Astros Prospect Report: Appel rebounds at last; Nottingham continues to rake

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: 4-1 win over Colorado Springs (MIL)

-> L.J. Hoes: 3-for-5, R, 3 SB
-> Carlos Correa: 2-for-3, 2B, RBI, R, 2 BB
-> Robbie Grossman: 2-for-4, BB, 2B, R
-> Matt Duffy: 2-for-5, 3B, RBI, R
-> Jon Singleton: 1-for-4, BB, RBI
-> Nolan Fontana: 1-for-4, SB
-> Alex Presley: 1-for-5
-> Domingo Santana: 0-for-3, 2 BB
-> Max Stassi: 0-for-3, BB

SP Brady Rodgers: 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 2 K (win)
RP Mitch Lambson: 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K (hold)
RP Jason Stoffel: 0.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (hold)
RP Kevin Chapman: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K (save)

After the little slump, things appear to be coming back around for Correa; he's on a three-game hitting streak, with two singles, a double, a triple and two walks in those games. His OPS is a solid .772, especially so considering his age and all that.

A nice bounce-back for Rodgers tonight after he ended May by allowing four earned runs in each of his last two games. Nine outs on the ground tonight. He's been basically hot and cold this year, with no in-between; his earned runs allowed per game has ranged from four to seven in his bad starts, and one or less in his good ones.

He's not missing bats like he did in Corpus yet, but Lambson has a 1.50 ERA in his first six AAA innings. Remember that this is a guy they sent to the AFL last year (and he posted fairly strong numbers, too), so even though this isn't really an organization known for dynamite relief prospects (and certainly not for specifically drafting them), he probably has to be considered one of the better ones. If the strike outs pick back up, it looks like he'll carry his K/BB machine tendencies on up the ladder.

Hoes has basically no chance of seeing Houston again, outside of September roster expansion. Makes you wonder if he has trade value. I mean, it's not like he's just been a nobody; he was a semi-highly-rated prospect with the Orioles, with his hit tool drawing praise, and he's hitting .325/.398/.463 right now. He's whiffed just 24 times in 42 games. Hey, the Marlins wanted Austin Wates, right? At least a little bit.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 3-2 win over Northwest Arkansas (KCR)

-> Andrew Aplin: 2-for-3
-> Teoscar Hernandez: 2-for-4, 2 R
-> Tyler White: 1-for-2, R, 2 BB
-> Colin Moran: 1-for-2, BB, RBI
-> Tony Kemp: 1-for-3, BB
-> Jiovanni Mier: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Conrad Gregor: 0-for-3, BB, RBI

SP Mark Appel: 5.0 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K
RP Kyle Westwood: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K (win)
RP Jandel Gustave: 1.0 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K (save)

Now we're talkin'. A much, much better outing for Appel tonight, just what the prospect stock doctor ordered. As some of you may have seen yesterday, there was talk in the comments section about Appel having trouble switching to a slide step in his delivery. Indeed, in the six outings prior to this one, he posted a truly ugly 5.54 BB/9, very uncharacteristic for him. So there certainly seems to be some evidence that some tweaks were being made. Of course, we can't say they're complete after just one start, but this was great. I'll also mention that NW Arkansas has the second-best record in the Texas League and is leading the league in homers and slugging percentage, so this was no slouch team he beat up on.

After posting an almost unthinkable .429 OPS (yes, OPS) in April, Hernandez upped that to .681 in May. That's still a good ways off from being, well, good, but it's a heck of an improvement. He's hitting .303 over his last ten games.

Eight of Aplin's 17 games since being put back in AA have been multi-hit games. He's slashing a scalding .393/.493/.508 during that run. He'll never be a power guy, plain and simple, so it's nice to see him going 9-for-10 in SB attempts during this torrid run. OBP, solid defense and some good base running are his ticket to an MLB job.

White has struck out just twice in his last six games. He's up to 31 walks in 35 games, and is hitting .302/.456/.405.

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: Off Night

Lancaster is currently 28-24, good for second place in the South division behind the Dodgers' affiliate in Rancho Cucamonga. Things have been rough for the pitching staff, not unexpectedly; they're second-to-last in team ERA and WHIP to only High Desert, the only place out in that league with an arguably-crazier home park. The winning record is thanks to the league's best offense, and it's not close; Lancaster leads all teams in total bases, hits, home runs, runs, walks, average, OBP, slugging, and OPS. Their lead in walks is pretty notable; they have 221, and no one else has even 200. The next highest total is Inland Empire's 175.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 8-1 win over West Michigan (DET)

-> Jacob Nottingham: 3-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 R, 3 2B
-> Kristian Trompiz: 2-for-3, 2B, R, 2 RBI
-> Alex Hernandez: 1-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI
-> Ramon Laureano: 1-for-4, solo HR
-> Jason Martin: 1-for-5, solo HR
-> Jamie Ritchie: 1-for-5, 2B, R
-> Mott Hyde: 0-for-3, BB, R

SP Jorge Perez: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 5 K (win)
RP Austin Chrismon: 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K (save)

Is this "dominance?" Nottingham is hitting .400 over his last ten games, bringing his season line up to .338/.395/.592 now. He has 23 extra-base hits in 41 games, and would be on-pace for 55 doubles and 32 HR in 162 games. This young and showing this kind of power? He must be striking out a lot...or so you'd think. 19.2% strike out rate after not whiffing in these last two games. And he's a catcher. Man.

Speaking of young and promising, Martin is up to .311/.357/.427 now in 28 games. He has two each of doubles, triples and homers. He'll never be a power guy, but some pop is not out of the question. He could easily be a 30 doubles, 5+ triples, 5+ homer guy if he pans out, enough to keep people honest. His strike out rate is just 13.4%, too. With his eye at the plate and contact skills, don't be surprised if he turns into an OBP machine down the line.

After a bump in the road last time out, Chrismon lowered his ERA to under 3.00 again with this effort. He's walked just five batters in 46 innings this season (0.98 BB/9) while striking out six times that many. In three of his outings he allowed three, four and five earned runs respectively, but has allowed one or none in his other seven games.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Tommy Shirley vs. Josh Roenicke
AA: TBD vs. Luke Farrell
A+: Evan Grills vs. Erik Bedard (seriously)
A-: Brock Dykxhoorn vs. Fernando Perez