Chasing Big League Dreams: Keeping up with Former Greeneville Astros
April 7, 2016 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Greeneville Astros News Release
GREENEVILLE, TN - As the 2016 baseball season begins, many former Greeneville Astros have advanced to higher levels in the Houston Astros system as well as other Major League Baseball organizations. Forty-four former Greeneville Astros are on the Opening Day rosters of the Astros four full season affiliates with another 19 playing for other organizations. Furthermore, another 11 have begun the season in the big leagues.
Fans in Greeneville have seen and cheered for many of the Astros former players when they began their professional baseball careers at Pioneer Park. Now, after a grueling Spring Training, they are prepared to move a step closer to realizing every baseball player's ultimate dream of playing in the big leagues.
Since the inaugural season for the Greeneville Astros in 2004, there have been 24 players, at least one from every single team through 2013, go on to play in Major League Baseball. Looking ahead, it seems like a strong possibility that several players from the last couple of seasons will also have a shot to join that exclusive list and keep the streak alive.
The Houston Astros Opening Day roster this week featured five former Greeneville Astros. Three-time MLB All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve and reigning American League Rookie of the Year Carlos Correa at shortstop head the list. They were joined by right-handed pitchers Lance McCullers and Michael Feliz, who both made their initial jump to Houston last season. Finally, first baseman Tyler White made his MLB debut this week and did so with a hit in his first big league at-bat.
White played collegiately at Western Carolina and came to the Greeneville Astros as a 33rd round draft pick in 2013. After playing and hitting well at all seven levels in the Astros system over the last three seasons, he overcame long odds to earn his spot.
Six other former Greeneville Astros players are on active rosters for different big league organizations. Outfielder Brandon Barnes and right-handed pitcher Jordan Lyles are both on the Colorado Rockies. Meanwhile, two other former Astros' pitchers also found new homes. Fernando Abad signed with the Minnesota Twins and Vincent Velasquez was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Finally, two other outfielders have solidified their spots with their respective teams. Delino DeShields is the centerfielder for the Texas Rangers and J.D. Martinez is an All-Star outfielder with the Detroit Tigers.
Each of these players will serve as great examples for the 2016 Greeneville Astros once their roster is set following the First-Year Player Draft in June. However, the top four affiliates in the farm system for the Astros, Triple A Fresno, Double A Corpus Christi, Class A Advanced Lancaster and Class A Quad Cities got their rosters set this week and open their seasons on Thursday, April 7th.
Upon the release of the Opening Day rosters for the full season clubs, Greeneville Astros general manager David Lane said, "We are very excited for our former players that are progressing and chasing their ultimate dream. Last season, we had six former players get the call to the big leagues and we've already seen Tyler White make it this season. It's great to see guys like that make the most of their opportunities."
Potentially, the players closest to making that next step will begin this season in Triple A Fresno. Coming off a Pacific Coast League and Triple A National Championship season, the Grizzlies will have three former Greeneville Astros pitchers returning to that team in Jandel Gustave, Mike Hauschild, and Jordan Jankowski. In addition, catcher Roberto Peña will be making the jump from Double A.
At Double A Corpus Christi, nine former Greeneville Astros will suit up for the Hooks to begin the season under the direction of former Greeneville manager Rodney Linares. One of those, right-handed pitcher Joe Musgrove, was named the Houston Astros Minor League Pitcher of the Year last season. He will be joined by fellow pitchers Edison Frias, Keegan Yuhl, and left-hander Reymin Guduan. Meanwhile, both Alfredo Gonzalez and Trent Woodward are on the squad as catchers with Jack Mayfield, Chase McDonald, and Chan Moon helping to make up the infield.
In Class A Advanced Lancaster, there are fifteen former Greeneville Astros including 2013 team MVP Jason Martin. He will be joined on the JetHawks by Ramon Laureano in the outfield with Jose Fernandez, Bryan Muniz, Kristian Trompiz, and Marc Wik listed as infielders. Meanwhile, Richard Gonzalez could be catching for any one of eight former Greeneville pitchers including Kevin Comer, Dean Deetz, Brock Dykxhoorn, Angel Heredia, Elieser Hernandez, Joshua James, Eric Peterson, and Andrew Walter.
At Class A Quad Cities, there will be sixteen players that previously played in Greeneville, fourteen of which contributed to Greeneville's Appalachian League championship team last season. Among those players making the jump is a pair of first-round picks last season in outfielders Kyle Tucker and Daz Cameron. Aaron Mizell, Osvaldo Duarte, Marlon Avea, and Christian Correa round out the position players from last season moving up to join the River Bandits.
Among the eight pitchers moving up are two winners of the Appalachian League Pitcher of the Week award last season in Ryan Deemes and Andrew Thome. They will be joined by Albert Abreu, Matt Bower, Jacob Dorris, Jose Hernandez, Chris Murphy, and Alex Winkelman.
Left-handed pitcher Sebastian Kessay and infielder Antonio Nuñez, who previously played in Greeneville, will also be part of the Quad Cities roster led by 2011-12 Greeneville manager Omar Lopez.
Several other former Greeneville players are also still with the organization, but are either rehabbing injuries or staying in Extended Spring Training for the time being.
Fans can keep track of the progress of each of these players throughout the season under the "Where are they now?" section on www.greenevilleastros.com.
The Greeneville Astros will begin their season at home this year with Opening Day set for June 23rd against the Johnson City Cardinals. Ticket memberships are available for purchase on the team website or at the Astros administrative office located at Pioneer Park on the campus of Tusculum College. The office is open Monday-Friday from 9:00am-5:30pm.
The Greeneville Astros are the Appalachian League affiliate of the Houston Astros. For more information on the Astros, call (423) 638-0411 or visit www.greenevilleastros.com. For all the latest news and updates, follow the Astros on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Appalachian League Stories from April 7, 2016
- Chasing Big League Dreams: Keeping up with Former Greeneville Astros - Greeneville Astros
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
