Astros Prospect Report: Corpus Christi nukes San Antonio

AAA Oklahoma City RedHawks: 3-0 win over Albuquerque (LAD)

-> Matthew Duffy: 2-for-4, 2B
-> Preston Tucker: 1-for-2, R, 2 BB
-> Carlos Perez: 1-for-3, RBI
-> Jonathan Villar: 1-for-3
-> Ronald Torreyes: 1-for-4, R
-> Domingo Santana: 0-for-0, 2 RBI, 3 BB
-> Jiovanni Mier: 0-for-2, 2 BB
-> Ruben Sosa: 0-for-0, R (pinch-runner)

SP Asher Wojciechowski: 7.1 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 4 K (win)
RP Anthony Bass: 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K (hold)
RP Tommy Shirley: 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K (hold)
RP Jorge De Leon: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K (save)

Tucker has a five-game hitting streak working, though he's also struck out 13 times in his last ten games, a bit unusual for him. He was also pinch-run for in the eighth inning after singling. At first I didn't think much of it, but he singled, and then stayed in during the next AB, and was only removed after that guy had also singled and Tucker advanced. Did he twist or pull something going first to second? I don't know. Could be nothing, but I hope he didn't get hurt. He's hitting .302/.357/.547 with nine doubles and four long balls in August.

This was the third really strong start in a row for Wojo; over his last three now, he's posted a 0.44 ERA, 1.77 BB/9 and 6.64 K/9 in 20.1 innings of work. On the season, his strike out rate isn't encouraging (6.72 K/9), but did you know that he's walked more than two batters in a game just one time, back on June 18? 2.54 BB/9 on the year in 71 innings. From June 23 through to this game, he owns a 3.13 K/BB ratio.

.359/.370/.489 with four doubles, a triple and two homers in August for Duffy.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 23-7 win over San Antonio (SDP)

-> Delino DeShields: 4-for-6, BB, 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 3 R, 5 RBI
-> Teoscar Hernandez: 4-for-7, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R
-> Brandon Meredith: 3-for-5, 2 BB, 2 2B, 3 R, 4 RBI
-> Tyler Heineman: 3-for-5, 2B, 2 BB, 2 R, 4 RBI
-> Colin Moran: 3-for-6, BB, 2B, RBI, 2 R
-> Telvin Nash: 2-for-5, 2 BB, 2 RBI, 3 R
-> Jonathan Meyer: 2-for-7, 2 R
-> Leonardo Heras: 0-for-4, 2 BB, 3 R
-> Tony Kemp: 0-for-4, RBI, 2 BB, 2 R

SP Chris Devenski: 4.0 IP, 5 R (2 ER), 6 H, 2 BB, 6 K
RP Travis Ballew: 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 2 K (win)
RP Tyson Perez: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K
RP Mitchell Lambson: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K

D...damn. We at TCB would like to take a moment of reverent silence to remember our fine members who made their homes in San Antonio, Texas up until it was wiped from the face of the earth last night. You may be gone, but you'll not be forgotten. Rest in peace, friends.

After a four-run second inning for San Antonio, Corpus was down 5-3 and was like "nope." They proceeded to score 20 runs in the next four innings. Wow. Three homers, but interestingly enough, none were multi-run homers. Just a lot of hits and a lot of walks (13, to be exact) got the job done. As a team, the Hooks batted .429/.556/.776 tonight; a team 1.332 OPS, fun!

DeShields is obviously your big man of the night, throughout the whole system, too. The funny thing is that that second homer being a homer instead of a single caused him to miss out on the cycle. But I'm sure he'll take it, I know I will. This bears repeating; DeShields is not a slappy hitter. He won't ever be a big power threat, in all likelihood, but there's some pop in there. In a down year, with injuries and adjusting to AA and leaving an offensive-friendly environment, he has 11 homers in 107 games. That's very real 15 HR power, and considering his SB ability, his tools on offense more than match up for him to be a CF. The real interesting thing is that with 15 HR power and a ton of SBs, he could probably be a solid LF, too, if CF doesn't work out, for whatever reason. DeShields is hitting .282/.402/.521 during August, by the way.

Hernandez has nine hits in his last three games, heck of a run. He's hitting .306/.315/.542 in 17 games with Corpus. As we've said before, all signs in his number point to a serious regression in the future, but for now, we should just be happy he's showing something instead of struggling initially.

Moran is on a five-game hitting streak. He's hitting .346/.397/.509 in his last 14 games. His OPS with Corpus is .802, a large improvement over his time with Jupiter in the FSL (.735).

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: Off Day

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 3-2 win over Cedar Rapids (MIN)

-> A.J. Reed: 2-for-4, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI
-> James Ramsay: 2-for-4, solo HR
-> Chase McDonald: 1-for-3, BB, 2B
-> Brian Holberton: 0-for-2, BB
-> Ryan Bottger: 0-for-3, R

SP Troy Scribner: 3.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 7 K
RP Jordan Mills: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K
RP Chris Lee: 3.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 7 K (win)
RP Keegan Yuhl: 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (save)

The pull of Scribner in the midst of the fourth struck me as slightly odd, but the lower minors don't track pitch counts for the box scores, so I can't know where he was at in that regard, or why the decision was made. I hope it wasn't injury related or anything. He had been gotten to a bit that inning; double, double, single, passed ball, a couple of strike outs, and then a walk preceded the pitching change. But at any rate, boy, if he ever missing bats. In four games with QC, he's tossed exactly 20 innings and has struck out 33 batters. That's a 14.85 K/9. Nasty. 3.15 BB/9 to go with it, too. Assuming he's not hurt (probably not), he figures to give QC a nice boost for their playoff run, if they're able to make it in (they have to squeak past Wisconsin somehow to nab the second-half wild card spot).

Speaking of that, they're two games back of Wisconsin right now, and both teams have seven games left on their schedules. So it's certainly possible, but they'll need a little help to do it. Both teams' remaining games are against teams with sub-.500 records in the second half, so it will come down to who plays better.

Reed has three straight two-hit games now, and he has two homers in those three games. 11 total homers in 61 total games between TC and QC this season for him.

Lee has a 3.58 ERA over his last ten games. On the season, he's sitting with a 3.80 ERA, 4.05 BB/9 and 6.03 K/9 in 109 innings of work.

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 5-2 loss to Vermont (OAK)

-> Jamie Ritchie: 2-for-4
-> Mott Hyde: 1-for-3, BB, 2 R
-> Jose Solano: 1-for-3
-> Ricky Gingras: 1-for-4
-> Terrell Joyce: 0-for-2, BB
-> Derek Fisher: 0-for-3, 2 RBI

SP Robert Kahana: 3.0 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 9 H, 0 BB, 2 K (loss)
RP Chris Munnelly: 3.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 5 K
RP Daniel Mengden: 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K
RP Angel Heredia: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K

And there's Mengden. Can't say much after two innings, but nice to see him get his feet wet and miss some bats.

Ritchie has fallen off a little bit recently, which has taken his season numbers from insanely good to just plain stupid good; he's hitting .358/.473/.500 with 10 doubles, a couple of triples and a long ball in 40 games.

RK Greeneville Astros: 3-1 win over Bluefield (TOR)

-> Jeffry Santos: 2-for-4, RBI
-> Ydarqui Marte: 1-for-1, 2 BB, 2 R
-> Jacob Nottingham: 1-for-3, 2B, R
-> Sean McMullen: 1-for-4, 2B
-> Bryan Muniz: 1-for-4

SP Brock Dykxhoorn: 5.0 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 4 H, 1 BB, 10 K (win)
RP Joshua James: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K (hold)
RP Jose Montero: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K (hold)
RP Eric Peterson: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K (save)

Wow. I checked my email before starting only to see a few of our writers talking about how much they like Dykxhoorn and his upside and all, and I wondered if that meant he had pitched tonight. And boy did he. 15 outs, with 13 of them coming via strike out or ground out. That works. In 12 games, the Hoorned King (bad I know, I'm tired right now) has walked just eight batters, walking more than one just once. Over all, he owns a 2.30 BB/9 and a 10.34 K/9 on the season. His ERA is 4.31, but you may remember that one aberration back on July 13 when he coughed up six earned in 1.1 innings; take that out, and he owns a 2.70 ERA in his other 11 games.

Reliever spotlight: Joshua James has quietly had an extremely nice year as arguably the most reliable guy in Greeneville's bullpen. He owns a 1.85 ERA, 3.23 BB/9 and 10.15 K/9 in 39 innings. His ground ball rate, if my math is right, is 51% (it was 50% coming into this game, and I think I added in his new results correctly). Lots of strike outs and ground balls; my kind of guy. He was born in Atlus, OK and went to college there as well at Western Oklahoma State; one of the many mid-west JuCo signings from this year, and he's looking good so far.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Alex White vs. Zach Lee
AA: Mark Appel vs. Jake Thompson
A+: TBD vs. TBD
A-: Michael Feliz vs. Lewis Thorpe
SS: Francis Ramirez vs. A.J. Burke
RK: Reymin Guduan vs. Oscar Cabrera