Astros Prospect Report: Phillips nearly cycles, Lowrie begins rehab assignment

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: 12-4 win over Las Vegas (NYM)

-> Joe Sclafani: 3-for-5, 3B, 3 R, 4 RBI
-> Domingo Santana: 2-for-4, HR, RBI, 3 R
-> Matt Duffy: 2-for-4, BB, 2B, 2 R
-> Leonardo Heras: 2-for-4, RBI, 2 R
-> Nolan Fontana: 1-for-3, 3B, RBI, 2 R
-> Max Stassi: 1-for-4, BB
-> Tyler White: 1-for-5, 2B, RBI
-> Jonathan Villar: 1-for-6, HR, R, 3 RBI
-> Robbie Grossman: 1-for-6, solo HR

SP Mike Hauschild: 7.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K (win)
RP Jake Buchanan: 1.0 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K
RP Jose Veras: 1.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Ah man, I'm really becoming very bullish very quickly on Hauschild. Limiting base runners, missing bats on this night, and, of course, the grounders as always (10 ground outs). Over his last two starts he's allowed just three earned runs in 14 innings. Just another 30th-something round draft pick looking like a legit Big Leaguer. Thank you, Jeff Luhnow.

Big League Joe is on a run with the bat right now. He's hitting .400 in his last ten games, and has six-game hitting streak running. He's up to .287/.378/.331 in 53 games for the AAA squad. Walk and strike out rates are 11.4% and 13.6%, respectively.

Santana is continuing to hit ahead of the trade deadline, nice. For those who still believe in him and want him to stick around, you may be pleased to learn that he's whiffed just three times in his last seven games. He's up to .321/.433/.590 with 15 bombs in 69 games for Fresno this season.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 9-3 win over Midland (OAK)

-> Brett Phillips: 3-for-5, 3B, HR, R, 2 RBI
-> A.J. Reed: 1-for-2, 3B, R, 2 BB
-> Colin Moran: 1-for-2, BB, RBI, R
-> Jon Kemmer: 1-for-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Chan Moon: 1-for-4, 3B, R, 3 RBI
-> Teoscar Hernandez: 1-for-5, solo HR
-> Jiovanni Mier: 0-for-1, R, 2 BB
-> Danry Vasquez: 0-for-0, R (pinch-runner)

SP Brian Holmes: 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 B, 7 K (win)
RP Travis Ballew: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K (hold)
RP Aaron West: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K (save)

Note: Jed Lowrie made his first rehab start in this game, going 0-for-2 and playing third base.

If anyone knows anything about Reed coming out of the game again tonight, sound off. Couldn't find anything online about it. It's a little weird, since he walked and they kept him in, and only when he moved to second on another walk did they pinch-run for him. However, at that point in the game, they only had a one-run lead, so they may have just been getting a better runner there in scoring position to try to increase the odds of an insurance run scoring. They ended up plating five that inning, which made it look like a blowout, but in reality it was tight at the time of the move, so that may be why.

At any rate, Reed just keeps rolling. He has at least one hit in eight of his nine games with Corpus, three of which are multi-hit games. He's drawn eight walks while striking out just five times during those nine games. His .367/.475/.633 line with the Hooks is actually slightly better than the one he posted with Lancaster. It's just nine games, but wow, you couldn't ask for a better start from him.

The big guy in this game, though, was Phillips. He fell a double short of the cycle in his fourth multi-hit game in his last ten. Nine of the 24 games he's played with Corpus have been multi-hit games. He's up to .311/.360/.456 with nine extra-base hits with the hooks. He's 6-for-8 in SB attempts. He's struck out just four times in his last seven games.

And then there's Moran staying hot. If not for an 0-for-3 on July 16, he'd have a 15-game hitting streak going. He's hitting a blistering .474 in his last ten games, which has raised his overall line to a healthy .303/.363/.431 in 56 games. His walk rate since returning from the DL is 10.1%, almost a full 2% improvement over last season.

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: Off Night

Lancaster is 49-46 overall, good enough for second place in the overall standings for the South division. Despite a 12-13 record in the second half, that's actually the first-place mark for the weaker South division, so they'd make the playoffs if the season ended today. They'll probably need to play better if they don't want their streak of playoff berths snapped this year though.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 4-3 win over Kane County (ARZ)

-> Kristian Trompiz: 3-for-6, SB, R
-> Ramon Laureano: 2-for-6, 2B, R
-> Luis Reynoso: 1-for-4, R
-> Alex Bregman: 1-for-5, RBI, 2 BB
-> Drew Ferguson: 1-for-6, 2B, 2 RBI
-> Jason Martin: 1-for-6, RBI, R
-> Ryan Bottger: 1-for-6
-> Garrett Stubbs: 1-for-6

SP Christian Powell: 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 K
RP Michael Freeman: 1.2 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, 0 BB, 1 K (hold)
RP Angel Heredia: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 4 BB, 4 K (blown save)
RP Riley Ferrell: 2.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 3 K
RP Ryan Thompson: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K (win)

This one went 15 innings, with QC going eight innings (7th-14th) without scoring a run before pushing across the winner in the top of the 15th and hanging on.

Laureano is becoming a bit interesting. He was our 16th-round selection in the 2014 draft, but is only 21 (just had his birthday last week), coming out of a JuCo. He's hitting .293/.327/.460 with eight doubles, four triples, three bombs, and 10 steals in 13 tries in 39 games for QC. He plays primarily right field, but he gets more than a few starts in center field, including this game, and even played third in college a bit. So you've got a guy with obviously some decent tools, a little power, a little speed, who can play numerous positions, 21-years old...this is a decent prospect. His BAbip is way high right now, and with his strike out rate over 25%, expect him to fall off at some point. But there's still some potential for a solid utility guy at the MLB level here.

Ferrell, the #CloserOfTheFuture out of TCU, has been a little wild so far (7.36 BB/9 after the two walks in this one), but he's also missed bats (9.82 K/9) and prevented runs. The sample size is microscopic, but he's looked pretty good, especially for having started right off in full-season ball after being drafted.

Powell continues a solid season; his ERA is down to 2.53 after this outing, in which he got nine outs on the ground. He's walked nine batters in his 42.2 innings of work this season (1.90 BB/9).

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 5-4 win over Lowell (BOS)

-> Bobby Wernes: 2-for-4, BB, SB
-> Antonio Nunez: 2-for-5, 2 R
-> Cesar Carrasco: 2-for-5, RBI
-> Richard Gonzalez: 1-for-3, BB, 2B, RBI, R
-> Pat Porter: 1-for-3, R
-> Bryan Muniz: 1-for-4, BB, 2B, RBI
-> Johnny Sewald: 1-for-4, R
-> Kolbey Carpenter: 0-for-4, BB

SP Rogelio Armenteros: 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 3 K
RP Steve Naemark: 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K (win)
RP Austin Nicely: 1.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 K (hold)
RP Ada Whitt: 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K (save)

Wernes has had a really nice run with the bat to start his pro career. In 19 games he's hit .397/.500/.429 with 11 walks and eight strike outs. So he's probably not that good, but that's a lot of walks and not many strike outs. You have to have some hope that he can keep it up, to some degree, moving forward. 3-for-4 in SB attempts to boot, though the lack of power is obvious (a mere .032 ISO).

Naemark continues to look like a solid pick. As solid as a 40th-rounder can be, anyway. He owns a 1.38 ERA and a 0.769 WHIP in his first 13 innings.

RK Greeneville Astros: 6-5 loss to Bluefield (TOR)

-> Osvaldo Duarte: 2-for-4, BB, 2 SB, 2 R
-> Randy Cesar: 2-for-4, R
-> Hector Roa: 1-for-4, 2B, R
-> Luis Payano: 1-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI
-> Ford Stainback: 1-for-4, 2 RBI
-> Brauly Mejia: 1-for-4
-> Justin Garcia: 0-for-3, BB, R

SP Chris Murphy: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K
RP Andrew Thome: 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 K
RP Matt Bower: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (hold)
RP Samil De Los Santos: 1.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K (blown save, loss)
RP Alejandro Solarte: 0.2 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 K
RP Joselo Pinales: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 K

Connor Goedert, unfortunately, has really hit the skids recently. He's hitting just .195 in his last ten games, despite his overall numbers still being good.

Duarte, on the other hand, is on the rise, hitting .324 in his last ten games. He's up to .283/.389/.435 overall, with eight XBH and nine steals in 24 games.

Murphy, this year's 24th-round pick, has put his best foot forward out of the gate; he owns a 2.25 ERA, 1.13 BB/9 and 9.00 K/9 in 16 innings of work so far.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Asher Wojciechowski vs. Dillon Gee
AA: Adrian Houser vs. Frank Lopez
A+: TBD vs. Chris Lamb
A-: Justin Ferrell vs. Ethan Elias
SS: Trent Thornton vs. TBD
RK: Yhoan Acosta vs. TBD