Houston Astros acquire John Ely from Los Angeles Dodgers for Rob Rasmussen- MLB News
The Houston Astros had a busy day on Wednesday when they trade their Minor League pitcher Rob Rasmussen for John Ely, a right-handed pitcher from the Los Angeles Dodgers. They also designated outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin for assignment to make room on the roster
for Ely.
The traded Rob is a 23-year-old left-handed pitcher, who was drafted by the Miami Marlins in 2010 in the second round of MLB Draft. He was acquired by the Astros as a part of trade in July of 2012 from the Miami ball club.
Rasmussen spent his 2012 season split between the high Class-A Jupiter Hammerheads and Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks. He posted a combined 8-11 record in 27 games that he pitched in, 26 as a starting pitcher. He had a combined 4.25 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP.
John Ely was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 2007’s Amateur Draft in the third round. The 26-year-old has seen limited actions in the Major League over the last three seasons. He got the most opportunity in the 2010 season where he was a starting pitcher
in 18 games for the Dodgers and posted a 4-10 win-loss record with a 5.49 ERA. He pitched exactly a hundred innings and had 76 strike outs.
Since the 2010 season, he has not won a game in seven that he has played as a pitcher for the Dodgers. John, on the other hand, has been providing strong performances in the Minors. He has been playing Triple-A ball for three seasons now for the Albuquerque
Isotopes in the Pacific Coast League.
Ely has a 26-19 winning record at the Triple-A level and has a 4.80 ERA in 65 games so far as a starting pitcher. He pitched very well in 2012 and posed a 14-7 winning record in 27 starts with a relatively low 3.20 ERA. He has been playing in the Minors
since 2007.
Outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin was signed by the Boston Red Sox in 2007 as an International Free Agent from Taiwan. The 24-year-old made a short appearance for the Boston ball club in the Majors in 2012, playing nine games and posting a .250 batting average in
12 at-bats with three hits.
He has had a vast experience in the Minor League and has played for various farm teams in the Red Sox farm system since 2007. He has a career batting average of .256 and a .347 on-base percentage in the Minors in over 600 games.
The fact that the Astros have designated one of their outfielders Lin to make space for John does give an indication that he Houston ball club may be interested in keeping him in the mix of things throughout the season.
It is quite possible that John may end up with a spot on the starting rotation as well at some point in time. He does have a fair amount of experience in the Minors and has also had some taste of the big leagues. The Astros certainly are looking for some
good pitching options and Ely could be a useful option for the upcoming season.
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