In a particularly dry day for Astros' prospects, Jake Goebbert (3-for-4, 2B, HR) was the most notable performer, leading Lexington position players in a blowout loss. Is it just me, or have many of the organization's best prospects been struggling the past week or two?
J.D. Martinez (1-for-4 , 3B, K) has been the exception in his time here. He seemed entirely slump-proof at Lexington; we'll see if he can keep it up at Corpus Christi, but early returns are promising.
Today's lowlights were the pair of apocalyptic poundings taken by former teammates Ross Seaton (3 IP, 6 R) and Brad Dydalewicz (4 IP, 8 BB, 10 R). Could either of their prospect stocks get much lower?
Round Rock lost 0-3
The polar opposite of their loss by three runs yesterday, the Express lost just the same. Daniel Meszaros pitched in his first game for Round Rock, a perfect inning with no strikeouts or walks. He could be on track to help out in Houston before the end of the season. Not much else of note; Andy Van Hekken did turn in seven solid innings, and Tommy Everidge hit a pair of singles.
Corpus Christi won 4-2
Jon Gaston (2-for-3, BB) and J.D. Martinez led Hooks position players, with Martinez hitting a two-run line drive triple in the eighth inning to give Corpus the lead. Koby Clemens (0-for-3, BB, 2 K) continues to struggle with strikeouts. Doug Arguello wasn't as sharp as usual, walking four and only striking out one. He did last five innings and only gave up two runs, however. Matt Nevarez pitched two scoreless innings in relief, striking out two and walking one.
Lancaster lost 5-7
The best performances in Ross Seaton's loss to the San Jose Giants were by non-prospects Brian Pelleghrini and Lee Cruz, who each homered. Jay Austin is still on a cold streak, but he did manage one hit in five at bats, and he didn't strike out. Brandon Wikoff (2-for-3) had his second two-hit game in as many nights.
Lexington lost 4-15
Aside from Jake Goebbert's fantastic night, the rest of Lexington's offense couldn't muster much against Hickory. Jose Altuve did go 1-for-4 with two stolen bases (second and third base), but he also struck out twice. Jiovanni Mier continued to slump, going 0-for-3. Jonathan Meyer (1-for-3, BB) had a decent night at the plate.
Tri-City lost 0-8
In a night when your team is blanked and gives up eight runs, there's not going to be much to highlight. The sole impressive performance was by Tyler Burnett (1-for-3, 2B, BB) whose plate discipline continues to impress. He's walking in 19% of his plate appearances and only striking out in 15% of them. Couple that with gap-to-gap power and the fact that he's on the young side for the NYPL, and we might have ourselves a prospect on our hands. Remember that a prospect's power often doesn't begin to really show until age 22 or later; Burnett just turned 21, so those nine doubles this year might turn into homers in a year or two.
Greeneville lost 3-6
Greeneville's best performers were Marcus Ndiffer (1-for-3, 2B), Emilio King (1-for-3, 2B, K), Jonathan Merritt (1-for-2, 3B), and Ryan Humphrey (1-for-3, 2B). The extra base hits are nice, but it's also impressive to see that they only had two strikeouts between the four of them.
GCL Astros lost 2-3
Ronald Sanchez (1-for-4, 2B, K) had the only extra base hit, while Jordan Scott (2-for-4, BB, K) had the only multi-hit game, in a dry outing for the GCL Astros as a group.