Astros Prospect Report: Highlights abound despite .500 record

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: 9-3 loss to Sacramento (SFG)

-> Nolan Fontana: 2-for-4, BB, 2B, R
-> Joe Sclafani: 2-for-4, RBI
-> Tyler White: 1-for-2, 2B, RBI, R, 2 BB
-> Alex Presley: 1-for-4, RBI, R
-> Andrew Aplin: 1-for-4, SB
-> Robbie Grossman: 0-for-3, BB

SP Brady Rodgers: 5.1 IP, 7 R (5 ER), 8 H, 2 BB, 4 K (loss)
RP Luis Cruz: 0.2 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K
RP Jordan Jankowski: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K
RP Kevin Chapman: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K
RP James Hoyt: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K

White has struck out more with Fresno than he did with Corpus, but it certainly hasn't been a problem, and he's still walking a ton, too. He has 10 walks and nine strike outs in his last ten games, in fact. With Fresno, he's sitting at .361/.462/.563 now.

Kemp, on the other hand, has really fallen apart. It's odd, because he's not striking out. He's just not hitting. Not much, anyway; he's at .260/.312/.325 in 50 games for Fresno. The lack of walks compared to the rest of his career is apparent. His OPS has dropped by a full .239 from AA to AAA.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 8-3 loss to Midland (OAK)

-> Jon Kemmer: 3-for-4, 2B, solo HR
-> A.J. Reed: 3-for-5, R
-> Roberto Pena: 1-for-2, 2B, RBI, 2 BB
-> Conrad Gregor: 1-for-2, 2 BB
-> Teoscar Hernandez: 1-for-4, BB, SB, R
-> Colin Moran: 1-for-5
-> Jiovanni Mier: 0-for-2, 2 BB

SP Michael Feliz: 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 8 K
RP Reymin Guduan: 0.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 0 K (blown save)
RP Kyle Westwood: 1.2 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 4 H, 2 BB, 0 K (loss)
RP Vincent Velasquez: 0.2 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 K
RP Alfredo Gonzalez: 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Strong start from Feliz, then Guduan, Westwood and Velasquez combine to allow eight runs in 2.2 innings. Nice job, bullpen.

Feliz has been very good since leaving the California League. In 12 games with Corpus, he owns a 2.37 ERA, 2.37 BB/9 and 7.42 K/9 in 60.2 innings on the mound. He hasn't allowed a run since July 24, and he's allowed more than one earned run in just three of his 12 games.

Kemmer, a triple short of the cycle, is on a nine-game hitting streak, during which he's hitting .353. He's up to .312/.403/.561 on the season, with 37 extra-base hits (19 2B, 2 3B, 16 HR). His strike out rate during his nine game hit streak is just 7.5%, a very nice trend since that's been a weakness in his game this year.

Reed has hit .385 over his last six games, raising his Corpus line to .298/.390/.538 with 12 XBH in his 27 games.

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: 8-5 win over High Desert (TEX)

-> Sean McMullen: 2-for-3, 2B, 3B, RBI, 3 R
-> J.D. Davis: 2-for-4, HR, R, 4 RBI
-> Mott Hyde: 2-for-4, 2B, R
-> Chase McDonald: 1-for-3, BB, solo HR
-> Marc Wik: 1-for-3, BB, SB
-> Alex Bregman: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Ronnie Mitchell: 1-for-5, R
-> James Ramsay: 0-for-3, R, 2 BB

SP Keegan Yuhl: 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K (win)
RP Michael Freeman: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 4 K (save)

The "Make Yuhl a Starter" project continues to be a stunning success. His GB% is at 51.2% now. He has a 1.58 ERA and a 4.73 K/BB ratio in Lancaster. He's allowed more than two earned runs in a game once this entire season.

Michael Freeman is a guy a bunch of our staff members really liked when the pick was announced this year (7th round), and he hasn't disappointed. He's already in Lancaster with Bregman, and between his time there and in QC, he's posted a 1.61 ERA and a 1.164 WHIP.

This is six-straight games with a homer for Davis, and he has 10 bombs in his last 15 games. Goodness. Now the caveat is that eight of those games have been against High Desert, four each home and road, so he's been in big-time hitters parks. Still, that's impressive any way you slice it. He's up to .285/.364/.516 with 24 doubles and 22 homers in 103 games on the season now.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 3-1 loss to Dayton (CIN)

-> Bobby Boyd: 1-for-3, BB, SB
-> Ryan Bottger: 1-for-3
-> Kristian Trompiz: 1-for-3
-> Jason Martin: 1-for-4, R
-> Nick Tanielu: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Drew Ferguson: 1-for-4
-> Trent Woodward: 0-for-2, BB

SP Brock Dykxhoorn: 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 8 K (loss)
RP Zach Davis: 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K

QC got it's run in the first inning, but couldn't do a thing thereafter, leading to a really tough-luck loss for Dykxhoorn.

He was really good again. He's allowed more than three earned runs four times this year, but he's four games removed from the last such outing. He tends to fluctuate between getting outs on the ground and in the air, though he got seven on the ground tonight. His GB% is solid but unspectacular yet. He has started missing more bats, though. His K/BB ratio over his last nine games is a sterling 5.00. He's improved his overall numbers to 3.43 ERA, 2.29 BB/9 and 8.83 K/9 in 86.2 innings of work.

Tanielu's numbers would probably look pretty dazzling if not for a rough start to the season in April (.615 OPS that month). He's hit .327 in the 78 games since the end of April, and is up to .313/.359/.441 on the season. He doesn't hit many homers (five to this point), but will get a few of them and triples, and he's racked up 25 doubles, so he's not slappy. It's too bad he doesn't walk more (6.8% after this game) or I'd be interested in him as a potentially-serviceable top-of-the-order guy. At it stands though, I'm not sure he hits enough at the MLB level to maintain that kind of OBP. We'll see though, looks like he can be a polished, valuable organizational guy at least though.

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 6-3 win over Lowell (BOS)

-> Hector Roa: 2-for-4, 2B, solo HR
-> Bobby Wernes: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R
-> Brooks Marlow: 2-for-5, RBI, 2 2B
-> Pat Porter: 2-for-5, R
-> Antonio Nunez: 1-for-2, BB, 2B, RBI
-> Dexture McCall: 1-for-3, BB, HR, R, 2 RBI
-> Johnny Sewald: 1-for-4, BB, SB, R
-> Anthony Hermelyn: 0-for-3, BB
-> Aaron Mizell: 0-for-4, BB

SP Alex Winkleman: 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K (win)
RP Rogelio Armenteros: 3.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K (hold)
RP Zac Grotz: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K (save)

Just more solid work from Winkelman. Heck, this is his second-worst start of the season; it's just the second time he's allowed more than one earned run in a game, in fact. His ERA is 1.90, and his K/BB 5.20, after this outing. His GB% was 56% coming into this game, and he got five outs on the ground to just one on the fly. He's been named a NYPL All-Star, unsurprisingly.

Team K.BB has been strong, at nearly 3-to-1 as a staff. Trent Thornton (5.14) and Elieser Hernandez (a stunning 15.00 before being promoted) have been some of the other notable guys in that regard. Thornton is especially encouraging, since the pre-draft reports on him praised his stuff but questioned his command and health due to the funk in his mechanics. So far he hasn't shown any issues with walks.

Wernes keeps hitting those singles. He's up to a .340 average now, but he still has two lone doubles as his only extra-base hits. He was named a NYPL All-Star though; that game will be on Tuesday, August 18, by the way. Dexture McCall and Pat Porter will also be on that roster.

RK Greeneville Astros: 8-1 win over Bristol (PIT)

-> Kyle Tucker: 3-for-4, 2B, SB, RBI, R
-> Brauly Mejia: 2-for-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI
-> Rodrigo Ayarza: 1-for-4, HR, R, 3 RBI
-> Ford Stainback: 1-for-4, 2B, R
-> Osvaldo Duarte: 1-for-4, R
-> Daz Cameron: 1-for-5, SB, R
-> Kevin Martir: 0-for-4, RBI
-> Myles Straw: 0-for-4, R
-> Connor Goedert: 0-for-5, RBI, R

SP Makay Nelson: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 K
RP Matt Bower: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K (win)
RP Andrew Thome: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 1 K
RP Samil De Los Santos: 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K

Big day for Tucker. He's hitting .333 now in just a seven-game sample. He's struck out a very reasonable four times in those games. He has three doubles already, too.

That's stolen base number six for Cameron in seven games with Greeneville, and he hasn't been caught. Between the GCL and Greeneville, he's now 18-for-22 (81.8%) on the base paths in just 27 games. Not a bad start at all, considering his run tool supposedly isn't as good as his dad's was.

Bower (23rd round pick this year) has nine excellent innings out of the pen under his belt since signing. 12 strike outs, no walks, and four hits, to be specific.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Off Day
AA: Off Day
A+: Off Day
A-: Off Day
SS: Harold Arauz vs. Jose Almonte
RK: Doubleheader!
--> Game One: TBD vs. TBD
--> Game Two: Jose Hernandez vs. TBD