Astros Prospect Report: Oberholtzer twirls gem; White, Moran stay hot

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: 9-1 win over Albuquerque

-> Tyler White: 3-for-5, RBI, R
-> Matt Duffy: 2-for-3, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Alex Presley: 2-for-3, RBI, R
-> Max Stassi: 1-for-3, BB, HR, R, 2 RBI
-> Robbie Grossman: 1-for-3, BB, 2B, RBI, R
-> Tyler Heineman: 1-for-3, BB, SB, 2 R
-> Tony Kemp: 1-for-3, BB, 2 RBI
-> Joe Sclafani: 1-for-4
-> Jonathan Villar: 0-for-4, BB, SB, R

SP Brett Oberholtzer: 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 4 K (win)
RP Tyson Perez: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

A solo home run was the only blemish on Obie's very strong night. He continues to get more ground outs than he used to; nine outs on the ground tonight, and his rate is up around 45% now (usually under 40% in previous seasons).

Doesn't appear that the Tyler White show will be stopping anytime soon. He has 25 games in Fresno under his belt now, and is batting .384/.475/.586 during that time. Between AA and AAA this year, in 84 games, he has 27 extra-base hits, 60 walks, 50 strike outs, and a .915 OPS. His wRC+ was 184 before this game even. Did you know he's never posted a wRC+ worse than 130 at any stop in the minors yet?

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 9-4 win over Midland (OAK)

-> Colin Moran: 2-for-4, BB, 2B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
-> Teoscar Hernandez: 2-for-5, 2B, SB, R
-> Chan Moon: 1-for-3, SB, RBI, 2 BB
-> Jack Mayfield: 1-for-4, HR, R, 3 RBI
-> Jon Kemmer: 1-for-4, BB, 3B, SB, 2 R
-> Conrad Gregor: 1-for-4, BB, 2B, RBI, R
-> Roberto Pena: 1-for-4, BB, SB, R
-> Danry Vasquez: 1-for-6, R
-> A.J. Reed: 0-for-4, BB

SP Brian Holmes: 5.2 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 8 H, 1 BB, 5 K (win)
RP Juan Minaya: 2.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K (hold)
RP Jandel Gustave: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K

Home run number four on the season for Moran. He blasted his way through July, slashing .349/.407/.538 with three bombs. His ISO of .189, while not a stunning number itself, is a big improvement after posting a .110 ISO in April and just a .055 ISO in June. From the beginning of June through this game, he's drawn 20 walks in 45 games, also a big improvement over his career rate. He may be finally starting to develop into the player we all hoped we might see when he came over from Miami.

Kemmer hasn't fallen apart yet, and the sample size has reached 76 games now. He's sitting at .305/.396/.537. Tonight's triple was his second of the year, and he now has 30 extra-base hits on the season.

It seems that Gustave is indeed pretty much a straight-up reliever now. Now that that's a bad thing; we know he can hit 100 MPH, and it's always nice to have that coming out of your bullpen. He owns a 1.73 ERA on the season, and is 12-for-14 in save opportunities (85.7%).

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: 13-4 loss to High Desert (TEX)

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

SP Akeem Bostick: 1.2 IP, 9 R (6 ER), 8 H, 1 BB, 3 K (loss)
RP Albert Minnis: 2.1 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 0 K
RP Bryan Radziewski: 3.1 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 4 H, 3 BB, 6 K
RP Tyler Brunnemann: 0.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K

It's been very rough going for Bostick in his last three games; 24 hits in 10.2 IP, leading to 18 earned runs. A good bit of this is likely the California League effect, and his last two games have been at home in Lancaster and now this one on the road in High Desert, the only park in the league that's even more hitter-friendly. We'll see if he comes out the other end of the adversity better for it.

Fisher is hitting .333 over his last ten games, but he continues to strike out too much for me to buy into it just yet (16 K in 10 games). On the season between both A-ball levels, he's hit .281/.356/.507 with 17 doubles, 19 homer, 24 steals, but also 104 strike outs. The tools are evident. He just needs time to work the kinks out.

The Brunnemann has a 2.35 ERA over his last ten outings. He has a 10.58 K/9 on the season.

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 6-1 win over Wisconsin (MIL)

-> Bryan Muniz: 2-for-3, R, 2 2B
-> Bobby Boyd: 2-for-5, 2B, RBI
-> Garrett Stubbs: 1-for-1, 2 R, 3 BB
-> Kristian Trompiz: 1-for-1, 2 BB
-> Jose Fernandez: 1-for-3, BB, HR, SB, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Jason Martin: 1-for-4, 2 RBI
-> Luis Reynoso: 1-for-4, R
-> Ramon Laureano: 1-for-4

SP Brock Dykxhoorn: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 8 K (win)
RP Brandon McNitt: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K
RP Ryan Thompson: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K
RP Angel Heredia: 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Dykxhoorn is an interesting guy. There's a fair amount of mediocrity to his game sometimes, but occasionally, he has these flashes of brilliance that make you go "whoa!" The good news is that they seem to be getting more frequent, and the low points don't seem to be as rough, either. He's allowed four earned twice in his last ten games, and never more than that. This is the sixth time in his last ten games that he's keep the opponent to two earned or fewer. As a result, he has a 3.12 ERA over that run, as well as a 1.84 BB/9 and 8.82 K/9 during that run. The walk rate is notable there, because it was 3.23 on the season prior to this run. On the season, he has a 3.50 ERA, 2.37 BB/9 and 8.70 K/9 in 79.2 innings of work.

Stubbs hasn't hit much so far in his pro career (catcher, just drafted, already in full-season ball; I'll give him a pass this year), but he's showing some interesting plate discipline so far. Between Quad Cities and Tri-City, he has 12 walks and just four strike outs in 21 games. So despite hitting just .235, he has a solid .341 OBP.

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 10-4 win over Mahoning Valley (CLE)

-> Johnny Sewald: 3-for-4, BB, SB, RBI, R
-> Hector Roa: 3-for-5, 2 R
-> Brooks Marlow: 2-for-3, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Cesar Carrasco: 2-for-4, BB, HR, RBI, 2 R
-> Dexture McCall: 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Pat Porter: 2-for-5, 2B, R
-> Aaron Mizell: 2-for-5, SB 2 RBI
-> Richard Gonzalez: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Antonio Nunez: 0-for-4, RBI

SP Chris Murphy: 3.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 0 K
RP Zac Grotz: 1.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K (win)
RP Ryan Deemes: 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 3 K (hold)
RP Juan Santos: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K

First game up from Greeneville for Murphy, who posted a 2.25 ERA in seven games with that club. This outing lowered his ERA to 1.93 on the season. He has a mere 1.16 BB/9 in 23.1 total innings.

McCall is hitting better this year than he did last, but his walk and strike out rates have both gone in the wrong direction. He's at .302/.351/.396 so far in 32 games, with six XBH.

RK Greeneville Astros: 6-1 loss to Kingsport (NYM)

-> Osvaldo Duarte: 2-for-4, 2B, R
-> Daz Cameron: 1-for-2, SB, RBI, 2 BB
-> Arturo Michelena: 1-for-3, BB
-> Christian Correa: 1-for-3, BB
-> Myles Straw: 1-for-5, SB
-> Ford Stainback: 0-for-3, BB

SP Andrew Thome: 3.0 IP, 2 R (0 ER), 5 H, 0 BB, 0 K (loss)
RP Makay Nelson: 2.2 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K
RP Cristhopher Santamaria: 1.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K
RP Samil De Los Santos: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Kyle Tucker took and 0-for-4, since you're no doubt wondering.

Not Cameron, though. I guess I shouldn't even talk stats after two Rookie Ball games, but he has walked twice and stolen three bases without striking out yet. There are 29 more games on the Greeneville schedule for him to make a case to start in Quad-Cities next year.

Andrew Thome (no relation to Jim) has a 1.38 ERA in his first six games this year. He's only total ed 13 innings, as they're apparently easing the un-drafted free agent into things. As with most UDFA guys, there's a bit of a nice little story to him getting his shot as a pro, which you can read here if you like.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Mike Hauschild vs. Jon Gray
AA: Michael Feliz vs. James Needy
A+: TBD vs. Dan Altavilla
A-: Off Day
SS: TBD vs. TBD
RK: Off Day