Astros Prospect Report: Games of April 25th, 2015

Fresno Grizzlies 7, Reno Aces (ARI) 0

Good job down in Fresno tonight. L.J. Hoes continued his tear, upping his average to .396 (he did twice) with a pair of doubles. He's only had two games this season without a hit, and has gotten on base at least twice in all but three games. The home runs aren't quite there (they never will be), but he seems to be first in line for a callup to the majors if an outfielder goes down.

Brady Rodgers pitched what was easily the best game of the season for him (he allowed 7 runs in each of his other two starts). His GO/FO was a sterling 9/2, he K'd 5, issued but one walk, and worked his way around 7 hits to hold Reno scoreless. The bullpen held its own to preserve the shutout.

Game 1: Corpus Christi Hooks 10, Frisco Roughriders (TEX) 5

Tony Kemp (Does Big Ant sound like an appropriate nickname for him?) is still scorching AA. I honestly have no idea where he'll fit with the Astros, but he's off to a .333/.460/.362 start with 11 BBs and 9 Ks thus far. The only thing a bit worrying is a lack of XBHs, but even if that doesn't come around, he's still a gamechanger.This first game wasn't even the most impressive of the day, yet the Astros still kicked serious pre-Ranger butt. Even on an off-game for the Captain, the rest of the team stepped up and delivered. Josh Hader hasn't been that great at run prevention this year, but his K-BB ratio is slowly improving--3-4 in his first game, 2-1 in his second game, and now 5-1. He seems to be slowly acclimating to a level he wasn't quite ready to handle last year.

Conrad Gregor, Tony Kemp's Vanderbilt teammate, is having a quieter season, but he's already doing much better than he did last year when he got a taste of Double-A. He's slashing .295/.360/.386 in Corpus. Again, a lack of power, but he probably is more like the guy he was in Quad Cities: high-average, high-OBP hitter with a natural talent for hitting a baseball.

Corpus Christi Hooks 16, Frisco Roughriders (TEX) 1

This game was a makeup of yesterday's postponement, so it only went seven. Yup, you read that right: a 16-1 blowout only went seven. To whom do I give a shout-out? Carlos Correa for the bomb he hit? How about complimenting Mier's homer? Devenski for 6.1 beautiful innings? Joey Gallo for going 0-fer with 2 Ks in his season debut?

First, gotta give it to Correa. The man is looking at AA pitching and laughing. Twenty years old, guys. An average over .350 (.356), an OBP over .400 (.415), and a SLG over .600 (.661). For those of you keeping track at home, that's an OPS of 1.076. He's gone hitless in 3 games this season. The man is on a mission to be in Fresno by the end of May.

Jio Mier has only played 8 games this year, but he's been pretty good, actually. It's easy to forget he's only 24--it seems like he's been around forever. He's played 9 games(one of those was for one AB as a PH), slashed .333/.429/.533 with an extra-base hit of each type, and has a 5:9 BB:K ratio. His defensive profile is obviously limited at second base, as that is still his calling card, but he should be able to retake short when Correa gets called up.

Lancaster Jethawks 5, Modesto Nuts (COL) 4

Great game for A.J. Reed today. He hit both a triple and a home run to go along with a walk and no strikeouts. He's really heating up: In his last 10 games, his average has risen .133, his OBP has risen .130, and his SLG has risen .350 to go with 9 walks and 10 Ks. He's adjusting to an environment built for him, and sooner rather than later, Conrad Gregor should have some competition in Corpus.

Besides a 4 BB, 4 K game, Brian Holmes has had a 17:2 K:BB ratio. His ERA is probably a Lancaster product. While he may be hard-pressed to reach the majors (turned 24 in January) he seems to have the control to have a chance someday.

Burlington Bees (LAA) 7, Quad Cities River Bandits 2

Not a lot to comment on this game. It was close until the top of the ninth when the Bees blew it open with a five-run inning. Brock Dykxhoorn didn't pitch as badly as it seemed, but Jose Montero let both of his baserunners score before leaving two of his own, both of whom scored off Ryan Thompson.

Kristian Trompiz, however, homered again. The dude's got two on the season, and although he isn't very good at getting walks (.298/.320/.489) he can flat-out hit. 13 Ks are still a problem, but the guy's 19, so he deserves some slack.

Probable Pitchers 4/26:

AAA: Justin Marks (Reno) @ Tommy Shirley

AA: Lance McCullers @ Alec Asher (Frisco)

A+: TBD (Modesto) @ Zach Morton

A-: Michael Bolaski (Burlington) @ Chris Lee