Astros select shortstop Mier

With the 21st pick in the first round of the 2009 draft, the Astros selected high school shortstop Jiovanni Mier out of Bonita High School in La Verne, California. Mier, 18, is listed at 6-foot-3, 170 pounds and has committed to Southern California. His brother Jessie is a catcher in the Dodgers organization. Here is some video of Mier's hitting and fielding.

All of the scouting reports rave about Mier's defense. He was rated the best high school defensive player by Baseball America and compared to Nomar Garciaparra by MLB.com. He profiles as a line drive hitter and isn't done developing physically. He's "wiry strong," according to his MLB scouting report. One thing that all the reports agree on is that he is as advanced a high school prospect at short as you will find and though he needs to polish a few things, he should be able to stick at the position.

His footwork and his relays both need work, but are definitely fixable. In the video, you can see he does have a quick release when getting the ball to second or trying to turn the double play. Mier also needs to work on his throws, as they can sometimes have too much movement on them and provide problems for first basemen.

The most consistent praise is given to his make-up. In this article, Baseball America goes in-depth on the shortstop, talking with him and his coach about how he deals with pressure. In this Q&A with the blog Baseball Beginnings, Mier talks about a wide variety of things and has a pretty mature approach to hitting. I like that he's aware of how he needs to hit to all fields and, though he acknowledges the doubters don't think he'll hit, he hasn't tried to yank a bunch of homers.

The Astros do not have much depth at shortstop in the minors right now. The starting shortstops in Lexington (Low A) are both international signings who are a ways away. Lancaster (High A) have Chris Jackson and Gabriel Suarez, one who was a mid-round draft pick last season and one who's played independant ball the past two years. The only legitimate prospect currently in the minors is Wladimir Sutil and, at 24, he's a little old for his level (Double-A). Suffice it to say there's no depth here. I'd imagine Mier will start out in Rookie ball and then be the everyday guy at Lexington in 2010.

There doesn't seem to be any signability issues with Mier, so the Astros should be able to get him for the slot price, but I'm a little concerned that as a Calfornia native, he may want to honor his commitment to USC and be their starting shortstop for the next three years.

Tuesday Brieflys

A mixed bag of news in the latest Minor League Notebook from The Houston Chronicle. Jason Castro got the call-up to Double-A Corpus Christi last night, less than a year after being drafted out of Stanford. Other college-age prospects from last year's draft have made the jump, such as Texas first baseman Justin Smoak, and judging from Castro's performance so far this season, his transition should go smoothly. On the down side, Douglas Arguello, one of the pitchers Castro would have been catching, was placed on the 7-day DL this week with swelling in his elbow. Hopefully, this isn't a serious issue, but it bears watching. Anyways, let's get into all the news and notes from the Astros minor league system:

Brian Bogusevic went 2 for 4 with another double and an RBI in Monday's game against rehabbing Cubs pitcher Rich Harden. Bogey still leads the team with six June RBIs and four doubles. His slugging percentage is only topped by Lou Santangelo and Chris Johnson, though Santangelo has 23 fewer at-bats.

The two players manning first base for Round Rock, Mark Saccomanno and John Gall, are both in a June swoon. For Gall, his 5 for 30 start mirrors his May numbers and have been a big reason why his average has fallen to .235/.308/.358 on the season. Saccomanno is going through a 3 for 24 stretch to start the month, lowering his season average to .270/.306/.401.

Wladimir Sutil had a five game hitting streak broken on Sunday before getting two more hits on Monday. Sutil is 7 for 21 with 8 walks, five runs, two RBIs, one SB, and three strikeouts this month. His .333/.517/.429 line gives him the highest OBP on the team this month and is a big reason why he's been slotted into the leadoff spot the past few games. Sutil doesn't have as much power as Tommy Manzella, but he's been more consistent at the plate with a career line of .279/.345/.324.

Corpus starter Brad James started twice since I've talked about the Hooks. In his first start last week, James gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings while striking out a season-high five and walking three. His FIP of 3.01 was his lowest of the season and he gave up zero line drives. In the second start, James reversed those trends, walking five and striking out three in five innings of work. He allowed three hits and two earned runs but his FIP was at 8.20, his second-highest total of the season. James continues to pitch very inconsistently and unless his strikeout rate suddenly spikes, shows very little hope of making the majors.

Mitch Einertson also had a five game hitting streak broken up on Sunday. After suffering through an off month in May, Einertson has bounced back nicely in June, batting .333/.346/.458 with a home run and five RBIs. He's already brought his average up to .266 for the season and the home run he hit was his fifth this year.

Polin Trinidad rebounded from a horrific last start (his game score was 9), but was still just a shade under average. His quality start (six innings, two earned runs) was decent enough, but he only struck out four and allowed a home run. His FIP of 4.03 was a little above his season FIP of 3.98 and his batting average all0wed of .315 is too high to sustain any success. The one good thing about his perforamnce is he doesn't walk anyone. In 51 innings, Trinidad has walked six batters and has given up more home runs (7) than walks.

Collin DeLome finally broke his homerless drought dating back to last month by hitting a solo shot on Sunday. DeLome has had more time off recently as his May slump grew deeper, but the results have been solid since then. In 21 plate appearances, DeLome is hitting .263/.333/.526 with a home run and two doubles. The centerfielder has 11 home runs on the season, which leads the Hooks and is tied for the club lead with seven steals. Also helping his cause is the fact that he has already drawn two walks and struck out four times. In May, DeLome drew three walks in the entire month while striking out 28 times. If he improves that ratio, he'll be a good major league player.

Sergio Perez also pitched his second best start of the season, going six innings and allowing five hits and one earned run. He tied his season high with six strikeouts and walked two. His game score of 62 was only bested by his score of 69 in his fifth start of the season. Perez benefitted from three double plays and had his highest Defense Efficiency Ratio (.688) and FIP (2.70) in four starts.

I mention Drew Meyer every now and then, but at 27, he's really not a prospect. Still, he's hitting well this month, going 9 for 25 with two walks, two doubles, and five RBIs. Meyer plays an okay second base, but the lack of any other real prospects at the position highlight the reason why a guy like Meyer can end up with the Hooks. He's a solid organizational guy and would be a good fill-in at Round Rock if he's needed there.

The Corpus bullpen has been much stronger lately with the additions of Daniel Meszaros and Chai-Jen Lo. Teaming up with T.J. Burton, the team has a great bridge to win games, which is why they've won three of their last four. Meszaros has pitched in three games, throwing five innings and allowing four hits and one earned run. The 23-year old has also struck out four and walked none. In 27 innings, Meszaros has allowed only one home run and should continue his ascent up the system. Lo has also pitched in three games since coming off the DL last weekend. The 23-year old Taiwanese reliever has thrown three innings while allowing one hit and no earned runs. He's walked two and struck out three while hitting two batters. After being so dominant in Lancaster, Lo seems like he needs a little time to find his rhythm again.

I'll keep updating as the night goes on, but I'm going to post these thoughts right now so I can prepare a post about the Astros first round pick when it comes in a little bit. I thought LHP Matthew Purke made sense for them, but the Rangers just grabbed him. That means RHP Shelby Miller may fall a little, though I doubt he gets to 21. It doesn't really make sense to take another outfielder when our system is so lousy with them, so I'll be interested to see if they take Mier, the shortstop who's supposed to be the best pure defender in the draft.

The Big Pot of Leftovers

So since I haven't blogged about the minors in almost a week, I thought I'd treat you to a gigantic post covering everything under the sun. In the past five days, we've had quite a bit to talk about, so this post will be my usual news & notes column while I plan on bringing out two different pitching profiles later today and will come back with a draft post tomorrow. There has been quite a bit going on recently, including a trip to the 7-day DL for 2008 supplemental first round pick Jay Austin. The 18-year old is the seventh Legends player currently on the DL and at least the 10th this season, which may explain why the team has been so inconsistent recently, and why Eric Suttle was added to the roster last week. So without further ado, here's all the news and notes from around the Astros minor leagues:

Starter Bud Norris bounced back from a sub-par start to have an above-average on last week. The 24-year old lasted six innings, allowing seven hits and one earned run while striking out four and walking three. Norris also allowed a home run for the third straight game and has also not allowed more than two line drives in his last three starts. The four strikeouts were the fewest he's had since his first start of the season and his FIP of 5.00 showed just how much his defense helped him out in this one.

Three hitters have 10 hits this month after the first week of June. The first is Reggie Abercrombie, who has settled into the leadoff spot nicely. The 28-year old still strikes out too much to be useful as an everyday player, but has put up a nice 10 for 27 run in the past week, with one walks, two doubles, three runs scored and seven strikeouts. He was also picked off twice, though, which hurts his value which is why his Runs Created is at 4.49.

Depending on how severe Felipe Paulino's groin injury is, the Astros may be looking for a starter to fill his rotation spot. One theory is that Russ Ortiz will be slotted in, but he's been so valuable as a long reliever, that scenario only makes sense if Paulino doesn't hit the DL. If he does, the team would be hard pressed to pass over Yorman Bazardo. The 24-year old didn't keep his 80 game score streak alive, having just a pedestrian game score of 61 last Friday. Bazardo (7-2) went seven innings and allowed eight hits and one earned run while striking out five and walking one. He gave up his first home run in five starts and also gave up a season-high eight line drives. His pitch count remains low, meaning he is very efficient with his pitches, but that can also get him into trouble like this past start. Bazardo had a G/F rato of 11/4, continuing his trend this season of being a groundball pitcher.

Another Express player with 10 hits this month is Brian Bogusevic. Hitting in the three hole, Bogey leads the team in RBIs this month with five and had two consecutive three-hit games this weekend. His .345/.367/.448 line puts him just above Abercrombie in terms of value, with one of the differences being Bogey was successful on his only stolen base attempt. Both players struck out and walked an equal number of times, though, which is a problem Bogusevic is going to have to overcome before he can be a decent big league player.

Lefthander Mark McLemore has also come off the DL recently and started two games thus far. His first start wasn't noteworthy but both charged him with losses. In five innings, McLemore gave up eight hits and three earned runs while striking out four. Another former Astros lefty, Wesley Wright, hasn't given up a run yet in 6 1/3 innings of work.

Tommy Manzella rounds out the troika of players with 10 hits for Round Rock. At 10 for 28 for the month, Manzella continues to raise his average higher and higher (.309 for the season). Of course, included in those 10 hits was a 4 for 5 day last week, which was the most hits by an Express player in quite a while. Manzella's power has never been his strong suit, but he does seem to be a good baserunner, as he leads the team with three triples this season. It's not all speed with him, though, as he has grounded into a team-high 10 double plays and only has two steals. Still, he's proven to be a very capable player and should get a look at being the everyday shortstop next season after Tejada leaves via free agency.

And this is how far we got today...I'll post this and follow up tomorrow with more.

We Apologize for the Brief Blackout

Sorry the blog has been dark for two days now. I've been swamped at the real job lately and haven't had time to sufficiently analyze the comings and goings in the minors. I expect this may happen again next week, because my wife is expecting our first child on Thursday. I will have an extended Friday post up later today (possibly tonight) and we'll play the rest of the week by ear. Stay tuned!

Tuesday Brieflys

I was getting ready to lead off with a comment about the Astros minors going for a clean sweep on Monday, but Round Rock had to go and mess everything up by losing to former Astros affiliate New Orleans. Oh well, can't win them all, I guess. As the Astros farm system has a combined winning percentage of .433, a clean sweep was asking a lot. Only Lexington has a winning record currently at 26-24 and based on Run Differential, Lexington is the only one who should have a winning record. Round Rock, in fact, should have less wins than it does now. Still, as we've seen in these notes columns over the past two months, there is talent in the system. Just not enough of it to win as a team. Onto all the news and notes from Monday:

I'm introducing a new feature to these recaps in The Gold Star Performance of the Day. It's a long, unwieldy name right now, but I assume we can just call it the Gold Star and you'll know what I'm talking about. I'm going to give it to one player each recap who stood out above the rest and deserves to be mentioned right away, instead of by level, as I do now. Our first Gold Star winner is Lexington's Ross Seaton. The 19-year old threw a three-hit shutout, striking out six and walking none to get his fifth victory this season. Seaton had a game score of 87, which was only beaten by May POM Yorman Bazardo's three-hitter over the weekend. The strikeout total was also Seaton's highest since his third start of the season and was the second straight outing where he didn't walk a batter. It also helped the Houston native that the Legends scored more than four runs for the third time this season to get him the victory. Seaton also righted a three-game losing streak and didn't allow a run for the third time this season. That deserves a Gold Star.

Round Rock's Jose Capellan turned in a great appearance out of the bullpen on Monday, striking out five batters in two innings of work. The 28-year old gave up two hits but only needed 33 pitches to get through his time on the mound. Capellan's ERA has ballooned with each ineffective start and maybe a move to the bullpen will bring him around to the form that saw him go 4-2 with a 4.40 ERA in 71 innings with Milwaukee in 2006.

The hitting was a mixed bag, as Tommy Manzella extended his hitting streak to nine games and Mark Saccomanno, Chris Johnson and Yordany Ramirez each had doubles. Still, the Express managed just seven hits in the game and scored one run off former Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco. Ramirez in particular seems to have put a horrible May behind him by going 2 for 4 in the leadoff spot.

The day he was named Pitcher of the Month by this blog, Douglas Arguello picked up his second victory of the season. However, it wasn't one of his better starts, as the lefty was picked up by his team scoring nine runs for him. Arguello lasted five innings, giving up four hits, two earned runs, striking out five and walking four. The 24-year old also gave up a home run and hit a batter. After giving up one home run in his first seven starts, Arguello has given up long balls in each of his last two appearances, though his line drive percentage was back under 20% in both starts and for the season (17.5%).

Four different Hooks had multiple hits, led by Mark Ori's 3 for 5 day. Jonathan Fixler, Collin DeLome and Felix Molina each had two hits and three RBIs while Fixler and Drew Locke each scored two runs. DeLome had his first multi-hit game in seven outings and his second in 13 games. The 22-year old hit .232/.281/.427 in May but did add three home runs, two triples and three doubles. His 28 strikeouts led the team and coupled with his three walks, were a big reason why he went 1 for 16 in his last five games in May.

I haven't written much about Ori this season, largely because he's a first baseman without much power. That kind of player doesn't usually make it to the big leagues, as there are enough guys who can hit the ball a mile but don't have a position that teams can shoehorn in at first. Ori does have a knack for getting hits but not walks, as he had just 5 walks in May and 12 for the season. The 25-year old is hitting .320/.372/.394 this season.

Jack Tilghman had a game score of 59 in his second start for Lancaster. The 22-year old threw five innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs and striking out six. It was his first start this season where he went at least five innings and only the second start of his professional career.

Shortstop Gabriel Suarez was the only Lancaster hitter with a multi-hit game on Monday, as the 24-year old went 2 for 4. Suarez is hitting .400 since signing with the JetHawks last week. Centerfielder T.J. Steele went 1 for 3 in the game, getting his first hit in 13 at-bats since coming off the disabled list.

None of the Lexington hitters stood out on Monday, except Brian Pelligrini, who hit his fourth home run since being demoted. Pelligrini has been great for the Lexington offense, but considering how badly he failed in his first stint in High-A ball, he may not have much of a future with the organization.

Two other roster notes: Ryan McKeller has been demoted to Corpus Christi to make room for Mark McLemore to come off the DL for Round Rock.... With T.J. Steele coming off the DL for Lancaster, outfielder Eric Suttle was demoted to Lexington. Suttle was 12 for 32 with two doubles, four runs scored, seven RBIs and five walks in 12 games with the JetHawks.

May Players of the Month

Triple-A (Round Rock Express)

(Age, year and round drafted)

Hitter of the Month: Tommy Manzella, SS (26, 3rd, 2004): The question with Manzella hasn't been his glove (which is excellent); it's if he can be consistent enough with his bat to be successful in the big leagues. Starting last season, Manzella has shown signs that his bat can be a legitimate threat. He overcame a two week slump at the end of May to raise his average up over .300 for the season. His line of .339/.397/.492 for May is excellent and his 24.4 runs created is tops on the Express for the month. In 133 plate appearances, Manzella has 42 hits, 11 walks, 20 runs scored, 12 RBIs, 11 doubles, 1 triple, two home runs, four sacrifice hits and 22 strikeouts. The strikeouts are worrisome, but he has started taking some walks this month, which somewhat balances that out. He has a ridiculous .400 BABiP this month, which means he may just be lucky, but he also had the most plate appearances on the team with 133. Defensively, Manzella is very smooth and turns the double play about as well as anyone. If the Astros decided to move Miguel Tejada to third base, kept Edwin Maysonet at second and installed Manzella as the shortstop, they'd have one of the best infield defenses in the league.

Pitcher of the Month: Yorman Bazardo, RHP (24, signed in 2000 by Florida): Before I get into his stats this month, I thought I'd elucidate the winding road Bazardo took to Round Rock. He signed out of Venezuela in July of 2000 for $85,000. Five years later, he was listed as the Marlins' third-best prospect by Baseball America. In 2005, he was then traded to Seattle but dropped down to No. 13 on the Mariners' list when he couldn't consistently throw strikes with his off-speed stuff. In 2007, Bazardo was traded to Detroit, where he spent the entire season in Triple-A and posted an ERA of 3.75. He just got rocked in 130 innings last season, with an ERA over 6 with Toledo and a 24.00 ERA in 3 innings with the Tigers. Bazardo has a total of 28 1/3 innings at the big league level over three different seasons with two clubs (Florida & Detroit). He did not make the Tigers team out of spring training and was signed as a minor league free agent by the Astros on April 6, 2009. His first few appearances for the Express were out of the bullpen and weren't exactly impressive. Since joining the rotation, though, he's been better and better. In May, Bazardo has an ERA of 1.49 and a WHIP of 0.79 in 42 1/3 innings. He's 4-0 in six starts and has struck out 28 while walking seven. His FIP of 3.13 is very solid, but his BABiP of .211 suggests he benefitted from luck this month. He's also been very economical, throwing just 3.37 pitches per batter faced this month. He's created 21.11 runs this season, which is tempered just a bit by his K/9 rate of 5.13. He still throws a ton of ground balls, which is good for a pitcher who isn't overpowering, and his walk rate of 2.13 per 9 shows his control has been good. Overall, he has a good shot to be a fill-in starter if the Astros need him.

Double-A (Corpus Christi Hooks)

Hitter of the Month: Drew Locke, LF (26, 19th, 2005 by LA Dodgers): There has been one consistent member of the Corpus Christi offense this season and that's Locke. His numbers weren't as astronomical as April's, but a line of .327/.375/.533 for May is pretty solid. Locke had 35 hits, 10 walks, 18 runs scored, 31 RBIs, seven doubles, five home runs, and 18 strikeouts in 120 plate appearances. His BABiP of .345 wasn't much higher than his batting average and his wOBA of .349 and 20.8 runs created were both tops on the team. Locke has shown good power and hits for a consistent average, something fellow outfielder Collin DeLome lacked this month, but Locke's RBI total was helped greatly by second baseman Drew Meyer being on base enough to score 25 runs in May.

Pitcher of the Month: Douglas Arguello, LHP (24, signed in 2001): I've already covered most of Arguello's numbers in the profile I did of him earlier this month. Now, I'm going to look at his numbers in May. In 27 2/3 innings, Arguello allowed 27 hits and seven earned runs, striking out 19 and walking two. His record of 1-2 was very low, as his expected winning percentage sits at .674. Arguello has a 2.28 ERA this month, a WHIP of 1.05, a FIP of 2.73 and a BABiP of .302. His strikeout rate isn't outstanding (6.18 K/9), but he keeps the ball inside the park and doesn't allow many extra baserunners. Arguello's 19.2 runs created is tops on the Hooks staff.

High-A (Lancaster JetHawks)

Hitter of the Month: Jonathan Gaston, LF (22, 7th, 2008): I'd like to tell you Gaston's ridiculous numbers this month are inflated due to his home ballpark, but his

park-adjusted OPS of 1.184 is still tops on this list of the best players in the Astros farm system. His line this month of .365/.461/.798 is off-the-charts good and his home/road splits show a good hitter no matter where he plays. In 127 plate appearances this month, Gaston has 38 hits, 18 walks, 30 runs scored, 25 RBIs, eight doubles, five triples, nine home runs, three stolen bases and 25 strikeouts. His BABiP of .397 is only questionable when viewed alone. Once you realize it's only thirty points higher than his batting average, it seems much more normal as does his wOBA of .413, by far the highest in the minor leagues. I haven't even gotten to the most ridiculous part yet...Gaston has created 40 runs this month. That's a career for some people. He did it in May. Gaston was not rated by any of the prospect lists, but after this season, he might just be on there next year.

Pitcher of the Month: Leandro Cespedes, RHP (22, signed in 2002): My journalistic integrity may have been compromised by sheer amazement in the last entry, it's firmly back in check for this one. Cespedes is an interesting prospect because scouts don't know what to make of him. He exploded onto the scene last season with a 4.02 ERA in 130 innings. His strikeout rate has always hovered between 8 and 10 per 9 innings, and because of this, he's uniquely suited to succeed in Lancaster. Pitchers need to limit contact and avoid big innings at JetHawk Field, and with a 8.74 K/9 rate and a 3.57 BB/9 rate, Cespedes is halfway there. His walk rate is a little high, but not overly so. Since coming off the DL earlier this month, Cespedes has thrown in 22 2/3 innings, allowing 22 hits, six earned runs, 22 strikeouts, nine walks, two home runs and one hit batsman. He has a 2.38 ERA and a WHIP of 1.37, both sustainable numbers considering his BABiP is at .299. Hopefully, Cespedes can keep this up long enough to escape to Corpus Christi, where they can use a few more good starters.

Low-A (Lexington Legends)

Hitter of the Month: Brandon Barnes, OF (23, 6th, 2005): Lexington hitters haven't exactly struck fear into opponents lately, but neither have the other South Atlantic League hitters. Teams in the Sally League are averaging 4.1 runs scored a

game, which is a full run lower than any of the other minor leagues with an Astros affiliate. I bring this up before I profile Barnes simply because his numbers aren't overwhelming, but when put into context, they are very good. In 106 plate appearances, Barnes has 26 hits, five walks, 11 runs scored, 14 RBIs, five doubles, one triple, two home runs and 25 strikeouts. His BABiP of .324 shows these numbers are pretty legitimate and his wOBA of .276 shows he's a better hitter than a .260 batting average would lead you to believe. His adjusted OPS is at .711 and his 11.1 runs created is tops on the Legends roster. Barnes is a converted football player who I was convinced was going to wash out due to a lack of plate discipline, but he's shown this year that he can consistently play and hit. Now if only the rest of the Lexington hitters can follow suit.

Pitcher of the Month: Jordan Lyles, RHP (18, 1st supplemental, 2008): I've already written up a pitching profile on the first-round pick, but Lyles has been excellent all month long. His 21 runs created is one of the highest totals at any level and his 9.91 K/9 rate is just fantastic. Many baseball executives were puzzled when the Astros took him so high in the 2008 draft, but he's quickly proving that his live arm was worth it. He's also shown good control, as his walk rate of 1.99 BB/9 is excellent. He's allowed two home runs this month but struck out 40 while walking six in 36 1/3 innings. His FIP of 2.21 is also very good and his BABiP of .323 shows his numbers shouldn't trend upward. Like many of the pitchers on this list, his expected winning percentage (.542) is much higher than is actual winning percentage (.250) this month. Still, Lyles has proven he can handle big league hitters and should be moving up sometime this summer.

Weekend Leftovers

This is going to be a small notes column today as I'm going to put up my May Players of the Month later today. There are also quite a few roster moves which I'll cover at the end. Also, the Astros' Dominican Summer League team began play over the weekend. I won't have anything to offer just yet, but since both the Dominican and the Venezuelan teams have produced prospects for the higher levels frequently over the last few years, I'l give them more than a cursory glance. Onwards and upwards:

Yorman Bazardo followed up the best start of the Astros minor league season by throwing a two-hit shutout, striking out six while walking one. Bazardo's game score of 88 was the highest by far of the season and the only real black marks were that he hit one batter and he had 14 flyball outs to seven groundouts. On the plus side, he needed just 97 pitches to get through nine innings and gave up just one line drive. You may hear more about him later today.

Utility infielder Mark Saccomanno had his 18-game hitting streak broken up on Saturday. He sat out Sunday but finished May with a .292/.325/.383 line, hitting two home runs and five doubles. Third baseman Chris Johnson hit his first home run over the weekend and shortstop Tommy Manzella is working on an eight-game hitting streak.

Shortstop Wladimir Sutil hit his first home run of the season on Friday. Sutil doesn't hit for much power, as he has one double and one home run in 68 plate appearances, and hasn't hit much overall since coming back from a hamstring injury with a line in May of .261/.333/.333.

Another Hooks player who's struggling in May is outfielder Mitch Einertson with a line of .224/.288/.269. The 23-year old has only had 66 plate appearances this month, but hasn't hit for power, hasn't walked much and is 1 for 2 in stolen base attempts. It's really ben a long slump for Einertson, as in about the same number of plate appearances, he hit .288/.373/.577 in April. His season average of .252/.326/.403 is right in line with his career line of .260/.334/.440.

In one of those quirkly little statistical footnotes, reliever Reid Kelly has struck out two batters in his last four outings. In 10 appearances this month, Kelly has at least one strikeouts in each appearance and has multiple strikeouts in 8 of 10.

Jack Shuck is 6 for 9 in the past two days, raising his average back over .300 for the month. He has created almost 19 runs this month, which is good for third on the team. Shuck is a little different than most of the hitters on the JetHawks in that he walks more than he strikes out (15/11 BB/K), which is the best ratio on the team.

Catcher Jason Castro is 9 for 21 in his last five games. He also hit three doubles and a home run over that time and now has more RBIs than Jon Gaston. Castro has struck out 22 times but also has 19 walks in 121 plate appearances. Castro's line of .314/.433/.514 in May raised his season line to .299/.385/.500 and the 22-year old has 17 doubles and six home runs this season.

Starter Jordan Lyles turned in his second-worst start of the season, as he allowed nine hits and five runs (four earned) in 5 2/3 innings. The 18-year old struck out four and walked one while giving up two line drives. Lyles had a FIP of 2.32 but also had his second straight game with a Power/Finesse Ratio under 1.0.

The Astros made a few roster moves over the weekend after Kaz Matsui went on the 15-day DL. The big league team called up Matt Kata from Round Rock, and the Express got Chad Spann back.... Reliever Evan Englebrook was also sent down to Corpus from Round Rock. To make room for him, Corpus sent Erick Abreu down to Lancaster....This is a little old now, but infielder Jhon Florentino was placed on the 7-day DL last week. Felix Molina has taken over at third base....The JetHawks also added an infielder when they signed shortstop Gabriel Suarez. The 24-year old out of South Mountain College in Arizona was drafted in the 26th round of the 2004 draft by the Montreal Expos. Suarez spent two years with the Expos before being traded to the Rockies and then to the Reds. He has spent the last two seasons in the independant Atlantic League playing for the Camden Riversharks.... A couple of Lexington players went onto the 7-day DL, including infielder Richard Bonfante, reliever Jose Trinidad and first baseman Phil Disher. Hopefully, the injury is the reason Disher hasn't shown any power this spring.