Astros Prospect Report: Reed, JetHawks firebomb Stockton; Oberholtzer, Singleton dazzle in Fresno

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: 7-3 win over El Paso (SDP)

-> Jon Singleton: 3-for-3, BB, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI
-> Max Stassi: 1-for-3, SB, R
-> Joe Sclafani: 1-for-3, RBI
-> Nolan Fontana: 1-for-4, 2B, R
-> Alex Presley: 1-for-4, SB, R, 2 RBI
-> Domingo Santana: 1-for-4, R
-> L.J. Hoes: 0-for-3, BB, R

SP Brett Oberholtzer: 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 9 K (win)
RP Alex White: 3.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 1 K (save)

With Tucker out of the lineup tonight ahead of his call-up to the Majors, Singleton shouldered the offense and came through big time. He's now on a four-game hitting streak, during which time he's hitting .400 with three bombs and just two strike outs. Hopefully this is the start of the turnaround we've been waiting for.

For those worried about the MLB rotation, you have to be feeling good about Oberholtzer's night; remember that he's one of our picks to break out this season, and he'd have been in the Majors on Opening Day if not for injury. There's no telling if they want him to get more rehab work in, but he appears to be ready or very close to it.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 7-2 win over Midland (OAK)

-> Chan Moon: 4-for-4, BB, 2B, HR, SB, 2 R, 3 RBI
-> Conrad Gregor: 2-for-3, 2B, RBI, R, 2 BB
-> Roberto Pena: 2-for-3, BB, R
-> Jon Kemmer: 2-for-4, HR, RBI, 2 R
-> Tony Kemp: 1-for-4, BB
-> Brandon Meredith: 1-for-5, 2B, RBI
-> Carlos Correa: 0-for-4, BB
-> Telvin Nash: 0-for-4, BB
-> Teoscar Hernandez: 0-for-4, R

SP Mike Hauschild: 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 K (win)
RP Juan Minaya: 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K (hold)
RP Travis Ballew: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K
RP Jandel Gustave: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Beep boop boop bleep boop...riiiing...riiiing... "Hello?"
"Hey Carlos, it's Jeff up in Houston. How are you feeling?"
"Oh, hey boss. Feeling fine, ready to go off tonight again!"
"Right...about that...we've been getting flooded with angry emails and letter and tweets recently demanding we call you up. The phones are blowing up 24/7, it's nuts. The Super 2 hasn't passed yet and we need a break, you know?"
"Well, I could get to Houston in a couple of hours if-"
"Carlos."
.....(sigh) "0-for-4 then? Can I at least do something, maybe draw a walk?"
"Sure. Thanks champ, knew I could count on you."

Only sane reason I can think of for an 0-for-4, right? Right.

Nice outing for Hauschild. Nine outs on the ground. He's posted a 2.30 ERA over his last three outings. The walks were certainly odd, though; his command is normally his best weapon, and the three tonight make four total on the year.

Big game for Moon, this is just his second start ever in AA. When he's right he'll give you walks, a decent average and some steals. I've heard good things about his glove at short, too, though that was back in Greeneville, though (2011).

Five game hitting streak for Gregor has his line up to .309/.402/.420. Still no homers, but he does have seven doubles, so there's still some hope that they could eventually turn into some long balls.

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: 18-4 win over Stockton (OAK)

-> A.J. Reed: 3-for-4, 2 BB, GRAND SLAM, 3 HR, 5 R, 9 RBI
-> Jack Mayfield: 3-for-5, BB, 3 RBI, 3 R
-> Brian Holberton: 2-for-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI
-> J.D. Davis: 2-for-5, BB, R
-> Ronnie Mitchell: 2-for-6, R, 2 2B, 2 RBI
-> Brett Phillips: 1-for-3, SB, RBI, 3 BB, 3 R
-> James Ramsay: 1-for-4, R
-> Jose Fernandez: 1-for-5, BB, RBI, R
-> Marc Wik: 0-for-3, 2 BB, 2 R

SP Edison Frias: 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 K (win)
RP Albert Minnis: 2.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K
RP Frederick Tiburcio: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K

Well now. That'll help a guy's individual numbers. Reed smacked a grand slam, a three-run bomb and a solo shot in this game. He very quickly has eight homers to lead the team, and a .935 OPS. His SLG jumped more than .100 points in one game.

Brett Phillips is hitting .429/.482/.766 over his last 18 games. That's a 1.248 OPS, folks. Standard Lancaster and SSS caveats apply, but on the other hand, he did get 27 games in with Lancaster last year, so he's up to 51 total, a pretty decent sample. And he's just raked through the whole time without really going through any prolonged funks or big strike out binges or anything. Just have to wonder how much longer he'll be there. Fisher looks like he could be Lancaster-ready very soon. Maybe we'll see Fisher, Phillips and Correa all move up a level before the month is out.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 4-1 win over Kane County (ARZ)

-> Alfredo Gonzalez: 1-for-2, BB, 2B, SB, RBI, R
-> Kristian Trompiz: 1-for-2, R
-> Alex Hernandez: 1-for-2, SB
-> Thomas Lindauer: 1-for-3, RBI, R
-> Jamie Ritchie: 1-for-3, BB
-> Ryan Bottger: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Sean McMullen: 1-for-4
-> Nick Tanielu: 0-for-2, R

SP Joshua James: 3.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K
RP Reymin Guduan: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (win)
RP Brock Dykxhoorn: 3.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K (hold)
RP Eric Peterson: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K (save)

Geeze, Quad Cities is 21-6 now (13-2 on the road!). Next best team in the entire league is just 17-10 by comparison. Have to say; did not see this coming pre-season.

The pitching continues to get it done. James has thrown shutout ball in his last three outings, lowering his ERA to a mere 1.37 on the season. That makes for a streak of 13.2 scoreless innings he's on right now. Walk rate needs some refinement but, other than that, he looks like a guy that could potentially exceed the expectations of a 34th-rounder.

Dykxhoorn allowed three earned in one of his starts, and he's allowed just two earned in his other four outings combined. On the year he owns a 2.08 ERA, 7.9 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Luis Cruz vs. Robbie Erlin
AA: Lance McCullers vs. Nate Long
A+: Brian Holmes vs. Dylan Covey
A-: Chris Lee vs. Cy Sneed