Minor League Recap- Games of June 14, 2014

AAA: New Orleans Zephyrs (MIA) 7, Oklahoma City Redhawks 1

All the good vibes sent Folty's way after Perry's article detailed how the flamethrowing righty is getting closer to major league ready were for naught apparently. Folty allowed six earned runs in 4.2 IP, breaking a string of dominant starts that saw him strike out a lot of hitters in efficient fashion. Go get 'em next time, Folty. Domingo Santana added his 11th homer of the year as a part of a two hit, one walk night. Santana continues to talk his way into the very near future plans of the Astros, even if his age and contact issues suggest he may need more seasoning in OKC. 

Austin Wates: 0-4
Domingo Santana: 2-3. HR (11), BB
Matt Duffy: 1-3
Max Stassi: 1-4. 2 K
L.J. Hoes: 2-3, BB

Mike Foltynewicz: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR allowed
Bobby Doran: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

AA: Frisco Roughriders 10, Corpus Christi Hooks 2

Not a lot went right for the Hooks on Saturday; the offense mustered just one hit courtesy of Rene Garcia, while Brady Rodgers continued a tough stretch of outings as he was tabbed for his ninth loss of the year. Rodgers's peripherals are still impressive however; he owns a 42:9 K:BB ratio to go along with a FIP around 3.96, much nicer than his 4.88 ERA so there's still some room for optimism. 

Delino Deshields: 0-3, BB, 3 K
Nolan Fontana: 0-2, BB
Andrew Aplin: 0-3, BB

Brady Rodgers: 4 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

A+: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (LAD) 9, Lancaster 3

The Jethawks wrapped up the first half of their season with a loss against the Quakes and 2013 first rounder Chris Anderson. Kyle Westwood only pitched 3 innings last night, but not to fear; he made the Cal League All-Star game later this week and will pitch, and he already leads the team in innings to he was on a short leash last night. Carlos Correa finished up his first half with a hit and walk in four plate appearances.

Teoscar Hernandez: 0-4
Carlos Correa: 1-3, BB
Rio Ruiz: 0-4
Conrad Gregor: 1-4
Danry Vasquez: 1-3

Kyle Westwood: 3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Kent Emanuel: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

A: Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (MIL) 6, Quad Cities 3

Even in a loss, QC's bright spot was again Brett Phillips. In one of the many TCB e-mail threads from earlier in the week, a writer suggested that Phillips is an easy candidate for Astros farm system breakout player of the year so far. Phillips' strong season has been fairly well documented, but he's still keeping up his progress and showing what his upside could look like. Phillips belted his fourth homer of the year last night, and he's hitting just a touch below .300 (.298 to be exact) with a solid .356 OBP. Phillips' speed and overall athleticism has been a big part of his game for a while, but it's the developing power that makes him a truly exciting prospect to follow. 

Brett Phillips: 1-5. HR (4)
Chan Moon: 2-3, 2 BB
Tyler White: 1-4
Jon Kemmer: 3-4
James Ramsay: 0-4

Chris Lee: 7 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

A (Short-Season): Connecticut Tigers 9, Tri-City Valley Cats 3

The Valley Cats came up short in J.D. Davis' pro debut. The Cal-State Fullerton lefty drew two walks last night and played third base. It's interesting that they started him there, at least to me. Davis' defense doesn't sound like it will be a strength of his at the next level (he committed two errors last night), but with the lack of depth at the hot corner in the system from anyone not named Rio Ruiz, it's not a bad idea to see if Davis' defense can be passable enough to stick there as he progresses. And who knows; maybe he turns into a Mike Lamb corner infield/outlfied/emergency pitchter combo with a solid bat. Let it be known that Davis wasn't the only Valley Cat not to show up on defense, as the team committed seven errors on the night. 

Mott Hyde: 0-3, BB, 2 K
J.D. Davis: 0-2, 2 BB
Ravel Santana: 0-4
Ariel Ovando: 0-4, 3 K

Joe Musgrove: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Randall Fant: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

DSL: Astros Blue 11, Royals 9
Marlins 12, Astros Orange 6

These Dominican teams sure to like offense. I normally wouldn't discuss these individual games other than the statline, but International director Oz Ocampo dusted off his Twitter machine and talked a little about SS Joan Mauricio last night.

SS Joan Mauricio .292/.375/.542, leading the league in triples, another today (3-5, 3B, R, 3 RBI) @DSLAstros @iplbaseball_rd

— Oz Ocampo (@OzOcampo) June 14, 2014

DSL stats are completely meaningless, but that's not the point. The Astros scouting staff is obviously very high on even their youngest and least experienced guys, the Latin American lottery tickets who are impossible to predict. There's no way to know if any of the players on the DSL squads will ever pan out, but there's been a lot of buzz around some of these players lately which is a good thing to see. 

Vicente Sanchez: 2-3, 3B. 2 BB
Wander Franco: 0-4
Connor MacDonald: 2-4, 2B
Joan Mauricio: 3-5, 3B(5)