Astros add three players to 40-man roster

The Houston Astros have added three players to their 40-man roster in preparation for the 2013 Rule 5 Draft. The players added yesterday were left-handed pitcher Luis Cruz, outfielder Domingo Santana and right-handed pitcher Asher Wojciechowski. The announcement was made by Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow.

Cruz, 23, combined to post a 10-6 record with two saves and a 4.56 ERA (66ER/130.1IP) in 31 games, including 20 starts, with Double A Corpus Christi (4g/2gs) and Class A Lancaster (27g/18gs) in 2013. He fanned 150 hitters in his 130.1 innings pitched this season, and led all Astros minor league pitchers in strikeouts. Cruz spent the majority of his season at Lancaster before being promoted to Corpus Christi in late August. With the Hooks, Cruz made four appearances (two starts), posting a 2-0 record with a complete game and a 0.53 ERA (1ER/17IP), while allowing just five hits and fanning 21 in 17.0 innings pitched. Cruz was originally a ninth-round pick by Houston out of Puerto Rico in the June 2008 draft.

Santana, 21, hit .252 (105x416) with 23 doubles, 25 home runs, 64 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 112 games with Corpus Christi in 2013. Santana played the entire season as the second-youngest player in the Texas League and finished third in the circuit in home runs and slugging percentage (.498), tied for third in extra-base hits (50) and fourth in OPS (.842). According to MLB.com, the 6'5" corner outfielder currently ranks as the Astros No. 9 prospect. Santana was originally acquired by Houston as one of four players the Astros received from Philadelphia in exchange for outfielder Hunter Pence on July 29, 2011.

Wojciechowski, pronounced wo-juh-how-ski, posted an 11-8 record with two complete games, one save and a 3.32 ERA (59ER/160IP) in 28 games (24 starts) combined with Triple A Oklahoma City (22g/21gs) and Corpus Christi (6g/3gs) this season. The 24-year-old starter began his season at Corpus Christi with four scoreless appearances, which extended his scoreless streak to a club record 33.0 innings at the Double A level (dated back to August of 2012). Wojciechowski was moved up to OKC on May 2 and went 9-7 with a 3.56 ERA (53ER/134IP) in 22 outings to finish out his season with the RedHawks. The former supplemental first-round pick (41st overall in 2010) was originally acquired by Houston from Toronto as a piece in the Astros 10-player trade with the Blue Jays in July of 2012.

With the addition of Cruz, Santana and Wojciechowski, the Astros 40-man roster is now at 37 players.