Astros Future Player of the Week: Jon Kemmer
Now that the MLB trade deadline has come and gone, we can again focus on the games at hand. The Astros enjoyed quite a bit of success this past week within the system, which makes the Player of the Week as difficult as ever to choose. When all was said and done, Fresno Grizzlies outfielder Jon Kemmer took the honor for the week of July 31st to August 1st.
Kemmer, 25, was selected in the 21st round (617th overall) of the 2013 MLB draft. After spending time at seemingly every level of the minor leagues, Kemmer has nestled in nicely in Triple-A. So far this season he has a batting line of .275/.346/.468/.814 with 12 home runs and 45 RBI. He is currently six home runs shy of his career high (18) which he set last year in Corpus Christi.
This past week, Kemmer went 12-for-31 with six runs scored, three doubles, three home runs, and seven runs driven in. He also walked five times all while improving his batting average 14 points from .261 to .275. He had a 9-game hitting streak snapped earlier in the week, but is back at it after one hitless night going 4-for-7 in the two games after.
Fresno was on a 7-game win streak, but it was snapped in the second game of a double header against the Las Vegas 51’s (Mets) on Thursday. They finish up their road trip with four games against El Paso before returning home four eight games.
Honorable Mentions
Lancaster’s Drew Ferguson was highly considered for the weekly honors. He went 9-for-24 with six runs scored, three home runs, and 10 RBI. Ferguson is on a current 9-game hitting streak for the California League’s JetHawks and is batting .293 on the season.
Ryne Birk, who was recently promoted to Quad Cities had a nice week of his own. He was a combined 14-for-31 with seven runs scored, five doubles, a triple, a home run, and 11 driven in for both the Tri-City ValleyCats and the Quad Cities River Bandits.
Corpus Christi’s Evan Grills pitched 7.2 innings this past week giving up two runs (both unearned) on five hits with 12 strikeouts. It was his fourth win on the season and first since July 2nd.
Ralph Garza collected two wins, one for Quad Cities and one for Lancaster. He threw six combined innings for both teams giving up just two hits while striking out 10.
Be sure to subscribe to receive weekly updates on the Astros minor league system. Also be sure to follow on Twitter, @AstrosFuture, and like my Facebook page, facebook.com/AstrosFuture.
**Photo Credit: Kiel Maddox/Fresno Grizzlies**
