On the Farm: Aplin, Bailey, Borchering

Leading up to the 2013 season, cchooks.com spotlights select farmhands in the Astros system.  Today, we feature OF Andrew Aplin, OF Adam Bailey and INF/OF Bobby Borchering.

Andrew Aplin

Outfielder
Height:  6-0
Weight:  190
Born:  3/21/91 in Suisun, CA
Bats/Throws:  L/L
Resides:  Suisun, CA

School:  Arizona State.  Earned Pac-12 Conference honorable mention after his junior season in 2012 after he hit .313 with six home runs, 30 RBIs and 52 runs.  Hit .284 in 49 games as a sophomore and .337 in 41 games as a freshman.  Was also selected out of high school by the New York Yankees in the 33rd round of the 2009 draft. 

Acquired:  Selected by the Astros in the fifth round of the 2012 draft. 

Career Highlights:  2012 – Hit a composite .313 with seven home runs and 38 RBIs in 68 games at Short Season Tri-City and Advanced-A Lancaster.  Started his career with the ValleyCats by hitting safely in six straight games (9-for-21, .429) and 11 of his first 12 (16-for-36, .444).  Reached base in 27 consecutive contests from June 18-July 20, hitting .383 with a .487 OBP.  Posted two hitting streaks of 11 or more games: 11 straight from July 6-July 20 (18-for-45, .400) and 12 in a row from July 22-August 3 (18-for-49, .367).  Overall on-base percentage with Tri-City was .441.  Named the ValleyCats Offensive Player of the Month for July after he hit .343 with 4 HR and 12 RBI.   Played his first game with High-A Lancaster August 9 and went 1-for-4.  Used exclusively in centerfield at both stops.

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Adam Bailey

Outfielder
Height:  6-1
Weight:  206
Born:  3/6/88 in Colorado Springs, CO
Bats/Throws:  L/L
Resides:  Scottsdale, AZ

School:  University of Nebraska.  Paced the Big 12 with 18 home runs and 69 RBIs in 2010.  Also finished his senior season in the conference's top 10 in slugging percentage (.691, 2nd), total bases (154, 3rd), batting average (.368, 8th) and runs scored (57, 10th).  A first-team All Midwest Region selection by the American Baseball Coaches Association, he led Nebraska in both multi-hit (25) and multi-RBI (22) games.  Hit .348 with 30 homers and 119 RBIs in 104 games as a two-year starter for the Huskers. 

Acquired:  Selected by the Astros in the 23rd round of the 2010 draft. 

Career Highlights:  2012 –Hit .264 with 10 home runs and 45 RBIs in 98 games between Advanced-A Lancaster, Corpus Christi and Triple-A Oklahoma City.  With the JetHawks, from May 16-22 hit safely in six of seven games (14-for-30, .467, 8 RBI).  Recovered from a slow April (.253) to hit .300 (30-for-100) in 27 May games.  Named California League Player of the Week for the week April 30-May 7, after he hit .435 (10-for-23) with four home runs and nine RBIs.  Posted back-to-back two home run games May 4-5 at Stockton, driving in a combined seven runs.  Played his first game with the Hooks on May 31.  Played in 28 games for the Hooks from May 31-July 9, but saw action in just 21 games from July 10-August 24.  Played in nine games in August with four starts before being placed on DL, with all appearances as the designated hitter or as a pinch-hitter.  Placed on the disabled list August 24.    Promoted to Oklahoma City on September 1 and played in two games, going 0-for-7. 

2011 – Posted a combined .291 average with 24 home runs and 95 RBIs between Lexington, Lancaster and Corpus Christi.  His home run and RBI totals ranked second in the Astros system.  Tabbed a South Atlantic League mid-season All-Star after hitting .293 with 13 doubles, 13 homers and 44 RBIs in 68 first-half contests for Lexington.  Featured a 13-game hit streak from April 13-28, batting .385 with 4 HRs and 10 RBIs.  Finished April with a .938 OPS.  Batted .306 with 8 doubles, 5 home runs and 18 RBIs in 28 May games to secure Lexington's offensive player of the month honors.  Promoted to Lancaster in early July and hit safely in his first five games (.435) and in 13 of his first 14 (.410).  Went 4-for-5 with a double, HR and 4 RBIs in a 13-6 rout at High Desert July 15.  Hit .344-4-23 in 21 July games for the JetHawks.  Made his AA debut August 12 in the second game of a twin bill at Arkansas and went 2-for-3 with 2 doubles and an RBI.  Hit safely in his first five games as a Hook and had 10 multi-hit games in his 23-game stint with Corpus Christi.  Ended the year with 6 hits in 8 at-bats over the final two games at San Antonio, clubbing 2 home runs and 5 RBIs.  Batted .432-2-7 in just 10 Texas League road games. 

2010 – Slugged a grand slam and knocked in 5 runs to help Tri-City edge Lowell 7-6 in 11 innings July 30 at Bruno Stadium.  Finished the year with hits in all five September games, going 11-for-19 (.579) with 5 RBIs.  Knocked in the game's only run with a fourth-inning double September 9 at Batavia in the third and deciding game of the New York-Penn League division series.  Finished the post-season with 4 RBIs to help the ValleyCats win the NYPL title. 

Career stat note:  Has a career .441 slugging percentage entering 2013.  On pace for 82 RBIs/season (based on 140 games) or 95 RBIs/season (based on 162 games).    

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Bobby Borchering

Outfielder
Height:  6-2
Weight:  205
Born:  10/25/1990 in Fort Myers, FL
Bats/Throws:  S/R
Resides:  Fort Myers, FL

Acquired:  Via trade from Arizona, along with OF Marc Krauss, in exchange for IF Chris Johnson in July 2012.  Originally selected by the Diamondbacks in the first round (16th overall) of the 2009 draft. 

Career Highlights:  2012 – Played in the Arizona Fall League for the Mesa Solar Sox and hit .158 with two home runs and five RBIs in 11 games.  Spent the last 30 games of the season in Corpus Christi after July 29 trade from Arizona and hit .189 with four home runs and 18 RBIs.  In his first six games with the Hooks, hit .400 (8-for-20) with three home runs and 10 RBIs. In the following 24 games, hit .133 (10-for-75) with one HR and 8 RBIs.  Had multiple strikeouts in a game 11 times after trade.  Played 23 games at third base in the Astros' system after being used exclusively in the outfield in the Diamondbacks' organization. In Arizona system, started the season at Advanced-A Visalia before he earned a promotion to Double-A Mobile July 2.  For the Rawhide, hit .277-18-60 and was named the Diamondbacks' Minor League co-Player of the Month for June after he hit .323 (31-for-96) with 11 HRs and 25 RBIs.  Had a 19-game home hitting streak that started on May 22 and lasted until his July promotion.  In that time he hit.360 (27-for-75) with 6 HRs and 18 RBIs.  Entering the 2012 season, Baseball America rated him as best power bat in D'backs system. 

2011 – Led the Rawhide in home runs (24) and RBIs (92).  Ranked among league leaders in games (135, T2nd), home runs (24, T3rd) and strikeouts (162, 2nd).  Drove in six runs May 23 vs. High Desert, going 4-for-5 with three doubles, a triple and two runs scored.  In May, hit .319 (38-for-119) with five HRs and 26 RBIs.  Played 68 games at first base and 57 games at third base. 

2010 – Ranked among Midwest League leaders in games (135, T2nd) and at-bats (523, T3rd).  Named ML Player of the Week April 26-May 3 after he hit .400 (10-for-25) with three HRs and five RBIs.  Recorded a hit in 16 of 18 games from May 22-June 10, hitting .310 (22-for-71) with four HRs, 15 RBIs and 15 runs scored.  Posted a 14 game hitting streak from July 5-19, going 20-for-61 (.328) with nine driven in.  From August 1-5, went 14-for-23 (.607) with nine RBIs.  Over the season's final 36 games he hit .355 (43-for-121) with six HRs and 24 RBIs.  Was better at home (.299) than he was on the road (.243).  Played in 84 games at third base, with 51 starts at designated hitter. 

2009 – Played first game for Arizona's Pioneer League affiliate, Missoula, on August 19 and went 1-for-4 with a run.  Hit in nine consecutive road games from August 19-September 1, batting .324 (11-for-34) with five doubles, a homer and seven RBIs.  Played 20 games at third base and two as DH.  Went to the same high school (Bishop Verot) as Chris Johnson, the player he was traded to the Astros for. 

Career stat note:  With 476 strikeouts in 424 career games, Borchering averages 157 Ks over 140 games and 182 over 162 games.