December 17th (in other words, we signed him when he was just about 16 or 17 years old). He only started pitching in our system in 2007, and he's looked pretty promising so far.

2008-2009 at A+ Lancaster: 159.0 IP, 66 ER, 156 H, 21 BB, 173 K (3.74 ERA, 1.113 WHIP, 8.2:1 K:BB ratio!!!)

Suffice to say that putting up those kind of numbers in Lancaster's park is extremely impressive, especially from a guy who was, at the time, in his second and third years of professional ball. He made it up to AA Corpus at the end of this year, and looked impressive in his limited time there as well: 14.0 IP, 3.21 ERA, 12 H, 13 K, 3 BB (1.070 WHIP, 4.3:1 K:BB ratio).

He has good stuff and his command is incredible for someone his age and with his experience. With some polish, he could turn out well for us. I think it's safe to add him to the list of talented young starters we have in the low levels of the minors, though he'll likely start next year at AA.

Over his career so far, he's put up some impressive numbers, including a 1.130 WHIP, a 3.82 ERA, a 6.5:1 K:BB ratio (yes, you read that right), and 9.8 K per nine IP, over a total of 226 IP. Wow.

Something special I found also, is this page: <http://www.4aplayer.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28&catid=2&Itemid=4 Scroll down to the videos and watch them. The first time I saw his delivery, I said "whoa, that leg kick, he looks like Wandy!" which I'll take as a good sign.

Thanks for all this, Ash.