Chris Devenski Tosses a No-No

Back on July 21, the Astros traded veteran closer Brett Myers to the Chicago White Sox for RHP Matthew Heidenreich, LHP Blair Walters and a player to be named later – the latter of which seems to have become Jeff Luhnow’s calling card. That player to be named later ended up being RHP Chris Devenski. Last night, that player to be named later had the game of his life as he pitched a no-hitter against the Rome Braves, while striking out 16 batters and only walking one for the Class Low A, Lexington Legends.

The lone “mistake” Devenski made last night came in the fifth inning with one out when he walked Kyle Kubitza. Outside of that, he was magnificent. Sixteen strikeouts is a very big number to achieve as is a no-hitter. The no-hitter was the first to be accomplished by a single Legends pitcher. Derek Stanford, Chris George and Kirk Saarloos combined for the only other no-hitter in Legends history on July 30, 2001.

A 25th round pick of the White Sox in the 2011 MLB Draft, Devenski was an unknown to most White Sox and Astros fans when this trade was executed. A report was making the rounds that the Astros viewed Devenski as a Shawn Marcum clone. Both pitchers do not own an overpowering fastball or curveball. Both have a fastball that sits in the low 90’s and maxes out around 92-93 mph. However, they both have a very nice assortment of secondary pitches. I’m not saying that will definitely be the case but the similarities are there. If Devenski continues to improve, he will be yet another high upside prospect that Luhnow has been able to acquire for a veteran that wasn’t in our future plans.

Congratulations to Chris Devenski, the player to be named later who permanently etched his name in Lexington Legends history.