Astros Prospect Report: Deetz leads Quad Cities' domination of Clinton; Lancaster bats ignite

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: 9-0 loss to Iowa (CHC)

-> Alex Presley: 1-for-4
-> Preston Tucker: 0-for-2, BB
-> Robbie Grossman: 0-for-2, BB
-> Jonathan Villar: 0-for-3, BB

SP Dan Straily: 3.2 IP, 8 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 7 K (loss)
RP Juan Minaya: 2.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 1 K
RP Kevin Chapman: 0.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
RP James Hoyt: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K

Yep, they go one hit here. Probably the worst single game Fresno has played all season.

What a blowup for Straily. He had a 2.25 ERA in the eight games prior to this one, but it took him 81 pitches and he couldn't even get out of the fourth. Oddly seven of the 11 outs he recorded were on strikes. He saw his ERA shoot up half a run to 4.09, though his season K/BB ratio remains excellent at 6.00.

From his outing on April 24 to this one, Hoyt owns a 2.39 ERA, 1.91 BB/9 and 12.43 K/9. Dat strike out rate, guys. That's all good for a 6.5 K/BB ratio.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: Off Day

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: 10-5 win over Rancho Cucamonga (LAD)

-> Chase McDonald: 3-for-5, RBI, 2 R, 3 2B
-> Ronnie Mitchell: 3-for-5, 3B, 2 RBI, 3 R
-> Derek Fisher: 2-for-3, 2B, R, 3 BB
-> Jamie Ritchie: 2-for-3, RBI, R, 2 BB
-> Alex Bregman: 2-for-6, solo HR
-> Mott Hyde: 1-for-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI
-> Edwin Medina: 0-for-2, RBI, 2 BB
-> J.D. Davis: 0-for-4, 2 BB, 2 R
-> James Ramsay: 0-for-5, RBI

SP Austin Chrismon: 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K
RP Michael Freeman: 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 4 K (win)
RP Kevin Comer: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K

I distinctly remember some of the other writers being thrilled with the Freeman pick (7th round this year), and he's certainly on a role to start his pro career. He started right off with Quad Cities, posting a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings, and now he's already in Lancaster with Bregman. After this game, he has a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings of work for the JetHawks. Wow. Small sample, but when was the last time a pitcher we drafted made it to Lancaster in his debut season and posted big numbers there?

Second long ball with Lancaster for Bregman, and third of his pro career. He is up to .318/.364/.455 after this game with the JetHawks, and is hitting .415 over his now 10-game hitting streak.

Fisher has drawn 12 walks in just his last nine games. His OBP during that run is .548. He's also struck out a reasonable eight times during that span. He's now hitting a solid .263/.354/.483 with Lancaster.

McDonald finishes the night at .284/.361/.594. He has 26 doubles and 27 homers on the year, and 54 total XBH under his belt. Strike outs remain an issue, though, and it seems that that may just be his game. Not that he can't be successful with them, but hitting for any kind of decent average outside of Lancaster and the low minors in general probably isn't in the cards.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 18-0 win over Clinton (SEA)

-> Trent Woodward: 4-for-5, 2B, 3B. 2 R, 4 RBI
-> Ramon Laureano: 3-for-4, 2 BB, 2 3B, 3 RBI, 3 R
-> Jason Martin: 2-for-4, 3B, R, 3 RBI
-> Drew Ferguson: 2-for-6, 2 R
-> Bryan Muniz: 1-for-2, SB, RBI, 3 BB, 4 R
-> Bobby Boyd: 1-for-4, RBI, 2 BB, 2 R
-> Jose Fernandez: 1-for-4, BB, SB, R
-> Nick Tanielu: 1-for-5, 2B, R, 3 RBI
-> Kristian Trompiz: 1-for-5, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 R

SP Dean Deetz: 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 9 K (win)
RP Steve Naemark: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Wow. So yeah, that's an 18-zip win while one-hitting the opponent. That's a beating.

My boy Deetz. Best start of his career, easily. He's been just excellent with Quad Cities, now owning a 1.11 ERA, 4.07 BB/9 and 9.62 K/9. He'll need to continue to tighten up the walk rate, but he does miss bats and generate some grounders, and I really like his profile. And no, I don't know what his pitch count was when they decided to pull him, pitch counts are only available from certain ball parks in the lower levels, unfortunately.

Woodward is up to .305/.371/.337 on the year with QC all of the sudden. Two XBH in one game is also very notable for him, given his lack of power to this point; in fact, they represented his first two XBH period with QC.

Laureano still doesn't walk enough and he still strikes out too much, so it's hard for me to buy in even though he does clearly have some tools, but he's at least trended better in those regards recently, with seven walks and eight strike outs in his last 10 games. He has a .722 OPS with 20 XBH and 16 SB in 62 games for QC this year.

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 7-6 win over Connecticut (DET)

-> Cesar Carrasco: 2-for-3, BB, 2B, solo HR
-> Aaron Mizell: 2-for-4, 2B, SB, R
-> Alexander Melendez: 2-for-4, SB, R
-> Brooks Marlow: 2-for-5, 2 RBI
-> Anthony Hermelyn: 1-for-3, BB, R
-> Kolbey Carpenter: 1-for-4, BB, HR, R, 2 RBI
-> Keach Ballard: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI, R
-> Pat Porter: 1-for-4, 3B
-> Johnny Sewald: 1-for-5, SB, R

SP Chris Murphy: 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 2 K
RP Ryan Deemes: 3.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K
RP Jacob Dorris: 1.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K (blown save)
RP Zac Grotz: 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K (win)

36th-round pick Deemes was excellent (0.75 ERA) for Greeneville, and he's been very good for Tri-City; in five games, he's posted a 1.86 ERA, 1.40 BB/9 and 8.85 K/9 in 19.1 innings of work.

The 32nd-round pick Mizell has put together a nice debut season. Combined with his Greeneville numbers, he's hit .292/.355/.458 with 22 XBH while going 14-for-15 in SB attempts. Those are some tools, a nice little speed/power combination from a left-handed bat.

RK Greeneville Astros: 3-2 win over Elizabethton (MIN)

-> Rodrigo Ayarza: 2-for-3, RBI
-> Kyle Tucker: 2-for-4, 2B, SB, RBI
-> Daz Cameron: 1-for-2, 2 BB
-> Connor Goedert: 1-for-3, BB, R
-> Myles Straw: 1-for-4, SB, R
-> Osvaldo Duarte: 1-for-4, SB
-> Randy Cesar: 1-for-4, R
-> Kevin Martir: 0-for-3, BB

SP Edgardo Sandoval: 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 K
RP Carlos Hiraldo: 3.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 K (win)
RP Samil De Los Santos: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K (save)

Sandoval has put three strong performances on the board since joining Greeneville from the GCL; he has a 1.38 ERA, 3.46 BB/9 and 9.00 K/9 in them. He got five outs on the ground to none on the fly in this outing, too.

Love seeing prep guys drawing walks. It's got to be hard to not just want to go out there and swing away and prove your worth at that age. Cameron has 11 walks in 22 games with Greeneville, and is hitting .303/.393/.382 with the club.

Tucker is up to .282/.322/.412 with this game. Pop has come in the form of eight doubles and a lone long ball, but the surprising thing to me is the eight steals in 10 attempts. The run tool, while solid, wasn't too hyped coming out of the draft. We'll see if this holds up, or if he slows down a bit as he fills out.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Doubleheader!
-> Game One: Asher Wojciechowski vs. Drake Britton
-> Game Two: Mark Appel vs. Felipe Paulino
AA: Chris Devenski vs. TBD
A+: Akeem Bostick vs. TBD
A-: Justin Ferrell vs. Eddie Campbell
SS: Zac Person vs. Chase Edwards
RK: Matt Bower vs. TBD