Astros promote Aplin, Long & Morales

TROY, NY- On Friday, the Houston Astros announced the promotion of three members of the Tri-City ValleyCats, including recently named New York-Penn League All-Star's Andrew Aplin and Jobduan Morales, as well as reliever Kenny Long.

Outfielder Andrew Aplin, NYPL's leading batter, and lefty reliever Kenny Long will report to the advanced Class A Lancaster Jethawks, while catcher Jobduan Morales will report to the Class A Lexington Legends.

To fill the holes in the ValleyCats roster, the Astros have assigned outfielder Emilio King and catcher Cristian Moronta to the ValleyCats from Lexington. This will be King's second stint in Tri-City, after appearing in 25 games for the ValleyCats earlier this season. Moronta has spent the 2012 season with the Gulf Coast Astros, Rookie League Greeneville and Lexington.

With their promotions, Aplin and Morales will not take part in the New York-Penn League All-Star Game that is being held this coming Tuesday, August 14.