Houston Astros Minor League Week In Review: July 11th – July 17th

Houston Astros MiLB Week in Review

Another week of Astros minor league baseball is in the books.  Let’s take a look at the best performances this past week.

AAA: Fresno Grizzlies (48-44) went 2-2 this week.

• Alex Bregman, SS: .235 BA (4-for-17), 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI
• Teoscar Hernandez, OF: .333 BA (4-for-12), 3 R, HR, 2 RBI, SB
• Tony Kemp, OF: .313 BA (5-for-16), 2 R
• Tyler White, 1B: .375 BA (6-for-16), 4 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI

• Mike Hauschild, RHP: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
• Cesar Valdez, RHP: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
• Brad Peacock, RHP: 7.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K

Bregman had his first hitless game in AAA this week but followed it up with a homerun the next day. With the HR this week he now has 20 HR in 74 games this season. He continues to hit well and it’s only a matter of time before he is doing it in Houston. Teoscar has been great since his promotion to AAA. He is actually hitting for a better average than Bregman (.365 to .340). Even more impressive though is the 5 BB/6 SO in 14 games in AAA for Teoscar. White has really heated up. In July he is hitting .375 with 6 HR, 15 RBI in 13 games.

Hauschild picked up another quality start this week He has a 2.81 ERA over 102.1 innings this season. Valdez has been very good this season for Fresno. With another stellar start he has 9 BB/63 K and a 3.19 ERA. Peacock has really been up and down but his last two starts have been dominant: 14.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 21 K.

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (58-35) went 2-4 this week.

• Alejandro Garcia, OF: .364 BA (4-for-11), R, RBI
• Nick Tanielu, 2B: .346 BA (9-for-26), R, 2 RBI
• J.D. Davis, 3B: .278 BA (5-for-18), 2 R, HR, 3 RBI
• Conrad Gregor, 1B: .400 BA (4-for-10), 2 R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI
• Roberto Pena, C: .333 BA (5-for-15), 2 R, HR, 2 RBI

• Francis Martes, RHP: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
• Cy Sneed, RHP: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
• Edison Frias, RHP: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
• Kyle Smith, RHP: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

The Corpus offense has struggled since Bregman and Hernandez were promoted. Nice to see Tanielu have a good week. He has his AA average up to .267 now. Davis has slowed a bit since his hot month of May but he has shown signs of breaking back out. On the season he has 14 HR, 47 RBI in 80 games. Gregor started out the season very slow but has worked his way back over the Mendoza line and is hitting .271 in the second half of the season.

Martes has been a bit up and down but he tossed a quality start this week. Nice to see him get the the 7 strikeouts too. He now has 74 K in 76 innings this season. Sneed has been a good pickup from the Brewers. On the season he has a 3.62 ERA with 77 K in 69.2 innings.

A+: Lancaster Jethawks (51-43) went 6-1 this week.

• Ramon Laureano, RF: .652 BA (15-for-23), 11 R, 6 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 2 SB
• Bobby Boyd, CF: .385 BA (10-for-26), 6 R, 2B, 2 3B, HR, 5 RBI
• Johnny Sewald, OF: .333 BA (7-for-21), 6 R, 2 2B, 2 3B, HR, 7 RBI, 3 SB
• Drew Ferguson, OF: .385 BA (5-for-13), 2 R, 2 2B, 5 RBI, SB
• Antonio Nunez, SS: .278 BA (5-for-18), 8 R, 2 2B, RBI, SB
• Jamie Ritchie, C: .353 BA (6-for-17), 3 R, 2 2B, 5 RBI

• Trent Thornton, RHP: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
• Akeem Bostick, RHP: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
• Rogelio Armenteros, RHP: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
• Jacob Dorris, RHP: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K

Huge week for Laureano. Easily the best week any player has had this season. 12 extra base hits in 7 games is insane. He started this week at .285 and is now hitting .315. Boyd has had a very good season and kept it going with another strong week. On the season he is hitting .305 with 30 SB. Sewald has got it rolling a bit now .278 with .371 OBP for Lancaster. Ferguson seems to be very underrated but to this point in his MiLB career he is hitting .282 with 34 2B, 9 HR, 63 RBI, 31 SB in 128 games.

Thornton’s outing was actually a complete game shutout since it was part of a double header. Reports have been good on him so I’m hoping he sees AA soon. Now has 15 BB/80 K in 83.2 innings. Bostick has now tossed back to back scoreless outings which has brought his ERA down to 3.31. Armenteros gave up four runs this week but he now has 28 BB/81 K in 65.2 innings. Dorris has been great in relief for Lancaster striking out 61 in just 37 innings.

A: Quad Cities Riverbandits (44-50) went 4-3 this week.

• Myles Straw, OF: .500 BA (11-for-22), 3 R, 3 2B, RBI, SB
• Connor Goedert, 3B: .333 BA (4-for-12), 3 R, 2 2B, RBI

• Albert Abreu, RHP: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
• Franklin Perez, RHP: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
• Elieser Hernandez, RHP: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
• Jose Hernandez, RHP: 13.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 19 K
• Matt Bower, LHP: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

Not much on the offensive side this week other than Straw, who has been outstanding. To hit .500 in 7 games is not easy. Straw is now hitting .343 on the season with a .414 OBP in 49 games this season. Goedert struggled early but has started to heat up. Nine days ago he was hitting .208 and he is up to .219 now.

The pitching, once again, was very good this week. Perez continues to impress at just 18 years old. On the season he has a 3.15 ERA with 50 K in 45.2 innings. Abreu pitched the second half of Perez’s start, which just seems unfair. Abreu now has 89 K in 73.1 innings this season. Elieser Hernandez continues to pitch well since going back to QC lowering his ERA to 1.91. Jose Hernandez is dominating right now. Since June 1st her has a 0.60 ERA, 45 IP, 35 H, 4 BB, 52 K for Quad Cities (h/t Dustin Nguyen).

A-: Tri-City ValleyCats (16-14) went 4-3 this week.

• Ryne Birk, 2B: .267 BA (8-for-30), 5 R, 2 2B, HR, 6 RBI, SB
• Stephen Wrenn, OF: .250 BA (6-for-24), 4 R, 2 2B, SB
• Randy Cesar, 3B: .538 BA (14-for-26), 7 R, 2 2B, 6 RBI
• Ronnie Dawson, OF: .190 BA (4-for-21), 3 R, 3 HR, 10 RBI
• Chuckie Robinson, C: .455 BA (5-for-11), 3 R, 2 2B, 3 RBI

• Hector Perez, RHP: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
• Ryan Hartman, LHP: 7.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
• Ben Smith, LHP: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
• Erasmo Pinales, RHP: 8.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K

LINE OF THE WEEK:

Jose Hernandez, RHP, 07/16/16: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 13 K (WIN)

Ramon Laureano, OF, 07/15/16: 4-for-5, 4 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI

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**Photo Credit: Kiel Maddox/Fresno Grizzlies**