Four Hooks to Play in AFL

Astros will send eight prospects to Salt River Rafters

August 27, 2014

CORPUS CHRISTI - Four Corpus Christi Hooks, and eight Houston prospects total, will represent the Astros in the Arizona Fall League, which opens its season October 7. Houston players will join farmhands from the Arizona, Colorado, Miami and Minnesota organizations on the Salt River Rafters.

Houston's No. 2 prospect according to MLB.com, Mark Appel, leads the charge into the Grand Canyon State. The Astros selected the Stanford product with the number one overall pick in 2013 and he turned in his best start as a pro Tuesday against Frisco, tossing eight shutout innings with 10 strikeouts.

Relievers Tyson Perez and Mitch Lambson and catcher Tyler Heineman are the other Hooks who will play in the AFL.

Perez was selected by Houston in the 17th round of the 2011 draft. The Californian has appeared in 27 Hooks contests since promotion from High-A Lancaster May 28 and tops the team with 10 saves. At the Double-A level, Perez is 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA and .192 batting average against.

Lambson is a former Arizona State Sun Devil who grew up in Oregon. The Astros took the 6-foot-1, 205-pound southpaw two rounds after Perez. He's 2-0 as a Hook in 21 appearances since arriving from the JetHawks on June 19, posting a 1.24 ERA and limiting the opposition to a .208 batting average.

Heineman ranks second among Texas League backstops in caught stealing percentage, gunning down 44 percent of runners who have tried to steal against him. Houston selected the UCLA product in the 8th round of the 2012 draft and he has hit .246 with 25 RBIs in 75 games during his first season at Double-A.

The other Astros farmhands who will play for the Rafters include two former Hooks, OF Andrew Aplin and IF Joe Sclafani, and two yet-to-be Hooks, 3B Rio Ruiz and RHP Vincent Velasquez. Velasquez is Houston's No. 8 prospect and Ruiz is No. 9 according to MLB.com. Sclafani will be placed on the taxi squad, which means he will be activated on Wednesdays and Sundays.

The Salt River roster includes Minnesota outfielder Byron Buxton, the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball. The Twins selected him with the second overall pick in 2012.