Houston Astros MiLB Week in Review
Another week of Astros minor league baseball is in the books. Corpus is heating up and didn’t lose all week. Let’s take a look at the best performances this past week.
AAA: Fresno Grizzlies (15-21) went 2-5 this week.
- Colin Moran, 3B: .267 BA (8-for-30), 4 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI
- Tony Kemp, 2B/OF: .308 BA (8-for-26), 5 R, 2B, 3B, RBI, 5 BB/3 SO
- Matt Duffy, 3B: .370 BA (10-for-27), 4 R, 4 2B, 2 RBI
- Brady Rodgers, RHP: 11.0 IP, 15 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 12 K
- Joseph Musgrove, RHP: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
- Mike Hauschild, RHP: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
- James Hoyt, RHP: 3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Rough week overall for the Grizzlies. If you noticed AJ Reed’s name missing up top it is because he went on the DL with a hamstring injury. The offensive production just wasn’t there this week, though some encouraging signs. Moran had 2 doubles and 2 homers so nice to see him getting some extra base hits. He is hitting .288 with 7 2B, 3 HR, 22 RBI in 32 games this season. Kemp continues to produce and get on base. He has done his part to be called up soon. Really nice to see last year’s PCL MVP have a good week. He started slow but is currently on an 8 game hitting streak.
The pitching wasn’t great either. Musgrove got promoted to AAA and had a good start in his debut. Nice to see the strikeouts too. Reports had him a little over-amped so that could explain the two walks. Hauschild continues to put together quality starts. Three straight quality starts for him and now has 7 BB/28 K in 35.2 innings. James Hoyt has been impressive ever since the Astros acquired him and this week was no different. His last 10 games he has gone 12 IP with 1 BB/21 K.
AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (20-15) went 6-0 this week.
- Evan Gattis, C: .389 BA (7-for-18), 4 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, BB/SO
- Alex Bregman, SS: .286 BA (6-for-21), 7 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB/2 SO
- Derek Fisher, OF: .333 BA (7-for-21), 4 R, 4 HR, 7 RBI, SB
- Teoscar Hernandez, OF: .300 BA (6-for-20), 5 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, SB
- JD Davis, 3B: .364 BA (8-for-22), 5 R, 3 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI
- Danry Vasquez, OF: .385 BA (5-for-13), 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI
- Cy Sneed, RHP: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
- David Paulino, RHP: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
- Keegan Yuhl, RHP: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
- Francis Martes, RHP: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
- Evan Grills, LHP: 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
- Brendan McCurry, RHP: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Great week for Corpus as the talent is now showing up on the field. Gattis played in a few games at catcher and a few games at DH, he is now on his way back to the Astros. Bregman had a solid week with the four extra base hits compared to only two strikeouts. He also started at third base one game and looked great. Derek Fisher had another big week. One game he homered twice, including a walk-off shot (video below). Teoscar continues to make strides and while the homers aren’t there, he has his season average up to .274 with .361 OBP. JD Davis has been hot lately, bringing his season average to .226 with 8 2B, 3 HR now.
You don’t go 6-0 in a week without some solid pitching. Cy Sneed has had a good season outside of one start. He now has 8 BB/27 K in 23.2 innings. Yuhl has been solid and now has a 3.31 ERA in 32.2 innings in AA. Evan Grills was called up from Lancaster and dominated in his debut with the complete game shutout (7 innings due to double header). Martes has struggled this season but was better this week. McCurry continues to be a dominant force at the backend of the Hooks bullpen. While he doesn’t throw hard, he mixes his pitches well and keeps guys off balance.
A+: Lancaster Jethawks (14-20) went 3-3 this week.
- Ramon Laureano, OF: .333 BA (5-for-15), 3 R, 2 2B, RBI, SB, 10 BB, 6 SB
- Bryan Muniz, 1B: .385 BA (5-for-13), 3B, 2 RBI, 2 BB/2 SO
- Nick Tanielu, 3B: .360 BA (9-for-25), 3 R, 3B, HR, 6 RBI, SB
- Bobby Boyd, OF: .364 BA (8-for-22), 3 R, HR, RBI, 4 SB
- Trent Thornton, RHP: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
- Brock Dykxhoorn, RHP: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
- Joshua James, RHP: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
- Elieser Hernandez, RHP: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
- Matt Bower, LHP: 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K
Solid week for Lancaster going 3-3. Laureano has been an interesting prospect this season. He has yet to homer but has 25 BB, 14 SB in 30 games with a .296 BA. Tanielu continues to hit well with another great week. He has his season average up to .352 with 8 2B, 4 HR, 25 RBI in 32 games. Only thing that I would like to see improve is his walks (6 in 32 games), but he has proven he can hit. Boyd is climbing as well and has his season average up to .299. He now has 18 SB in 24 games this season.
Another strong start for Thornton. He might be a guy who could see AA sometime this summer. He now has a 3.54 ERA with 5 BB/31 K in 28 innings. James could also be one to see AA at some point. His strikeout numbers are great, 30 K in just 21.2 innings. Matt Bower was promoted this week from QC where he had 28 K in 19.2 innings and he didn’t stop in Lancaster with the 10 K in 5 inning debut.
A: Quad Cities Riverbandits (15-20) went 3-3 this week.
- Kyle Tucker, OF: .545 BA (12-for-22), 3 R, 2 2B, 6 RBI, 5 SB
- Bobby Wernes, 3B: .313 BA (5-for-16), 2 R, 2B, 3B, RBI, 4 BB/1 SO
- Christian Correa, C: .294 BA (5-for-17), 2 2B, 2 R, 5 RBI
- Connor Goedert, 3B: .235 BA (4-for-17), 2 R, HR, 2 RBI
- Andrew Thome, RHP: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
- Zac Person, LHP: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
- Chris Murphy, RHP: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
- Alex Winkelman, LHP: 11.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 13 K
Kyle Tucker is scorching hot right now. In the six games he played this week, five were multi-hit games. He is now hitting .328 on the season with 16 SB in 34 games. He also has 6 2B, 3 3B, and 1 HR. Goedert is still doing a good job driving in runs but his average is down to .226 now. Wernes is working his way back up but his BABIP is still crazy low at just .203. Correa had a solid week driving in five runs for the River Bandits.
Chris Murphy has the start of the week for QC as he went 7 shutout innings. Winkelman made two starts and while the first was good, the second was great (6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 7 K). He now has 33 K in 32.1 innings this season. Person has 15 K in 13.2 innings. If he continues to pitch well he could be promoted to Lancaster since he is already 23. Not mentioned abov ebut Albert Abreu has 44 K in just 27.1 innings this season.
LINE OF THE WEEK:
Evan Grills, LHP, 05/13/16: 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (AA Debut)
Matt Bower, LHP, 05/14/16: 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K (A+ Debut)
Derek Fisher, OF, 05/12/16: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI (Walk-off HR)
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**Photo Credit: Tammy Tucker**
