MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com -GREENEVILLE, TN – The Greeneville Astros have five former players on Baseball America’s Top Ten Prospects list for the Houston Astros.  Shortstop Jiovanni Mier, a member of the 2009 squad, is the highest rated player from Greeneville at number two on the list, trailing only catcher Jason Castro.  Outfielder Jay Austin, the only other position player from Greeneville, comes in at number eight.  Rated between the two are right-handed pitchers Jordan Lyles, Sammy Gervacio, and Ross Seaton.

Mier, selected by the Houston Astros in the first round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, was assigned to Greeneville for his first professional season and certainly lived up to expectations.  He hit .276 and led the team in triples (6), homeruns (7), RBI (32), and total bases (93).

Furthermore, Mier showed he has superb defensive ability time after time.  As a result, Baseball America has also determined that Mier is the Best Defensive Infielder in the Astros organization as well as having the Best Infield Arm.  All of these reasons combined shows why the publication projects him to be in the Houston Astros starting lineup by 2013.

Third-ranked prospect Jordan Lyles and sixth-ranked Ross Seaton are also projected to be in the starting rotation for the Astros by 2013.  Both players made their professional debuts with Greeneville during the 2008 season before pitching their first full seasons in Lexington in 2009.

Lyles, a supplemental first-round pick in 2008, finished with a 7-11 record and a 3.24 ERA.   He was very impressive in striking out 167 batters in 144.2 innings over the course of 26 starts this season.  In addition to having a fastball consistently around 90-92 mph, many of those strikeouts came as the result of a tremendous changeup that is listed as tops in the Astros organization.

Meanwhile, Seaton, who was listed with the best curveball in 2008, started 24 games and concluded the season 8-10 with a 3.29 ERA.   

Sammy Gervacio, who was the closer for the Greeneville Astros in 2005, is fourth on the list and projects to be the Houston Astros closer in 2013.

Voted as having the best slider in the organization for the second consecutive year, Gervacio has already proven himself capable of performing on the big league level.  After being called up to Houston from Triple-A Round Rock in August, he made 29 relief appearances finishing 1-1 with a 2.14 ERA and 25 strikeouts against 8 walks in 21.0 innings.  

Jay Austin, who came to Greeneville after being a second-round pick in 2008, has been named as the being the Fastest Baserunner and Best Athlete in the Astros organization in addition to being the eighth-ranked prospect.

In 2009, Austin proved why he has earned those distinctions as he hit .267 and led the Lexington Legends in doubles (22), triples (6), and tied for the team lead in stolen bases (23) while also roaming centerfield.    

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