This will be your weekly look at the hottest prospects in the system, highlighting the top performers at the plate and on the mound. Below is the hotlist for Week Thirteen. Check out the previous week’s hotlist here.
Who’s Hot At The Plate?
Xavier Neyens – Neyens, the Astros first round pick last year, has put together a strong season so far. This week the 19-year-old hit .400 with 3 home runs and 9 walks in just 5 games. Overall this season, Neyens has a .900 OPS with 12 home runs for the Woodpeckers.
Albert Fermin – Fermin got the biggest international bonus the Astros issued out this year and is off to a really strong start in the Dominican Summer League. This week the 17-year-old hit .333 with a double, 2 home runs, 8 runs batted in and 3 stolen bases. He is hitting .368 this season.
Lucas Spence – Spence, who got off to a slow start, has really turned it on and earned a promotion to Triple-A. This week the outfielder hit .421 with 3 doubles, a home run, 7 runs batted in and a stolen bases. He’s hitting .370 over 22 games in the month of June.
Arturo Flores – Flores is a young catcher down in Fayetteville but has been doing some damage with the bat this year. After earning a spot on the list last week, he repeats here with another big week. The 20-year-old hit .438 with 2 home runs and 5 runs batted in. He has 11 home runs and a .851 OPS overall.
Jack Moss – Moss was signed by the Astros this year after being released by the Reds earlier this year. The 24-year-old first baseman has been great since joining Asheville and had a nice week hitting .500 with a double, a triple and 3 walks to zero strikeouts. He’s hitting .364 in 21 games for Asheville.
Who’s Hot On The Mound?
Ethan Pecko – After a slower start to the year, Pecko has been one of the best pitchers in minor league baseball in the month of June. This week the right-hander tossed 6 innings allowing 1 run while striking out 4. In June he has a 0.75 ERA allowing just 2 runs on 13 hits over 24 innings for Sugar Land.
Brett Gillis – Gillis has had some strong starts this season and after having his best start last week, he bested that outing this week. In his start for the Hooks, the right-hander tossed 7 scoreless innings allowing 3 hits while striking out 7. He has a 3.45 ERA this season in Double-A.
Bryce Mayer – Mayer has been solid this year and this week he turned in his longest outing of the season tossing 5.2 scoreless innings with 3 strikeouts in his start for the Hooks. Mayer has a 3.89 ERA with 62 strikeouts over 44 innings this season in Double-A.
Jackson Nezuh – Nezuh has done well racking up the strikeouts this season, though the ERA has been a little higher. This week he was great allowing just 1 hit and 1 run over 5 innings while striking out 9. Overall this season, the right-hander has 64 strikeouts over 53.1 innings.
Javier Perez – Perez, who has been great this season, had an off night last week but got right back on track this week allowing 1 run over 5 innings while striking out 7 batters. It registered as a complete game too due to rain. Overall Perez has a 3.33 ERA with 77 strikeouts over 67.2 innings.
Four Things I Learned Watching Astros Prospects in Single-A Fayetteville
TEAM ERA and OPS:
Sugar Land – From 5.06 ERA to 4.87 ERA – From .697 OPS to .706 OPS
Corpus Christi – From 4.96 ERA to 4.79 ERA – From .724 OPS to .722 OPS
Asheville – From 8.02 ERA to 7.74 ERA – From .811 OPS to .807 OPS
Fayetteville – From 4.90 ERA to 4.83 ERA – From .721 OPS to .731 OPS
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