Astros Minor League Notes: Week Eight

Another week of baseball is in the books. Let’s look at some news and notes. I will start with a few players who have been hot in the Astros system!

Who’s hot?

Quincy Hamilton – Hamilton was the Astros 5th round pick last year and he has done nothing but hit. He was promoted to High-A this week and in five games, he hit .500 with 3 2B, HR, 4 RBI. Overall this season, Hamilton is hitting .316 with a .943 OPS through 41 games.

Enmanuel Valdez – I feel like Valdez has been here every week so far, but the dude just keeps raking. The lefty hitter played in 6 games this week and hit .444 with 4 2B, 1 HR, 11 RBI. Valdez has been dominant this season posting a .358 BA/.453 OBP/.636 SLG with 9 HR and 40 RBI (leading the Astros system).

J.C. Correa – Correa has been on here a few weeks in a row, and this last week was no different for him. The righty played in five games this week for the Tourists and hit .421 with no strikeouts. He has hit .392 so far in the month of May brining his season BA up to .302.

Kenedy Corona – Corona is another repeat on the list. This week the righty hit .360 with 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI in 6 games. In May he has posted a .911 OPS and has already set new career highs in HRs. He might not be in Fayetteville much longer.

Corey Julks – Julks has really been rolling of late. This week for the Space Cowboys the righty hit .400 with 2 2B, 3B, 3 HR and 6 RBI in 6 games. He is now up to 10 HR this season, which leads the Astros system. In 21 games during the month of May, Julks has connected on 16 XBHs.

Lewis Brinson – Brinson is a former top prospect but is showing some of the reason why recently. This week for the Space Cowboys Brinson hit .429 with 3 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI in 6 games. Like Julks, Brinson has put together a great month of May with 8 HR, 18 RBI in 21 games.

Sugar Land Space Cowboys

The Space Cowboys had another rough week going 2-4, putting them at 18-30 overall this season. Despite the overall record, the pitching had some solid performances. Hunter Brown lead the way with a phenomenal start striking out 10 over 7 innings. He 2.01 ERA with 56 K in 40.1 innings this season. Brett Conine had a good outing too allowing 1 run over 5 innings. In the pen, Enoli Paredes continues to pitch well striking out 26 in 19 innings with a 0.47 ERA. Ronel Blanco and Parker Mushinski have been good in relief as well. Overall the team has a 5.01 ERA.

The offense had a few good performances. Corey Julks hit 6 XBH in 6 games and now leads the Astros system in homers with 10. Lewis BBrinson is showing why he was a top prospect at one point, hitting .429 with 6 XBHs this week. Niko Goodrum went down to Triple-A and has hit well. Alex De Goti hit .407 with 5 2B and 6 RBI this week as well. Overall the team has a .745 OPS. The Space Cowboys are back in action tonight at 7:05 CT.

Corpus Christi Hooks

The Hooks had a decent week going 3-3 again, putting them at 18-27 this season. The pitching has had a tough go of things recently. Jimmy Endersby leads the staff in innings with 38.1, and has a 2.82 ERA. Misael Tamarez has been up and down but has 36 K in 34.2 innings with a 4.15 ERA. Devin Conn has pitched well in relief with a 2.66 ERA. Jonathan Sprinkle had one outing this week and struck out 5 over 2 scoreless innings. The staff went from a 6.40 ERA to a 6.71 ERA overall this week though.

On offense has been the constant for the Hooks and this week was much of the same. Valdez, as mentioned above, led the way hitting .444 this week. He is now up to .358 overall this season. Luke Berryhill hit .286 this week but also drew 7 walks. He has a .410 OBP this season. Yainer Diaz hit .320 with 5 BB/1 K this week putting him at .311 BA and .834 OPS overall this season. Justin Dirden had a grand slam this week and overall is hitting .299 with a .902 OPS. Wilyer Abreu hit .304 with 8 walks this week. He has a .414 OBP this season. The Hooks are back at it today at 7:05 CT.

Asheville Tourists

Asheville followed up a strong week last week going 3-3 this time putting them at 17-27 overall. They got some good pitching led by Chayce McDermott who tossed 6 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts. He has a 3.55 ERA with 55 K in 38 innings this season. Spencer Arrighetti had a good outing too striking out 8 over 5 innings allowing 1 run. He is now up to 53 K in 38.1 innings. Cesar Gomez tossed 6 scoreless with 9 strikeouts. Ernesto Jaquez and Heitor Tokar each allowed 2 runs in their start of 5.2 innings and 6.2 innings, respectively. The staff dropped their ERA from 6.71 to 6.25 this week.

The offense had another solid week. Quincy Hamilton, freshly promoted from Low-A, played in five games and hit .500. He is hitting .316 this season. J.C. Correa continued his torrid hitting batting .421 this week. He is hitting .392 in May. Chad Stevens was solid again this week with 3 HR. He leads the Tourists in HR and RBI this season. The team has an overall OPS of .753 this season.  The Tourists start a new series today at 5:30 PM CT.

Fayetteville Woodpeckers

The Woodpeckers followed up an awesome week going 1-5 this week putting them at 19-26 overall. They had some solid pitching performances with Christian Mejias allowed 1 run over 6 inning in his start. Deylen Miley has been solid all season and this week he allowed 1 run over 5 innings with 7 strikeouts.  Alex Santos continues to be solid this season and now has 14 BB/43 K in 33.2 innings. The strikeout numbers have been great with 510 strikeouts in 397.2 innings, good for 11.5 K/9. The staff dropped their ERA from 4.42 ERA to 4.30 this week.

The offense was led again by Kenedy Corona who hit .360 with 2 2B, 2 HR this week. Joey Loperfido has been solid this season and is hitting .287 with a .796 overall. Tyler Whitaker hit another HR and has 3 HR, 18 RBI in 43 games. . The Woodpeckers are back tonight at it at 6:00 CT.