Astros Prospect Report: Games of June 20th, 2015

Fresno Grizzlies 7, Las Vegas 51s 2

Fresno scored runs in small bunches today (2 in the 1st, 4th, and 5th) and responded with twice the runs whenever the 51s could put a run across (4th, 5th). Dan Straily was excellent besides a pair of solo shots and the bullpen was lights-out. Overall, it was a good effort by the AAAAstros, who are 42-27 on the season.

Matt Duffy, who cranked a first-inning two-run homer, is heating up. He's hitting .382 in his last 9 games with three homers, seven walks, and nine strikeouts. He has also reached base safely in each of his last ten games. Once again, if he can continue to show power and patience, he may get called up. It's still a matter of if, not when.

Tony Kemp made two amazing plays in center last night and added a couple hits to stretch his hit streak to 23 (his on-base streak is 25). His power still does not seem likely to ever show up, but slashing .372/.438/.465 is still very, very good.

Corpus Christi Hooks 2, Frisco Roughriders 1

Pretty low-scoring game. Corpus got the win with a Tyler White RBI single in the 7th. Brian Holmes pitched an excellent game, as he usually does. He has a 1.71 ERA in his last ten games to go with 14 walks and 56 Ks in 47.1 innings. Today was the first time he allowed no runs in Corpus. As a college pitcher from the 2012 Draft, he really needed to make an impact this year, and thus far, he has.

If you want to see someone on fire, check out Jon Kemmer. He's hitting .455 in his last ten games and has only struck out 8 times during that span. As another 24-year-old out of college (Kemmer's from 2013), he needed to make an impact, and with a .937 OPS on the year, I'd say he has.

Lake Elsinore Storm 12, Lancaster Jethawks 8

When the temperature is nearly 100 degrees and the wind is 20 MPH out to right, you know the game won't be going as planned. When your starting pitcher walks six in just 2.2 innings, you know you're going to see a crazy game. Only two homers were allowed (both by the Storm starter) but 12 walks were surrendered by Lancaster. Going into the 7th, it was a "normal" 6-4, but the Storm then scored 2 in the next three innings and the Jethawks scored 2 in both the 7th and 9th. Basically, your average Cal League game.

A.J. Reed hit a moonshot that cleared the stadium for his 18th on the season. He's doing alright, hitting a decent .633 over his past 8 games as well as 8 walks versus 5 strikeouts. Three homers, too. His hit map is all over the place. Lancaster just isn't hard for him anymore.

Burlington Bees 2, Quad Cities River Bandits 1

Martes pitched very well in a loss. The offense didn't do very much, but Martes, out of nowhere, had 9 strikeouts in six innings after not getting above five in any of his other five starts this year. The lottery ticket from the Cosart trade also has a 49% GB rate. That trade looks better and better every day.

Tri-City ValleyCats 4, Connecticut Tigers 0

I'm not going to pretend I know very many hitters on the TC roster outside of the guys we just drafted (who sit top 3 in the order), plus Hector Roa and Edwin Medina, whom I remember from GCL and whatnot. I did a double take when I saw David Paulino pitching, but he's just a prospect and not the former Astros reliever. He pitched pretty well. He used to be on the Tigers, then missed all of 2014, and is now in the NYPL at 21 years old. Hopefully, he continues his recovery.