This year I figured I would try something new. Rather than do another recap of the full week, I will highlight the top performers at the plate and on the mound from the previous week of play. Below is the hotlist for Week Two.
Who’s Hot At The Plate?
Joey Loperfido – Loperfido continued his hot hitting with a monster week. The 24-year-old played in 6 games and connected on 5 homers while driving in 13 runs. This included a three homer game. Overall this year, Loperfido .333 with 10 homers and 24 RBI, which both lead the Pacific Coast League.
Trey Cabbage – Cabbage was acquired by the Astros in a trade with the Angels back in January. He has been good so far this season and had a big week hitting .429 with 4 doubles, 2 homers, 7 runs batted in and 7 BB/5 K. Overall he has a 1.093 OPS and 6 stolen bases this season in Triple-A.
Jesus Bastidas – Another pickup this off-season, Bastidas came over from the Yankees system. The 25-year-old had a big week hitting .429 with 3 doubles, 2 homers and 7 RBI. Like Loperfido and Cabbage, Bastidas has an OPS over 1.000, sitting at 1.149, in 12 games this season.
Collin Price – Price was a 6th round pick by the Astros in 2022 and after a good showing following the draft, he struggled with injuries in 2023. Now healthy, Price is off to a nice start including a big week where he hit .429 with 2 double, a homer and 3 RBI. Overall, he has a 1.168 OPS this season.
Kenni Gomez – Gomez is a young Cuban outfielder who signed for $775k in 2022. The Astros were aggressive with him starting him in full season ball this year, and he has acclimated well. This week he hit .368 with a double, 4 runs batted in and a stolen bases. He’s off to a good start hitting .344 overall.
Who’s Hot On The Mound?
A.J. Blubaugh – Blubaugh is here again with another strong outing this week. The right-hander has quickly seen his stock rise since being a 7th round pick in 2022. After a solid first start, he was quickly promoted to Triple-A where he tossed 5 scoreless innings with 6 strikeouts in his Triple-A debut.
Edinson Batista – After a breakout 2022, where Batista had a 2.67 ERA with 127 K in 107.2 innings, he struggled in 2023 with injuries. He started this season well including a dominant outing this week where he tossed 5 scoreless innings with no walks and 6 strikeouts.
Ethan Pecko – Pecko was a 6th round pick in 2023. The right-hander has been dominant so far this season and had a great outing this week striking out 6 over 4 scoreless innings. On the season, he has 12 strikeouts in 6.1 innings over two different outings.
Jose Guedez – Guedez, an international free agent out of Venezuela, saw an aggressive promotion to start the season as the Astros put him in High-A. He has responded well with a dominant outing this week striking out 6 over 5 innings allowing 1 run. He has 13 strikeouts in 9.2 innings this season.
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