Astros Prospect Report: Bostick dominates again

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: Off Night

The Pacific Coast League battled the International League in the All-Star game today, but no Astros players took part for some reason.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 9-5 loss to Frisco (TEX)

-> Alfredo Gonzalez: 2-for-3, BB, 2 RBI
-> Colin Moran: 2-for-4, RBI, R
-> Teoscar Hernandez: 1-for-4
-> Brett Phillips: 1-for-5, 2 RBI
-> Leonardo Heras: 0-for-1, 2 R, 3 BB
-> Jiovanni Mier: 0-for-2, R, 2 BB
-> Jon Kemmer: 0-for-3, BB, SB, R

SP Chris Devenski: 5.1 IP, 6 ER, 10 H, 0 BB, 8 K (loss)
RP Reymin Guduan: 0.0 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 0 H, 4 BB, 0 K
RP Aaron West: 2.2 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Oh my. My oh my. So Devenski is working in the sixth inning, loads the bases on singles, and finally coughs it up, allowing a bases-loaded single to plate two runs. First and second with one out at that point, and he gets pulled. Enter Gudaun, who walks four straight batters (plating three more runs), two of which are tagged to Devenski. Yowza.

So, just something to keep in mind on Devenski's line. Maybe if he stays in he gets out of it, and it's four earned in six innings, which is not awesome, but throw in those peripherals and the six GB outs, and it's not terrible. Instead, six earned in not as many innings. That blew his ERA all the way up to...1.92? Yeah, just his second time allowing more than two earned in a game all year. Wow.

Nine-game hitting streak for Moran, who is hitting .389 during that run. He's up to .282/.343/.388 on the season now. His strike out rate is 16.4% since returning from his injury, better than a 2% improvement over his 2014 AA rate, and his walk rate is up a bit as well.

More solid work from West tonight. This is his fifth-straight game without walking anyone. He's walked just six in 58 innings of work this season (0.93 BB/9). His K/BB ratio is a a stunning 7.17

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: 3-2 loss to Inland Empire (LAA)

-> Marc Wik: 2-for-3, 2B, solo HR
-> Ronnie Mitchell: 1-for-4, RBI
-> J.D. Davis: 1-for-4
-> James Ramsay: 1-for-4
-> Derek Fisher: 0-for-3, BB, R
-> Chase McDonald: 0-for-3, BB

SP Akeem Bostick: 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K
RP Daniel Mengden: 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 7 K (loss)

Speak softly, and carry a big BOSStick.

Not that softly, though. With Reed and Phillips gone, and Fisher having fallen apart at the plate, the Lancaster offense could use some help. They've scored fewer than five runs in three of their last eight games. It's not terrible, but it's not what you're looking for out in that league.

Speaking of Fisher's collapse, he was hitting .302 after 14 games with Lancaster, and has since seen his average wilt to .247. He's struck out 26 times in his last 23 games. He's stuck out at least once in each of his last nine games, with 13 K in that stretch. The occasional walk and extra-base hit has kept him from being a black hole, but it's definitely been a tough stretch of late for him.

But back to BOSStick; his ERA in the California League is now 2.18, and opposing batters are hitting just .235 against him. It's a bit shocking to see the success, since he isn't, at this point, any kind of strike out artist. His GB% has dropped off too (it's just a four game sample, of course), but he just gets guys out.

Though this wasn't a great game ERA-wise for Mengden, he's actually been on a nice run; he has a 2.74 ERA over his last five outings, including this somewhat-mediocre one. Unlike Akeem, strike outs have been Mengden's weapon; he's posted a 11.74 K/9 during those five recent games. He has a 3.22 BB/9 and 9.07 K/9 total in his time in the California League.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 2-1 win over Wisconsin (MIL)

-> Sean McMullen: 2-for-4, 3B, R
-> Drew Ferguson: 2-for-4, RBI
-> Bobby Boyd: 1-for-3, BB, R, 3 SB
-> Ramon Laureano: 1-for-4
-> Alex Bregman: 0-for-4, RBI

SP Joshua James: 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 2 K
RP Elieser Hernandez: 3.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 5 K
RP Ryan Thompson: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K (win)

Boyd singled, stole second, then third, and scored on Bregman's ground out in the first inning, and didn't score again until the 10th inning.

James led the excellent effort by the pitchers with another great outing. He's allowed more than three earned runs just once this year, back on May 12. His GB rate was better than 48% entering this outing and should rise after getting seven outs on the ground and just one on the fly. He does still have issues with walks that he needs to iron out (10 allowed in his last four games).

Hernandez earned a call up after ripping the NYPL to pieces with Tri-City; in five games with the ValleyCats, he posted a 1.31 ERA, 0.87 BB/9 and 13.07 K/9, and the front office decided to have mercy on the short-season hitters. Hernandez won't turn 21 until next May. There was no info I could find about him online, but he's moving quickly and has torn through the various levels below full-season ball, so we'll see. If he keeps this up for the rest of the season, we could start to see some people pay attention to him. Possible sleeper.

Ferguson is another early promotion from this year's draft class. He blasted it at the dish for Tri-City, hitting .328/.418/.586 with six doubles and three bombs in just 17 games. 19th-round pick out of Belmont.

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 6-5 win over Vermont (OAK)

-> Dexture McCall: 3-for-5, R, 2 RBI
-> Garrett Stubbs: 2-for-4, RBI
-> Johnny Sewald: 1-for-3, SB, 2 BB, 2 R
-> Aaron Mizell: 1-for-3, BB, RBI
-> Pat Porter: 1-for-4, 3B, R
-> Kolbey Carpenter: 1-for-4
-> Anthony Hermelyn: 1-for-5, RBI
-> Keach Ballard: 0-for-2, BB, R
-> Bobby Wernes: 0-for-3, BB
-> Bryan Muniz: 0-for-0, BB (pinch-hitter)
-> Antonio Nunez: 0-for-0, R (pinch-runner)

SP Zac Person: 3.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 K
RP Kevin McCanna: 2.2 IP, 3 R (0 ER), 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K
RP Ralph Garza: 2.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K
RP Zac Grotz: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (win)

All three runs off McCanna came on a two-out, bases-clearing double (they were loaded). The first runner originally reached on an error by the shortstop, thus the unearned runs. There was also a "single on a pop up to the second baseman" in the inning, so yeah, good outing for McCanna, despite the guys not playing behind him that well for an inning. After not striking anyone out in his first three outings, he's whiffed eight in his last two, in just 4.2 total innings.

McCall has been one of the big boppers for Tri-City so far. He's hitting .356/.406/.492 after this game, with a pair of jacks. It won't last, though; BAbip is over .400 and his strikeout rate is up nearly 5% from last year. His walk rate has gone the wrong direction since 2014 as well. Still, he's showing some power now, so they may be tinkering with him trying to draw the abilities out to their fullest. I can't say I'm a huge fan yet, but he does have some tools, certainly more than most 31st round picks, and since they got him out of a JuCo, he's fairly young (21 until next January). We'll see.

RK Greeneville Astros: 5-0 win over Johnson City (STL)

-> Myles Straw: 2-for-5, SB, 2 R
-> Randy Cesar: 1-for-2, 2 BB
-> Osvaldo Duarte: 1-for-4, BB, HR, SB, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Brauly Mejia: 1-for-4, BB, RBI
-> Ford Stainback: 1-for-4, R
-> Connor Goedert: 0-for-4, RBI
-> Justin Garcia: 0-for-4, RBI

SP Junior Garcia: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 2 K (win)
RP Devonte German: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K
RP Ryan Deemes: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K (save)

Garcia has allowed just one earned run in his five games this season for Greeneville, so his ERA sits at 0.44 currently. I don't know what he throws, but a sinker might be a part of the mix; according to MLBFarm he had a GB% approaching 65% heading into this game, and he got eight more ground outs in five innings.

Deemes has been almost as good, with a 0.60 ERA (he too has allowed just one earned this season). He has yet to walk a batter in 15 innings of work. He was our 36th round pick in this year's draft.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Asher Wojciechowski vs. Jason Lane
AA: Brian Holmes vs. Edwar Cabrera
A+: Keegan Yuhl vs. Victor Alcantara
A-: Francis Martes vs. Zach Hirsch
SS: Rogelio Armenteros vs. Chris Kohler
RK: Makay Nelson vs. Julio Mateo