Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

Jake Goebbert

The Houston Astros Player Development Department named the 2010 Most Valuable Players for its minor-league affiliates Friday, including Jake Goebbert from the Lexington Legends.

Each of the eight MVP were selected by the field staff of each team.

Two former Legends were honored: Koby Clemens of the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks and Brandon Barnes of the High-A Lancaster JetHawks.

The rundown on each player follows.

Class A – Legends outfielder Goebbert finished his second professional season with a .291 average (151-for-519), franchise-record 48 doubles, 10 home runs and franchise-record 98 RBI to earn MVP honors. He finished first in the South Atlantic League in doubles, while ranking second in RBI and sixth in hits (151). Among Astros prospects, Goebbert finished the season ranking first in RBI. He was named SAL Player of the Week from July 26-August 1, and earned Defensive Player of the Month honors twice for the Legends. Goebbert was a 13th round pick of the Astros in the June 2009 Draft.

Avg.      AB      H      R      2B      3B     HR     RBI     SB
.291    519    151    91    48      1      10      98    14

Jose Cisnero, Jake Goebbert and Jonathan Meyer have been named the Lexington Legends’ final Players of the Month for the 2010 season.

Jose Cisnero

The Houston Astros Player Development Department announced the monthly winners from each of its minor-league affiliates. Awards were chosen by the field staffs of each team.

Cisnero, Pitcher of the Month for the Legends, finished August with a 2-1 record and 3.31 ERA. The right-hander made six starts, giving up 13 earned runs over 35 1/3 innings.

Jake Goebbert

Goebbert, a corner outfielder, took Offensive Player of the Month honors by going 39-for-100 (.390). He had a .453 on-base percentage and 27 RBI over 27 games. He finished the season with team records for doubles and RBI.

Jonathan Meyer

Meyer is the Defensive Player of the Month. The third baseman finished the season with a .914 fielding percentage over 119 games.

Award winners at other Astros affiliates, listed in order of Pitcher, Offensive and Defensive (former Legends in CAPS):

Triple-A Round Rock — Roy Corcoran, Drew Locke, EDWIN MAYSONET.

Double-A Corpus Christi — Erick Abreu, J.D. MARTINEZ, Michael Affronti.

High-A Lancaster — Kyle Godfrey, BRIAN PELLEGRINI, ANDY SIMUNIC.

Short-season A Tri-City — David Martinez, Ben Orloff, Daniel Adamson.

Rookie Greeneville — Garrett Bullock, Telvin Nash, Hector Rodriguez.

Rookie Gulf Coast League — Matison Smith, Jordan Scott, Joshua Magee.

Rookie Dominican League — Luis Alayon, Luis De La Rosa, Mario Gonzalez.

Zach Grimmett

J.D. Martinez

Lexington Legends teammates Zach Grimmett, J.D. Martinez and Jake Goebbert are among 15 players named by the Houston Astros Player Development Department on Wednesday as Players of the Month for June. Monthly winners are chosen by the field staff of each team.

Former Legends honored include Jordan Lyles, Jhon Florentino, Patrick Urckfitz and Brandon Barnes.

A team-by-team breakdown follows.

Round Rock Express (Triple-A)

Pitcher: RH Josh Banks (3-1, 1.50 ERA, 30 innings pitched, four starts).
Offensive Player: OF Drew Locke (32-for-101, .317, 14 extra-base hits, 15 RBI, 28 games).
Defensive Player: C Jason Castro (15 June games before being promoted to Houston on June 22; season .994 fielding percentage, with 13 of 34 runners caught stealing).

Corpus Christi Hooks (Double-A)

Jordan Lyles

Pitcher: RH Jordan Lyles (1-2, 2.10 ERA, 30 innings, five games, four starts; also named to Texas League All-Star Game and All-Star Futures Game).
Offensive: OF J.B. Shuck (35-for-101, .347 batting, .426 on-base percentage, 7 RBI).
Defensive: 3B Jhon Florentino (season totals of 70 games, .936 fielding percentage).

Lancaster JetHawks (High-A)

Patrick Urckfitz

Brandon Barnes

Pitcher: LH Patrick Urckfitz (1-0, 2.08, 21 2/3 innings, six games, one start, 25 strikeouts, three walks).
Offensive: OF Lee Cruz (32-for-80, .400, 11 doubles, 3 homers, 21 RBI).
Defensive: OF Brandon Barnes (season totals of 15 assists and .969 fielding percentage, playing primarily in right field).

Lexington Legends (Low-A)

Jake Goebbert

Pitcher: RH Zach Grimmett (1-0, 1.80, 20 innings, seven games, 0.85 WHIP).
Offensive: J.D. Martinez (36-for-101, .356, 14 extra-base hits, .420 on-base percentage, 13 RBI, 25 games).
Defensive: LF Jake Goebbert (season fielding percentage of .985).

Dominican Summer League Astros (Rookie)

Pitcher: LH Francisco Baso (3-3, 1 save, 2.93, 15 1/3 innings, 6 games).
Offensive: 2B Yonathan Mejia (26-for-84, .310, 7 RBI).
Defensive: OF Ydarqui Marte (season totals: .983 fielding percentage, 4 assists, 31 games).

South Atlantic League baseball

Coming up

Lexington Legends vs. Greenville Drive

What: Three-game series

When: Saturday through Monday (7:05 Saturday and Monday nights, 2:05 Sunday afternoon)

Where: Applebee’s Park

Tickets: (859) 422-7867

Probable pitchers (Legends listed first): Saturday, RH Kyle Greenwalt (8-12, 3.85) vs. RH Stolmy Pimental (9-7, 3.76); Sunday, RH Jordan Lyles (6-11, 3.23) vs. LH Fabian Williamson (10-4, 2.30); Monday, LH Brad Dydalewicz (7-5, 3.87) vs. RH Jeremy Kehrt (1-1, 3.51).

Will Middlebrooks

Drive to watch: 3B Will Middlebrooks (6-foot-3, 197 pounds, from Wake Village, Texas) took a 12-game hitting streak into Friday’s game against Kannapolis. Overall, Middlebrooks is batting .265 with seven homers and 54 RBI over 94 games. He has scored 49 runs and stolen five bases. Selected by the Boston Red Sox in the fifth round of the 2007 draft, he was 61-for-110 (.555) with five homers, 48 RBI and 22 steals in 38 games that year for Liberty-Eylau High School in Texarkana, Texas, and also went 13-0 pitching. With the Lowell Spinners last year, Middlebrooks hit .254 and led the team with 17 doubles. He also ranked second or third on the team in games (59), steals (10-for-10), hits (53) and extra-base hits (20). He led third basemen in the New York-Penn League with a fielding percentage of .927. Rated by Baseball America as having the “best infield arm” in the Red Sox system the last two years.

Russell Dixon

Legend to watch: RF Russell Dixon (6-2, 205, from Houston) has come alive at the plate, with hits in seven consecutive games until going 0-for-4 Thurday. Over those seven games, Dixon went 10-for-25 (.400), with six RBI and four runs scored. Included in that span were a two-hit game and a three-hit game — all five hits being doubles. Dixon struggled early in the season, hitting .134 over 30 games with the Legends. That earned him a demotion to extended spring training. He then moved to Tri-City of the New York-Penn League, where he hit .302 with a homer and 11 RBI over 38 games. In 12 games since rejoining the Legends, Dixon is hitting .244. Selected by the Houston Astros in the seventh round of the 2007 draft, out of Auburn University, Dixon hit .237 for the Legends last season, with three homers, 33 RBI and 15 stolen bases in 19 attempts.

Radio: WLXG AM-1300

Travis Driskill

Also of note: CF Jay Austin and LHP Michael Hacker have been activated from the disabled list. OF Steve Brown has been promoted to High-A Lancaster, while LHP Antonio Noguera moves to the inactive list. … The Astros have ticketed 10 Legends for Instructional League work, starting in mid-September: Austin, 2B Albert Cartwright, LHP Brad Dydalewicz, C Federico Hernandez, RHP Arcenio Leon, RHP Jordan Lyles, RHP Matt Nevarez, RHP Ross Seaton, RHP Henry Villar and SS Brandon Wikoff. Also scheduled to attend is LHP Patrick Urckfitz, who was recently promoted to High-A Lancaster. Instructors include Legends pitching coach Travis Driskill and two former Lexington staffers: Stubby Clapp (hitting coach) and Mike Smith (strength and conditioning coordinator). Pitching coach Charley Taylor, who missed this season due to bladder-cancer surgery, also plans to attend. … Mike Tauser’s most recent “Farmstros Five” players of the week is topped by Corpus Christi OF Drew Locke. The other four: Wikoff, Greeneville RHP Abraham Gonzalez and a pair of former Legends — Round Rock LHP Josh Muecke and Lancaster DH/OF/C Koby Clemens. For more details, see http://farmstros.blogspot.com/

South Atlantic League baseball

Coming up

Lexington Legends vs. Asheville Tourists

What: Four-game series

When: Saturday through Tuesday (7:05 Saturday, Monday and Tuesday nights; 2:05 Sunday afternoon)

Where: Applebee’s Park

Tickets: Call (859) 422-7867

Probable pitchers (Legends listed first): Saturday, RH Ross Seaton (8-8, 2.67) vs. RH Dan Houston (5-8, 3.95); Sunday, LH David Duncan (1-3, 4.40) vs. RH Jonnathan Aristil (2-6, 4.70); Monday, RH Kyle Greenwalt (7-10, 3.81) vs. TBA; Tuesday, Jordan Lyles (6-10, 3.44) vs. TBA.

Tourist to watch: LF Scott Robinson (6-foot, 185 pounds, from McDonough, Ga.) leads the Tourists in runs (71), hits (124), doubles (27), stolen bases (37), games (97) and at-abats (391). He’s batting .317 with three homers and 31 RBI. Selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 30th round of the 2006 draft, Robinson played the 2007 season for the Casper Ghosts of the Pioneer League, compiling a .240 average, five homers, 25 RBI and 10 steals over 50 games. Last year, with the Tri-City Dust Devils of the Northwest League, he hit .268 with six homers, 25 RBI and 15 steals over 59 games.

Antonio Noguera

Legend to watch: LHP Antonio Noguera (6-3, 194, from Caracas, Venezuela) joined the Legends last week, promoted from the Tri-City ValleyCats of the New York-Penn League. The southpaw has made a pair of one-inning, shutout relief appearances for the Legends, with combined totals of one hit, one walk and one striketout. In 14 games with the ValleyCats, Noguera compiled a 2-0 record and 3.62 ERA, with eight walks to 21 strikeouts over 27 1/3 innings. Signed by the Houston Astros as a non-drafted free agent in September of 2004, when he was 16, Noguera also pitched for Tri-City last season. There, he was 2-8 with a 7.59 ERA over 15 games, including 13 starts. He walked 21 and struck out 24 over 53 1/3 innings. 

Radio: WLXG AM-1300

Jordan Lyles

Also of note: Jordan Lyles, scheduled to start Tuesday’s game for the Legends, is on Baseball America’s “Prospect Hot Sheet” this week. … Members of the Breathitt County Junior Red Cross Club will attend Saturday’s game. When massive flooding took place in Eastern Kentucky last May, club members voted to use all available funds to help those affected by the floods. That included money for the club’s annual trip to a Legends game, which is a reward to students for their service. Officials from several agencies, including the Legends, Central Bank and

Patrick Urckfitz

Jay Austin

Trust, Aramark and the Bluegrass Chapter of the American Red Cross stepped in to fund Saturday’s trip. … Fans are invited to come early for Tuesday’s game and take part in the Family Fun Fest, just outside the ballpark gates. The Fun Fest, free to the public opens at 4 p.m. More than 20 attractions will be available, including batting and pitching cages, bungee runs, super slides, bounce houses, video arcade, a “rookie

Andy Simunic

zone” and a minor-league museum. Fans also can put their own photos on free souvenir baseball cards or on a Sports Illustrated for Kids magazine cover. … Legends players of the month for July, as selected by the coaching staff, are LH Patrick Urckfitz (Pitcher), CF Jay Austin (Offensive) and IF Andy Simunic (Defensive). Urckfitz was 1-0 with a 0.77 ERA over 10 relief appearnaces. Austin was 31-for-107 (.290) with nine extra-base hits, 10 RBI and eight steals over 26 games. Simunic has a .973 fielding percentage (five errors in 184 chances) over 51 games this season. … Former Legends picking up team Player of the Month honors in the Astros system include: Round Rock Express OF Brian Bogusevic (Offensive); Corpus Christi Hooks IF Jhon Florentino (Defensive); and Lancaster JetHawks RH Leandro Cespedes (Pitcher). … Mike Tauser’s “Farmstros Five” of the week: Gulf Coast League Astros IF Enrique Hernandez; Lyles; Lancaster OF/C Koby Clemens; Corpus Christi OF Drew Locke; and “top performer” Wilton Lopez, RHP for Corpus Christi.