Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

Lexington Legends Brian Wabick, Brian Pellegrini and Jay Austin have earned organizational Player of the Month honors for June.

The Houston Astros player development department announced Monday the awards for each of the club’s minor-league teams, as determined by each field staff.

Brian Wabick

Wabick, a right-hander, was the Legends’ pitcher of the month. He appeared in six games, including a spot start, going 2-0 with a 2.76 ERA. Wabick gave up five earned runs of 16 1/3 innings.

Brian Pellegrini

Pellegrini, who has seen action at DH, left field and mostly first base, earned his second straight offensive player of the month award. Pellegrini hit .437 (38-for-87) in June, with nine homers and 26 RBI over 24 games.

Jay Austin

Austin, a center fielder, is the Defensive Player of the Month. He has a season fielding percentage of .985 (one error, 130 total chances).

Other players of month in the Astros organization include former Legends Bud Norris and J.R. Towles of Triple-A Round Rock, Polin Trinidad and Wladimir Sutil of Double-A Corpus Christi, and Fernando Abad of High-A Lancaster.

Bud Norris

J.R. Towles

RHP Norris made four starts in June, going 1-1 with a 0.96 ERA over 28 innings. He leads the Pacific Coast League in ERA (2.52) and strikeouts (92).

Towles, a catcher, took offensive honors with a .441 on-base percentage — 11-for-43 (.256) with 12 walks.

Polin Trinidad

Wladimir Sutil

LHP Trinidad was 3-2 with a 0.72 ERA in June, totaling 37 1/3 innings. With an overall record of 7-5 with one save and a 2.94 ERA over 13 games, Trinidad has been promoted to Round Rock.

Sutil, an infielder, snagged offensive honors with the Hooks by hitting .312 (34-for-109) with 16 runs, nine RBI and eight doubles.

Fernando Abad

LHP Abad worked seven games for the JetHawks, going 1-0 with a save and 1.06 ERA over 17 innings.

Other players recognized include Round Rock OF Yordanny Ramirez, Corpus Christi IF Drew Meyer and Lancaster OF J.B. Shuck (defense), and Lancaster OF Jon Gaston (offense). Recognized by the rookie-level Dominican Summer League Astros: RHP Leonardo Alayon, OF Ricardo Heredia (offense) and IF Hector Rodriguez (defense).

South Atlantic League baseball

Coming up

What: 4-game series

When: REVISED after Thursday’s rainout: Friday through Sunday (5:05 p.m. doubleheader Friday, 7:05 Saturday night, 2:05 Sunday afternoon)

Where: Applebee’s Park

Tickets: Call (859) 422-7867

Probable pitchers (Legends listed first): Friday, game one, RH Kyle Greenwalt (4-7, 3.87) vs. LH Frank De Los Santos (3-5, 4.08); Friday, game two, RH Jordan Lyles (4-6, 3.09) vs. RH Nick Barnese (1-1, 1.59); Saturday, LH Brad Dydalewicz (4-1, 2.59) vs. LH Matt Moore (3-3, 3.41); Sunday, RH Robert Bono (6-4, 2.27) vs. RH Shane Dyer (1-5, 4.65).

Anthony Scelfo

Hot Rod to watch: CF Anthony Scelfo (5-foot-10, 195 pounds, from New Orleans) leads Bowling Green in runs (33), walks (26) and stolen bases (7). Over 62 games, he’s batting .247 with two homers and 17 RBI. After batting .195 in May, he has improved to .289 this month. Selected by Tampa Bay in the eighth round of the 2008 draft, out of Tulane University, where he was on a football scholarship. He started in both sports his final academic year, 2007-08. He quarterbacked in all 12 football games, including eight starts over the last nine games, and finished with 1,396 yards and six touchdowns on 111-for-205 passing. He also was second on the team with 171 rushing yards and a score on 57 carries. The following spring, he hit .322 and led the Green Wave in homers (12), triples (7), runs (72), total bases (133), walks (54), slugging (.578) and on-base percentage (.453). Scelfo was named to the New York-Penn League all-star team in his first pro season, last year with Hudson Valley. He hit .281 with four homers and 24 RBI over 61 games, and led the league with eight triples.

Michael Diaz

Legend to watch: IF/DH Michael Diaz (5-10, 180, from Bridgeport, Conn.) has hits in nine of his last 10 games (12-for-35, .343). Overall, he’s hitting .264 with three homers, 10 RBI, eight runs and four stolen bases over 36 games. With runners in scoring position, he’s 11-for-26 (.423). Selected by the Houston Astros in the 30th round of the 2008 draft, out of Southern Connecticut State, he played 48 games for Tri-City in the New York-Penn League last summer. He went 50-for-177 (.282) with five homers, 22 RBI, 29 runs and six stolen bases. This season, he played one game with Double-A Corpus Christi (0-for-1) before being assigned to the Legends. Oddly, he is hitting .348 on the road and .169 at Applebee’s Park. The same was true with Tri-City, as he hit .351 on the road and .205 at home.

Radio: WLXG AM-1300

Also of interest: Blogger Mike Tauser has named his “Farmstros Five” for the week: Top performer LHP Luis Cruz of Greeneville; RHP Jordan Lyles of Lexington; OF T.J. Steele of Lancaster; and a pair of former Legends, LHP Polin Trinidad of Corpus Christi and RHP Bud Norris of Round Rock. You can find the blog at: http://farmstros.blogspot.com/