Moments after the Astros completed a no-hitter against the Yankees on Saturday at Yankee Stadium, Oz Ocampo emerged from the visiting clubhouse smiling from ear to ear. Ocampo couldn't hide his excitement over the day, which began with Cristian Javier throwing seven no-hit innings against baseball's most powerful offense while striking out 13 batters. Ocampo, the Astros' international crosschecker, and scouts Roman Ocumarez and Leocadio Guevara spearheaded the signing of Javier out of the Dominican Republic a week before his 18th birthday in 2015. Guevara was the area scout in La Victoria, where Javier lived, and had known him since he was a kid. Ocumarez scouted Javier as well, and he sent videos to Ocampo, who decided the Astros should sign him. The signing bonus? $10,000. Talk about your bargains. Javier's deceptive fastball and sweeping slider enabled him to move up through the Astros' system steadily through the years, and he was one of a handful of young pitchers to make his Major League debut in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Javier was on everyone's radar by this point after being named the team's Minor League Pitcher of the Year in '19, and he has been a key member of the big league club since. "He had attributes that really stood out," Ocampo said of watching Javier as a youngster in the Dominican Republic. "Obviously, the fastball is what stood out as a swing-and-miss pitch, and it had riding action. He also had a really good curveball back then, as well. He was an elite mover. His delivery was really good, really good movement patterns and really good mechanics." In fact, early in Javier's terrific outing against the Yankees on Saturday, Ocampo pulled his phone out and took some video of Javier's delivery from the side. He was struck by how similar Javier's mechanics -- his arm actions and movements -- compared to when he was a young amateur. |
"I was kind of floored by the fact that what we were seeing in the big leagues in Yankee Stadium against the Yankees, it was very similar to the delivery that we saw when he originally signed," Ocampo said. "That really stood out, along with the overall repertoire of just fastball, curveball that were swing-and-miss pitches." Javier's fastball was only 84-86 mph when the Astros signed him, but it had increased to 88-89 mph in his later outings in the Dominican Academy. He was never considered a high prospect until the completion of the 2019 season. The Astros also loved Javier's calm demeanor, which earned him the nickname "El Reptile." "The fact that nothing really rattles him or fazes him, he always maintains the same level of calm and control on the mound, that always stood out," Ocampo said. "If you look at sort of all the attributes across the board -- the physical, mechanics, the repertoire, the pitchability and the overall makeup and heart -- he checked all the boxes for us. It's incredible that we were able to sign him the way we did, because he's a guy that really checked all the boxes for us across the board." Ocampo, 38, began working for Major League Baseball in the Dominican Republic in 2004 and attended scout school at the same time. He worked for the Cardinals under Jeff Luhnow from '05-09, then worked for MLB for two years. He joined the Astros in '12, helping to oversee international scouting, player development, operations and analytics. He left Houston early in '20 but returned in March to an organization for which he has made a huge impact. In addition to Javier, some of the players signed and developed under Ocampo are starting first baseman Yuli Gurriel and starting pitchers Framber Valdez and Luis Garcia. Like Javier, Valdez and Garcia were unheralded signings. Garcia signed for $20,000 in 2017 at age 20, Valdez for $10,000 in '15 at age 21. |
"These guys, they inspire our international group, our development group and myself, the thing that they do at the highest levels," Ocampo said. "To be able to have seen that from the very early stages to where they are now, and to see how much they've grown from being a kid in the Dominican Summer League to Major League players that are performing at the highest level and are tremendous human beings as well, it's a source of pride that's hard for me to even describe. It's an amazing feeling." |
HONORING A MENTOR Astros manager Dusty Baker, who will guide the American League in the All-Star Game on July 19 at Dodger Stadium, will bring Tigers legend Willie Horton with him as an honorary coach. Horton, 79, played 18 years in the Major Leagues, including from 1963-77 with the Tigers, and batted .273 with 325 home runs and 1,163 RBIs. Horton was an All-Star in 1965, '68, '70 and '73 in the city where he was raised, and he was a key part of the Tigers' '68 World Series championship club, batting .285 with career-best totals of 36 home runs and a .543 slugging percentage in the regular season. His No. 23 was retired by Detroit in 2000, and a statue of his likeness stands outside Comerica Park. Baker met Horton when he was 18 or 19 years old while he was in Spring Training with the Braves. "We were playing a game in Lakeland [Fla.] and I was a kid," Baker said. "I met Willie Horton and immediately called my dad. He was from Lakeland. I said, 'Dad, I'm a little kid playing against these men.' Willie was always nice to me. … He was influential not only in my life, but influential in the community." |
DUSTY QUOTE OF THE WEEK "My navigation system is Verlander." -- Baker, when asked Friday how he would navigate his pitching with a short-handed bullpen against the Yankees in a game started by Justin Verlander. |
ON THE FARM • RHP Jaime Melendez, who struck out a career-best 12 batters in five innings Saturday for Double-A Corpus Christi, has allowed one run in his past four games (18 2/3 innings). In a standout June, Melendez -- the Astros' No. 13 prospect per MLB Pipeline -- has a 2.01 ERA, a .145 batting average against and a 0.90 WHIP in five games (four starts). The 20-year-old from Puebla, Mexico, has struck out 31 against nine walks and 11 hits in 22 1/3 innings during that span. • RHPs Devin Conn and Matt Ruppenthal were promoted to Triple-A Sugar Land this week. In his final 17 outings at Double-A, Conn was 4-2 with a 1.40 ERA and 17 strikeouts while allowing 13 hits and eight walks in 25 2/3 innings. He is 5-2 with a 2.19 ERA in 25 appearances with the Hooks, earning five saves in six chances. Ruppenthal went 3-0 with a 4.23 ERA in 24 outings for the Hooks, striking out 52 against 26 walks and 25 hits in 35 1/3 innings pitched. • RHP Jimmy Endersby, the Astros' No. 23 prospect, was named the Texas League Player of the Week for June 20-26. Endersby, who ranks second in the Texas League in ERA (2.78) and third in opponents' batting average (.212), threw seven scoreless innings Friday night against Amarillo, striking out eight. |
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TRIVIA J.J. Matijevic's first two hits in the Major Leagues were home runs, including a go-ahead shot off Gerrit Cole at Yankee Stadium during the combined no-hitter on Saturday. Who is the only other Astros player to record home runs for his first two Major League hits?
A.) Yordan Alvarez
B.) Terry Puhl C.) Ken Caminiti D.) Joe Morgan |
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THIS WEEK IN ASTROS HISTORY June 28, 2007 Craig Biggio became the 27th player in history -- and first Astros player -- to reach 3,000 hits when he singled off Rockies pitcher Aaron Cook in the seventh inning of a game at Minute Maid Park. Biggio was thrown out by former teammate Willy Taveras at second base trying to leg out a double, but that didn't diminish the accomplishment. "I wanted it to happen at home," Biggio said. "For the integrity of the game, you let the chips fall where they may. But the right thing happened, and we were able to get it done, and anybody who had a ticket that night got to enjoy it, and the people at home got to enjoy it. Like I said, 20 years playing here, and to be able to give that back to the fans is a pretty cool thing." Biggio didn't stop at 3,000. He singled to right field in the ninth inning for his fourth hit of the game and he singled again in the 11th to cap a 5-for-6 night. Carlos Lee finished the night with a walk-off grand slam, scoring Biggio. The grand slam proved to be only a sidebar to a night that belonged to No. 7. |
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TRIVIA ANSWER A. Yordan Alvarez
Alvarez slugged home runs for his first two Major League hits in June 2019, en route to being named the American League Rookie of the Year. |
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