Another week of baseball is in the books. Let’s look at some news and notes. I will start by listing a few players who have been hot over the last week.
Who’s hot?
Luke Berryhill – Berryhill, coming off being named the Astros minor league player of the year for 2021, put together a really strong week that saw him hit .368 with 2 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI. Overall on the season he has a .866 OPS with a 15.6 BB%. He is definitely trending in the right direction.
Justin Dirden – Dirden was a relative unknown going into the 2021 season but he put himself on the map posting a .934 OPS with 15 HR last season. He was assigned to Double-A this year and after a slower start, he hit .455 this week with 3 2B, HR, 7 RBI. He is now up to .275 this season.
Quincy Hamilton – Hamilton was a 5th round pick by the Astros in last year’s draft and all he has done so far is hit. The lefty went 10-for-21 with a double and a homer this week. Overall this season he is hitting .290 with a 138 wRC+ in 25 games for Fayetteville.
Michael Sandle – Sandle is another pick from last year who is off to a good start. The 23 year old had a monster week crushing 4 HR and driving in 10 in just five games. Overall, he has a 148 wRC+ this year after posting a 135 wRC+ last season. He might end up in Double-A soon.
Sugar Land Space Cowboys
The Space Cowboys went 2-4 this week bringing their overall record to 12-18. Hunter Brown started out the week great tossing 5 scoreless innings with 8 K, though his second start didn’t go as well. On the season he has a 2.63 ERA with 35 K in 24 innings. They got some other good pitching performances with Jonathan Bermudez striking out 7 over 5 scoreless innings and Brett Conine allowing 1 run over 6 innings. Shawn Dubin pitched in one game and struck out 6 over 2.2 innings. Peter Solomon also had a good outing allowing 1 run over 5 innings. Overall the staff has a 4.24 ERA.
The offense has struggled some hitting just .224 as a team, though Pedro Leon had a solid week connecting on 4 XBHs. He has a 122 wRC+ this season and leads the system in stolen bases with 10. David Hensley continued his on-base streak which is now at 26 games. On the season he has a .431 OBP. Matijevic returned to the Space Cowboys and hit .313 with a homer this last week. The Space Cowboys look to get back on track tonight at 7:35 CT.
Corpus Christi Hooks
The Hooks also went 2-4 this week putting them at 11-16 for the season. The pitching has struggled overall with a 5.64 ERA, but there has still been some standout performances. Matt Ruppenthal has a 3.00 ERA with 19 K in 15 innings. Jimmy Endersby continues to pitch well with a 2.10 ERA and 23 K in 25.2 innings. Misael Tamarez tossed 4 scoreless innings this week bringing his ERA down to 1.47.
On offense, the Hooks had some really strong performances. Like noted above Berryhill posted a 1.308 OPS in 6 games and drove in 10 runs. Justin Dirden got things going hitting .455 and he leads the Astros system in doubles with 10. Yainer Diaz connected on 2 HR and he now has 20 RBI in 25 games this season. Cesar Salazar hit .375 this week and is hitting .308 overall. Enmanuel Valdez had a quiet week by his standards but still had a .921 OPS in 5 games. The Hooks are back in action at 6:30 CT tonight.
Asheville Tourists
Asheville improved on their record from last week and went 3-3 this week bring them to 6-20 this season. Adrian Chaidez (2.53 ERA with 30 K in 21.1 innings) and Derek West (2.25 ERA with 16 K in 8 innings) were both promoted to Double-A. Chayce McDermott had a strong start striking out 6 over 5 scoreless innings. He now has 33 K in 23 innings this season. Spencer Arrighetti has 27 K in 20 innings this season. The staff has a 7.00 ERA overall.
The offense this week was led by Michael Sandle who had an insane week. He hit .318 with 2B, 4 HR, 10 RBI in 5 games. Sandle and Nerio Rodriguez are tied for the team lead with 5 HR and Sandle also has 8 doubles. Jordan Brewer and Zach Daniels have 4 a piece. Will Wagner is hitting .279 with a 424 OBP in 23 games. J.C. Correa had a better week including a 2 HR game on Tuesday. The Tourists are back at it today at 5:35 PM CT with Spencer Arrighetti on the mound.
Fayetteville Woodpeckers
The Woodpeckers struggled this week going just 1-5 and putting them at 9-18 this season. Carlos Calderon had a great start Tuesday striking out 6 over 5 scoreless innings. Ryan Gusto has been solid with a 2.63 ERA and 24 K in 24 innings. Deylen Miley has been a surprise striking out 31 in 21.1 innings. Ernesto Jaquez has pitched well and was promoted to High-A. Alex Santos made one start and struck out 4 over 4 innings allowing 1 unearned run. The staff has a 4.79 ERA with 304 K in 235 innings.
The offense has been up and down but did have a really good performance this week in Quincy Hamilton. Hamilton hit .476 with 2 XBHs and 3 walks this week. Overall he is hitting .290 with a .848 OPS. Joey Loperfido had a strong week too hitting .389 with 3 RBI. The Woodpeckers are back tonight at it at 6:05 CT.
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