Astros Prospect Report: Houston franchise just annihilates everyone and everything

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: 17-0 win over Salt Lake (LAA)

-> Alex Presley: 5-for-5, BB, 2B, R, 2 SB, 2 RBI
-> Jonathan Villar: 4-for-6, 3B, SB, 3 R
-> L.J. Hoes: 4-for-6, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R
-> Matt Duffy: 4-for-6, 2 R, 3 RBI
-> Robbie Grossman: 3-for-5, BB, 2B, R
-> Jon Singleton: 3-for-6, BB, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Domingo Santana: 2-for-5, BB, 2B, R, 2 RBI
-> Tony Kemp: 1-for-5, 2 BB, 2 R, 3 RBI
-> Tyler Heineman: 1-for-6, R

SP Mike Haushicld: 5.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 4 K (win)
RP Mitch Lambson: 2.2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 3 K
RP James Hoyt: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K

H...holy...

17 runs on six walks and 27 hits...and none of them homers. Heck, only five hits were extra-base. Talk about stringing them together. Someone post that GIF of the lineup marching around the bases from that Bugs Bunny thing.

The sample size on Hoes is now 51 games. That's not nothing, folks. And he hasn't just been solid; he's batting .340/.415/.482 through a third of a season's worth of trips to the plate. If he has no place in the organization (and with like four or five guys ahead of him on the depth chart, that would seem to be the case), I have to imagine he's dealt at some point this year. Someone out there has to be going "you know, this was a formerly-well-regarded prospect, and he's just raking at AAA, and the Astros don't know what to do with him." Someone has to want to give him a shot and hope he can provide a decent average-fueled OBP and some steals.

Singleton's hitting streak has reached ten games, during which time he's batted .288. He's hitting .277/.376/.550 on the season, and his strike out rate is now 19.2%. That has to be encouraging; if he can just keep it to around 25% in the Majors, he can certainly be a productive hitter, given his power and walk-drawing combination. I have to wonder if this could be the last year for Carter with Houston; Singleton increasingly looks like he could match Carter's overall offensive value, and if so, you could see Carter dealt this off-season.

It's only been five games, but Kemp is hitting .333 with a .429 OBP in AAA so far. He's walked three times while whiffing just once in his very first look at AAA pitching.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: Rained Out

They've scheduled a doubleheader for today to make it up.

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: 10-0 win over Lake Elsinore (SDP)

-> Ronnie Mitchell: 3-for-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Derek Fisher: 3-for-5, GRAND SLAM, 2 R, 5 RBI
-> A.J. Reed: 3-for-5
-> James Ramsay: 2-for-4, BB, 2B, RBI, R
-> Mott Hyde: 1-for-5, 2B, SB, 2 R
-> Alfredo Gonzalez: 1-for-5, R
-> J.D. Davis: 1-for-5
-> Brett Phillips: 1-for-6, HR, RBI, 2 R

SP Austin Chrismon: 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K (win)
RP Keegan Yuhl: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Dang, another laugher.

Dude, that's three grand slams in 14 games for Fisher. Most people can play 14 years and not hit three. Crazy. The Shark is batting .317/.411/.603 with five bombs in 14 games with Lancaster. All his rates are reasonably in-line with what he already showed in Quad-Cities, and he's 7-for-8 in stolen base attempts, too (making him 15-for-18 (83%) on the season). Okay, so the homers have gotten a little crazy since he moved up, but even if you only buy the rate he showed in QC, you're still talking about a guy hitting for average, drawing walks, and showing very real 25 HR, 40+ SB ability. If he can prove that he can play at least average defense consistently in center, then he truly looks like a future All-Star center fielder (though they'd probably just move Springer over to center, I suppose). A Tucker, Springer, Fisher outfield could be just dynamite. Uh, Tuck 1, that is.

Reed is so hot I don't even know what to say anymore. He's hitting .418/.492/.582 this month, after posting a 1.080 OPS in May. Heck, his OPS is down slightly this month at 1.074 because he's not averaging a homer every three days anymore. Goodness. For those wondering about a promotion, he's been selected to the Cal League's All-Star team, and the game is a week from tomorrow; safe bet he's in AA very shortly after that.

First start in California for Chrismon, yikes, welcome to the...oh wait a minute, domination! Took him 89 pitches to get through seven innings of work. Rock and roll, sir.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: Doubleheader!

Game One: 3-2 loss to Great Lakes (LAD)

-> Ramon Laureano: 2-for-4, 3B, SB, R
-> Bobby Boyd: 1-for-2, 2 RBI
-> Jamie Ritchie: 1-for-3, BB
-> Jacob Nottingham: 1-for-4
-> Kristian Trompiz: 1-for-4
-> Ryan Bottger: 0-for-2, R, 2 BB
-> Jason Martin: 0-for-3, BB

SP Christian Powell: 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 K
RP Jordan Mills: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
RP Angel Heredia: 2.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K (loss)

Game Two: 5-0 win over Great Lakes: (LAD)

-> Alex Hernandez: 2-for-3, RBI
-> Luis Reynoso: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, R
-> Sean McMullen: 1-for-3, SB, RBI, R
-> Thomas Lindauer: 1-for-3, RBI
-> Jason Martin: 0-for-2, SB, R, 2 BB
-> Jamie Ritchie: 0-for-2, R, 2 BB
-> Bobby Boyd: 0-for-2, SB, R
-> Ryan Bottger: 0-for-2, RBI

SP Francis Martes: Francis Martes: 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K (win)

...can we just take a moment to consider the fact that the Astros and their affiliates played five games today and outscored their opponents 47-3? I mean...that might be a franchise-best day, ever.

Anyway, on to these games...pitching!

So who is Christian Powell? That's an excellent question, because I had no idea. So I went looking. He was originally drafted by Cleveland out of high school in 2009 in the 47th round, but elected not to sign. Minnesota then took him in 2012 in the 8th round from the College of Charleston. I've found very little in the way of scouting info on him, other than that he "throws hard." He's listed at 6'4" and 230 pounds, up from the 219 he was in college. So a talk, strong, hard-throwing right-hander. His career ground ball rate is also 52%, and he's showing some ability to miss bats, too. Command and control have been his big issues, but the Astros may think they see enough to try to fix that after Minnesota washed their hands of him last year. So we'll see. No walks today!

And Martes, who is very quickly helping to make the Cosart trade look even more awesome (Marisnick, Moran, Martes and Daz Cameron, guys. Just take a look at Cosart's ERA and think about that). Nine outs on the ground to go along with the five whiffs today. He owns a 1.08 ERA so far with Quad Cities. His BB/9, currently 2.52, is down a full walk per nine against his career average prior to this season. He's not turning 20 until late November.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Dan Straily vs. TBD
AA: Doubleheader!
Game 1: Mark Appel vs. Elliot Morris
Game 2: Kyle Westwood vs. Casey Kelly
A+: Evan Grills vs. John Omahen
A-: Akeem Bostick vs. TBD