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Dreary Express game last night, and slow. A gazillion pitches thrown by both teams, and command seemed to be a foreign concept. Lots of homers and hits by the Skeeters so I had to keep my fandom subdued, but Mike knows my love of the Astros and invites me to do SL games because he knows.

At the end of the game, RR bought in Nick Snyder who had just been brought up from AA. He is a RHP and has progressed this year from A to AA to AAA. Snyder threw 97-100 (4 times) consistently with a decent breaking pitch, and he threw strikes. Strikes, glory be! Dawson reached him for a double on a 3-1 pitch, but Snyder dominated the other hitters he faced.

Snyder is not terribly young (I think Mike said 24), but he impressed me. I do not follow the minor leagues much, especially not the Rangers, but his is a name I will try to keep track of.

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Thanks for the report. Strikes sound good.

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anybody catch your eye for the good guys?

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All of them hit the ball well, but to fill a need? No, but maybe James? A new call up (do not remember the name) LH hitting DH/1B had 3 hits and a long HR, but it is too early.

Hinojosa’s year defies understanding and belief. Maybe he might be a utility guy, but he is not on the 40-man. He came back to org ball from the independent leagues!

Solomon is 5-0 and pitches tonight.

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Norel Gonzalez, had been having a very good season in AA and was the Player of the Month for May. He’s 27 (same age as Hinojosa) and from Cuba so it’s understandable that the organization would want to promote him to older competition in AAA. That HR he hit was a no doubter bomb to the RF berm.

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That is him. I had just said to Mike I had watched BP, and he hit some bombs. He hit the homer, and Mike said “Talking about bombs….”

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I’m really rooting for CJ Hinojosa (Htown kid and Longhorn) and hope he at least gets a shot when the rosters expand Sept 1st. Every Skeeters game I’ve seen at Round Rock this season, he’s hit the ball well and played solid defense. He’s a good ballplayer who deserves a chance, especially with Robel Garcia blocking him as a backup utility guy (and I say that as a mild Robel Garcia advocate).

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Rosters only expand to 28 iirc, will be interesting to see how they handle it

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I doubt Hinojosa is in any future plans because his season has been so improbable, but good for him. If he gets called up, I hope he hits. I hoped Super Jack would hit too, but he didn’t.

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Norel Gonzalez with another blast here at Dell Diamond

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It will be interesting with the changes for September expansion:

Can only bring up one pitcher and one position player.

I hope the position player is Norel. He is having a great season and is a lefty hitting power bat the bench lacks.

I would like to see Solomon as the pitcher and get a couple of starts, but its tough to fill your only spot with a guy who will pitch so few games.

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I just looked up Norel.

I see the Astros just signed him in January of this year so he should be in the organization for several years.

Not likely to be on many, if any, top prospects lists due to his age.

It may be between he and Taylor Jones to be the starting first baseman in 2023 after Yuli’s option is picked up for next year.

I wish I could see him live, his stats sure look good.

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Man, chill a bit. His games at AAA likely still are single digits. He is an impressive looking physical specimen and is a LH hitter.

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Well, my talent evaluation skills remain consistent. Snyder did not fare so well his second time out: 3 H and 3 ER in not very long. His ERA now is 13.50.

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I looked Norel up today-4 games, 2 homers. I hope you are correct about his future. He looks the part of a slugger.

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Last Sunday, Robert Ford interviewed Pete Putlia (asst GM for player development) before the game (Interview)

They talked about Norel for a few minutes, here are my take aways:

Massive guy with big swing - strong enough to cut through the wind in right in Corpus Christi.
Has done a lot of work on his body since he arrived from Cuba
Body comp is Kyle Swarber - moves well for his size.
Playing 1B and LF

ETA other players/things talked about in the interview:
Will Wagner (Billy’s boy)
Catcher Diaz who came over in the Straw/Maton trade
Meyers journey through the minors
Reason for having 3 C’s on minor rosters and why they try playing them at other positions
Matthew Barfoot
Hunter Brown

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