Astros Prospect Report: Musgrove keeps rocking; Tri-City pitching gems not enough

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: 2-0 loss to Sacramento (SFG)

-> Alex Presley: 1-for-3
-> Joe Sclafani: 1-for-3
-> Jonathan Villar: 0-for-2, BB

SP Jake Buchanan: 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 K (loss)
RP Richard Rodriguez: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K
RP Jordan Jankowski: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K
RP Tyson Perez: 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Tony Kemp's hit streak ends at 25 games...

Buchanan doing his thing again. Nine outs on the ground. His ERA doesn't look sexy at 4.37, but that's due in large part to one bad start (eight ER in four innings); outside of that game, he hasn't allowed more than three earned runs, and has a 3.12 ERA in eight outings.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 8-3 win over San Antonio (SDP)

-> Teoscar Hernandez: 3-for-3, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 2 SB, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Tyler White: 3-for-5, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
-> Conrad Gregor: 2-for-3, 2B, R, 2 BB
-> Danry Vasquez: 2-for-4, RBI, R
-> Roberto Pena: 2-for-4, RBI
-> Jon Kemmer: 2-for-5, HR, RBI, 2 R
-> Jiovanni Mier: 1-for-4
-> Leo Heras: 1-for-5

SP Joe Musgrove: 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 K (win)
RP Juan Minaya: 2.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K

Musgrove has a 0.95 BB/9, roughly triple what it was in the lower levels. What's wrong with him!? He hasn't been missing bats like he was, but the sinker is working, with 10 outs on the ground in this game. His ERA through three AA starts is 3.32.

Hernandez is still trying to adjust to the tougher pitching. If nothing else, he's using his wheels when he can; he's swiped five bags in his last six games, and he's 19-for-23 (82.6%) on the season.

White had been scuffling a bit recently, so this was a nice little slump-buster for him. Nice to see him with a pair of long balls in his last eight games, since a lack of the kind of power you ideally want from a corner guy was the nit you could pick with his numbers.

And in related unheralded-guy-breaking-out news, Kemmer keeps hitting. He's hitting .417 over his last ten games, in fact. He's up to .316/.392/.535 on the season now, with 9 homers in 45 games.

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: All-Star break

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: All-Star break

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 2-1 loss to Brooklyn (NYM)

-> Kolbey Carpenter: 3-for-6, SB
-> Johnny Sewald: 1-for-4, SB, R, 2 BB
-> Pat Porter: 1-for-4, BB
-> Anthony Hermelyn: 1-for-6
-> Bryan Muniz: 1-for-6
-> Trent Woodward: 0-for-2, 4 BB
-> Cesar Carrasco: 0-for-4, BB

SP Rogelio Armenteros: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 7 K
RP Elieser Hernandez: 4.0 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 3 H, 0 BB, 6 K (blown save)
RP Joselo Pinales: 2.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K (loss)

Lost it in the 12th inning tonight, ouch. This is sort of an extreme microcosm of what this squad might look like more often than not. Armenteros and Hernandez combined for nine innings of one-unearned-run ball, with just six hits, no walks, 13 strike outs and eight ground ball outs...and yet they lose, thanks to the offense being inept. Think about it this way; they scored 11 runs in their previous game, yet they're averaging 2.7 runs per game even including that. The pitching is going to have to dominate if they want to sniff the playoffs this year.

A big pro debut from Sewald could help. He's a guy I like a bit that we just drafted, 14th rounder out of Arizona State. That's where we got Andrew Aplin from, the very year before Sewald's freshman year, and they're very similar. Both walk a ton, both limit strike outs, both steal bases and play good defense. Sewald might be even better defensively and on the bases compared to Aplin, but he has even less power, if that's even possible. He's slappy, for sure, but if he can hit for a decent average and keep drawing walks, he should be able to maintain a high OBP, especially against short-season competition.

RK Greeneville Astros: 4-3 loss to Bristol (PIT)

-> Aaron Mizell: 2-for-4, 2 SB
-> Myles Straw: 1-for-3, R, 2 BB
-> Justin Garcia: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI
-> Kevin Martir: 1-for-4, R
-> Osvaldo Duarte: 1-for-5, RBI
-> Arturo Michelena: 0-for-2, BB
-> Luis Payano: 0-for-3, BB, R

SP Yhoan Acosta: 5.0 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 H, 1 BB, 2 K
RP Ryan Deemes: 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K
RP Juan Delis: 0.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 0 K (blown save, loss)

This makes three teams in the franchise (the Astros and the two short-season clubs) that all lost in extra innings on the same day. Crazy.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Brady Rodgers vs. Matt Cain
AA: Brian Holmes vs. Jose Leclerc
A+: TBD vs. Dylan Unsworth
A-: Justin Ferrell vs. Felix Jorge
SS: David Paulino vs. TBD
RK: Albert Abreu vs. Marek Minarik