Astros Prospect Report: Starters' dominance wasted by weak offense and a bullpen meltdown

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: Off Day

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 2-0 loss to San Antonio (SDP)

-> Tyler Heineman: 2-for-4
-> Leonardo Heras: 2-for-4
-> Tony Kemp: 1-for-3, BB, 2 SB
-> Telvin Nash: 1-for-3
-> Andrew Aplin: 1-for-4
-> Conrad Gregor: 1-for-4
-> Tyler White: 1-for-4
-> Chan Moon: 1-for-4

SP Aaron West: 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 3 K (loss)
RP Jandel Gustave: 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 K
RP Juan Minaya: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

A rare seven-inning start in the tandem system. West was dealing pretty well, and it took him just 82 pitches to get through those seven innings. West is a guy we haven't talked about too much yet this season, and part of the reason has to do with innings, while we're on the subject; this is just the third time he's tossed five or more this year. He hasn't been perfect while returning from his injury troubles, but he's starting to get on a nice roll now. He's allowed two or fewer earned runs in all but one of his starts this year, and he lowered his ERA to 3.13 with this outing. He's walked just three batters in 31.2 innings of work, good for a stellar 0.85 BB/9.

Heineman also hasn't gotten a lot of love so far, partially because he doesn't play as often, being a catcher, but he's hitting .318/.383/.400 so far in 22 games now. He's walked eight times and whiffed just six. His strike out rate is just 6.3%. His home runs power has dried up almost completely now that he's outside of the California League, but he still has seven doubles, so he hasn't been slappy, either.

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: 4-3 loss to High Desert (TEX)

-> Brett Phillips: 2-for-3, R
-> Marc Wik: 2-for-3, BB
-> A.J. Reed: 2-for-4, BB, R
-> Danry Vasquez: 1-for-3, HR, R, 2 BB, 2 RBI
-> James Ramsay: 1-for-4
-> J.D. Davis: 1-for-5
-> Alfredo Gonzalez: 1-for-5
-> Chase McDonald: 1-for-1 (pinch-hitter)

SP Joe Musgrove: 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 9 K
RP Zach Morton: 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K (blown save, loss)
RP Frederick Tiburcio: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Joe Bleepin' Musgrove, folks. He's walked one person this season, total. Just one. Combined between QC and Lancaster, he owns a 1.36 ERA, 0.23 BB/9, 10.21 K/9, and a 45-to-1 strike out to walk ratio. Have mercy. No seriously, Luhnow, Goldstein, whoever. Have some mercy on these poor, silly A-ball hitters and send Joe up to AA. It's just not fair anymore. #LoveMeSomeJoeMusgrove

Phillips has hit a small rough patch recently, with a .227 average and 11 strike outs during his last ten games, so this was nice. The overall numbers are still impressive, with a .316/.373/.523 slash line, 19 extra-base hits and less than a 17.5% strike out rate.

Three of Reed's last five games have been multi-hit affairs, and he sits at .284/.398/.582 on the season now. After posting a .772 OPS in April, he owns a .362/.444/.754 line in May. Notably, his strike out rate is down this month as well.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 7-6 loss to Clinton (SEA)

-> Jaston Martin: 4-for-4, RBI, 2 R
-> Nick Tanielu: 2-for-3, BB, 2 R
-> Derek Fisher: 2-for-4, BB, SB, R, 2 RBI
-> Alex Hernandez: 2-for-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI
-> Sean McMullen: 0-for-2, RBI
-> Jamie Ritchie: 0-for-4, BB

SP Akeem Bostick: 7.0 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K
RP Ryan Thompson: 1.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 1 K
RP Jordan Mills: 0.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 1 K (loss)

Brutal loss here. QC was up 6-2 and needed to get six more outs to seal the win. Instead they allowed four in the bottom of the eighth for the tie and one in the bottom of the ninth for the walk-off loss. At least they scored some runs, unlike the two other clubs, but the bullpen couldn't hold it.

Martin was a big part of that run scoring, obviously. He has seven hits in two days, and he's hitting .306/.366/.403 in 16 games so far. He's only struck out nine times in those games, despite seeing full-season pitching for the first time.

Bostick was arguably an even bigger story tonight, though. He allowed his first run and his first walk tonight, but was otherwise fearsome. 11 outs came on the ground, too. He has a 0.56 ERA through his first three outings.

Second-straight multi-hit game for Fisher, and 11th on the season. He's hitting .325/.409/.558 so far, though he has struck out a bit.

Tanielu has three straight multi-hit games under his belt, and is hitting .424 over his last ten games. The keystone man is up to .322/.372/.421 on the season with ten extra-base hits (though no homers).

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Luis Cruz vs. Barry Zito
AA: Kyle Westwood vs. Elliot Morris
A+: Evan Grills vs. TBD
A-: Brandon McNitt vs. TBD