Astros Prospect Report: Phillips, Feliz lead Corpus; Yuhl settles in as a starter

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: 10-4 loss to Reno (ARZ)

-> Nolan Fontana: 1-for-3, BB, RBI
-> Domingo Santana: 1-for-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI
-> Tony Kemp: 1-for-4, SB, RBI
-> Andrew Aplin: 1-for-4, SB, R
-> Tyler Heineman: 1-for-4, 2B
-> Leonardo Heras: 1-for-4
-> Matt Duffy: 1-for-4
-> Robbie Grossman: 0-for-2, R, 2 BB
-> Tyler White: 0-for-3, BB, R

SP Mike Hauschild: 4.2 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 2 K (loss)
RP Jose Veras: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K
RP Jordan Jankowski: 1.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 K
RP Tyson Perez: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K

Oof. Bump in the road for Hauschild here. Four of the six runs scored on a pair of long balls, and he walked some guys. Guys like him have these nights, where they're not sharp, and even if they do get grounders (five in under five innings), a walk here or there and a few mistake elevations and kaboom. Live and learn.

White's hit streak ends after 14 games. He's reached base via hit or walk at least once in 27 of his last 28 games. In 80 games between Corpus and Fresno, he's hitting .316/.429/.476 with 54 walks and just 49 strike outs, and nine long balls.

At posting time, we're 29 hours from the trade deadline, and Santana continues to hit. He's batting .300 over his last ten games, and he's whiffed just once in his last three. Overall he's hitting .321/.429/.583. In the TCB writers email chain yesterday, there was some discussion about keeping Santana for next year, reasoning that if Carter and other high strike out guys are gone, perhaps having him in the lineup would be more tolerable. What are your thoughts about Santana and a future role with Houston?

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 7-6 win over San Antonio (SDP)

-> Brett Phillips: 4-for-5, 2B, SB, RBI, 2 R
-> A.J. Reed: 3-for-4, HR, R, 3 RBI
-> Conrad Gregor: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI
-> Danry Vasquez: 1-for-3, 2 R
-> Colin Moran: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI
-> Jon Kemmer: 1-for-4, R
-> Jiovanni Mier: 0-for-4, RBI
-> Jack Mayfield: 0-for-4, R
-> Teoscar Hernandez: 0-for-0, BB (pinch-hitter)

SP Chris Devenski: 4.2 IP, 6 ER, 12 H, 0 BB, 2 K
RP Michael Feliz: 4.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K (win)

Sorry, Philly, ya can't have Phillips. The boy is hitting .348 over his last ten games, and he's up to .321/.372/.463 in 31 games with the Hooks. That's with just one homer under his belt in AA, too. The running game continues to improve; he's 7-for-9 in steal attempts with Corpus now.

Devenski's getting blown up, Corpus is down by a pair, and Feliz comes in and just says "NO. MAS." Half a game of baserunner-less ball, some strike outs, six ground outs, and so Corpus gets a chance and they take advantage (three-run eighth inning). Feliz has a 3.02 ERA in 47.2 innings of work now for the Hooks. He hasn't walked more than two in a game since June 10. His K/BB ratio after that point is 3.13.

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: 4-2 win over Rancho Cucamonga (LAD)

-> Mott Hyde: 1-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI
-> Ronnie Mitchell: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI
-> Derek Fisher: 1-for-4, R
-> James Ramsay: 1-for-4
-> Marc Wik: 0-for-1, RBI, R, 2 BB
-> Edwin Medina: 0-for-2, BB, 2 SB
-> Jamie Ritchie: 0-for-2, 2 BB
-> J.D. Davis: 0-for-3, BB, R

SP Keegan Yuhl: 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 K
RP Albert Minnis: 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K (win)
RP Tyler Brunnemann: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (save)

Note: check out the scheduled starters below. David Paulino (hard-throwing gem of a PTBNL we got in the Veras -> Tigers trade) is moving up from QC, where he posted a 1.18 ERA and 9.95 K/9 in seven games.

I was a little surprised when they started using Yuhl as a starter all the sudden, especially in the California League. But, surprisingly, it's worked out very well so far. In his last six games, he's averaged 4.1 innings, and he has a 1.35 ERA, 2.03 BB/9 and 8.78 K/9. I mean, that's kind of stunning. Take a 35th-round pick as a reliever, move him up to Lancaster, turn him into a starter, and he just rips it up. Fun stuff. By the numbers, both as a starter and reliever, however you slice it, he's actually been one of the most dominant pitchers in the whole system this year. He has a 1.36 ERA, 2.31 BB/9 and 8.41 K/9 combined between both levels and all games.

On a more sour note, Bregman was 0-for-4 with three punch outs in this game. He was the only member of the lineup that didn't reach base at least once. He's 0-for-10 with five strike outs in his three games with Lancaster, with nary a walk or anything else positive yet.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 4-3 win over Beloit (OAK)

-> Jason Martin: 1-for-3, BB, HR, R, 2 RBI
-> Nick Tanielu: 1-for-4, solo HR
-> Ryan Bottger: 1-for-4, solo HR
-> Bryan Muniz: 1-for-4, 2B
-> Jose Fernandez: 1-for-4, 2B
-> Drew Ferguson: 1-for-4, SB
-> Trent Woodward: 0-for-3, BB
-> Bobby Boyd: 0-for-4, R

SP Justin Ferrell: 4.0 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 5 H, 3 BB, 0 K
RP Eric Peterson: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K (win)
RP Riley Ferrell: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K (save)

So how about this? Tanielu, Martin and Bottger all go deep in the same game, providing the entirety of the scoring for QC, and they win by just one run. None of the three would be on-pace for 20 HR in a 162 game sample, and they had 15 total long balls combined coming into this game. Pretty easily the most unexpected way to win.

You know, with the explosion of talent and winning throughout this organization, something odd has happened. Correa turned into a super hero before being legally able to drink. Brett Phillips kept rocketing. Nottingham rocketed and nabbed us a near-ace. Reed has smashed his way up to AA just a year after being drafted. McCullers and Velasquez both skipped AAA and are looking excellent. With all that, I've actually caught myself being slightly disappointed by Jason Martin this year.

Yet when you look at the numbers, that's crazy. Compared to a lot of the other guys in the system, he hasn't completely blown up, but he's 19 years old and hitting .294/.365/.460 with nine doubles, six triples, eight bombs and 11 steals in 73 games in full-season ball, while striking out just 50 times. That's really, really great. Just nice to remind everyone, and myself, that we shouldn't let good prospects get overshadowed in our minds just because other guys are turning into stars left and right. The J-Mart train keeps chugging along.

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 5-4 win to West Virginia (PIT)

-> Bobby Wernes: 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI
-> Aaron Mizell: 2-for-4, SB, R, RBI
-> Brooks Marlow: 1-for-3, RBI
-> Pat Porter: 1-for-4, 2B, R
-> Antonio Nunez: 1-for-4, R
-> Cesar Carrasco: 0-for-2, BB, RBI
-> Johnny Sewald: 0-for-3, R

SP Trent Thornton: 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 K (win)
RP Scott Weathersby: 3.0 IP, 2 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K (hold)
RP Adam Whitt: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K (save)

Nice game for Thornton. Eight outs on the ground against none on the fly. For a guy with mechanical concerns, he's certainly looking in command for now. His BB/9 is a sparkly 1.84 now, and half of the walks he's allowed all season came in one bad outing (even then he allowed just one run that game despite it). Strike out rate is 8.90 now.

Wernes keeps on hitting. Singles, of course, but hitting! He's at .353/.446/.376 now. He has 30 hits on the season, of which just two are doubles, the rest all singles. I have to say, this is an impressive level of slappiness (it's a word now). This is like Willy Taveras-level slappiness.

RK Greeneville Astros: 9-7 loss to Bristol (PIT)

-> Hector Roa: 2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
-> Brauly Mejia: 2-for-4, HR, RBI, 2 R
-> Justin Garcia: 1-for-3, 2B, 2 R
-> Ford Stainback: 1-for-4, BB, 2B, R
-> Arturo Michelena: 1-for-5
-> Kevin Martir: 0-for-2, 2 BB
-> Luis Payano: 0-for-4, RBI

SP Salvador Montano: 2.2 IP, 9 R (8 ER), 7 H, 3 BB, 3 K (loss)
RP Samil De Los Santos: 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 K
RP Albert Abreu: 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K

Roa continues to succeed despite a big strike out rate and not walking at all. He's sitting at .300/.325/.536 with 13 XBH in 29 games, during which he's walked just four times and whiffed 35.

Goedert has officially fallen apart. He's hitting .145 during his last 16 games.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Asher Wojciechowski vs. TBD
AA: Joe Musgrove vs. Dillon Overton
A+: David Paulino vs. Trey Lambert
A-: Agapito Barrios vs. Joey Wagman
SS: Alex Winkelman vs. Seth McGarry
RK: Diogenes Almengo vs. Gage Hinsz