Astros Prospect Report: White's twin bombs lead Fresno; Tucker collects three hits

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: 10-5 win over Albuquerque (COL)

-> Nolan Fontana: 2-for-2, BB, 2 R
-> Tyler White: 2-for-4, BB, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI
-> Jon Singleton: 2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Matt Duffy: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R
-> Tony Kemp: 1-for-3, 3B, RBI
-> L.J. Hoes: 1-for-3, BB, RBI, R
-> Trent Woodward: 1-for-4
-> Alex Presley: 1-for-5
-> Andrew Aplin: 0-for-3, BB, SB, R

SP Mark Appel: 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 6 K (win)
RP Jake Buchanan: 2.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K
RP Travis Ballew: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Another confounding outing from Appel. He wasn't awful, but he wasn't great either. He missed bats, but he missed the strike zone. He got some ground outs, but not a ton. Is this a step forward? It's hard to tell anymore. His ERA went from 4.69 to 4.67, which I guess kind of sums up this outing pretty well, actually.

White just keeps doing his thing. He's on a five-game hitting streak, during which time he's batted .438. He posted a 1.081 OPS in July, and he was even better in August. He drew 24 walks in 28 games during the month while striking out just 18 times.

Nice night for Singleton, considering how much he's been struggling. He hit just .194/.297/.366 during the month of August, and struck out 31 times in 26 games. After belting 10 long balls in May, he's hit just three in each of the following two months (June and August; he spent July in the Majors, of course).

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 11-9 loss to San Antonio (SDP)

-> Danry Vasquez: 3-for-5, 2 RBI, 3 2B, 3 R
-> Chan Moon: 2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Conrad Gregor: 2-for-5, RBI, R
-> Jiovanni Mier: 1-for-4, BB, 2B
-> Colin Moran: 1-for-4, 2 BB
-> George Springer: 1-for-4, R
-> Jon Kemmer: 1-for-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI
-> Roberto Pena: 1-for-5, 2B
-> A.J. Reed: 0-for-4, BB, RBI, R
-> Teoscar Hernandez: 0-for-1, BB (pinch-hitter)

SP Chris Devenski: 6.1 IP, 6 R (5 ER), 10 H, 1 BB, 7 K
RP Reymin Guduan: 0.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 K (hold)
RP Gonzalo Sanudo: 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K (hold)
RP Chris Cotton: 1.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 K (blown save, loss)
RP Tyler Brunnemann: 0.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K

Springer has a hit in each of his first two rehab games, and he's gotten four at bats in each. Looks like things are moving along smoothly.

Moran really turned into a walk machine this month. He drew 18 of them in 27 games, and finished with a slash line of .299/.405/.514. This is after posting a .349/.407/.538 line in July. Just as notable is that he jacked six balls over the wall in August, twice the number he did in July.

Reed finished up August hitting .369/.424/.577 on the month, with five long balls and eight doubles. His walk rate dropped some from July, which seems to happen when guys go on a batting average tear. His strike out rate went down a lot too, though.

Don't look now, but Vasquez is hitting .337 in his last 20 games. He hasn't hit a homer since May 20 with Lancaster though, yikes.

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: Off Day

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 5-2 win over Burlington (LAA)

-> Bryan Muniz: 2-for-4, HR, R, 3 RBI
-> Bobby Boyd: 2-for-6, SB, R
-> Jason Martin: 1-for-3, 2 BB
-> Kristian Trompiz: 1-for-4, BB, solo HR
-> Wander Franco: 1-for-5, RBI
-> Luis Reynoso: 0-for-1, R, 3 BB
-> Ryan Bottger: 0-for-3, 2 BB
-> Garrett Stubbs: 0-for-4, BB, R
-> Ramon Laureano: 0-for-4, BB

SP Dean Deetz: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K (win)
RP Juan Robles: 1.1 IP, 2 ER, 0 H, 5 BB, 1 K
RP Jacob Dorris: 2.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K (save)

He didn't strike anyone out, but Deetz was great. It took him just 52 pitches to get through five innings, and he got 12 of his 15 outs on the ground. It must have been fun watching him pitch like that. Attacking the mound, getting weak contact, only two base runners...that's good stuff, fun baseball. In six games for QC, Deetz owns a 0.92 ERA, 3.38 BB/9 and 7.98 K/9 in 29.1 innings of work.

After posting OPS totals of .746, .843 and .854 in May, June and July respectively, Martin took a step back in August, hitting just .207/.295/.239 in 24 games. On the plus side, his walk rate rebounded towards where it was in June, and his strike out rate dipped significantly as well.

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 4-2 win over Brooklyn (NYM)

-> Aaron Mizell: 2-for-3, BB, 3B, SB, RBI, R
-> Brooks Marlow: 1-for-3, BB, R
-> Keach Ballard: 1-for-3, R
-> Johnny Sewald: 1-for-3
-> Dexture McCall: 1-for-4, 2 RBI
-> Bobby Wernes: 1-for-4, R
-> Pat Porter: 0-for-2, 2 BB

SP Trent Thornton: 3.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 4 K
RP Juan Santos: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K
RP Matt Bower: 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 2 K (win)
RP Zac Grotz: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K (save)

More good work from Thornton. He continues to thus far show no signs of control problems. In 51 innings with Tri-City, he has a 3.18 ERA, 1.59 BB/9 and 8.47 K/9. His K/BB ratio is a sterling 5.33. He hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in a start since July 11, and that's the only time he has; outside of that game, he has a 2.42 ERA.

Mizell isn't setting the world on fire, but he is posting a solid .261/.328/.467 line. He doesn't strike out a ton, and he has 19 extra-base hits and is 12-for-13 on the base paths. There seem to be a few tools present, at least. Left-handed hitter, too.

RK Greeneville Astros: 3-2 loss to Princeton (TBR)

-> Kyle Tucker: 3-for-4, 2B, RBI, R, 2 SB
-> Connor Goedert: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Rodrigo Ayarza: 1-for-4
-> Arturo Michelena: 0-for-2, BB
-> Myles Straw: 0-for-3, BB, SB, R
-> Randy Cesar: 0-for-0, BB (defensive sub)

SP Makay Nelson: 2.0 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K
RP Starlyng Sanchez: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 K
RP Yhoan Acosta: 4.0 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 H, 1 BB, 4 K (loss)
RP Luis Ramirez: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

Greeneville lost and Elizabethton won, so they were unable to clinch. They're now a half game ahead as they head into the final game of the season. A Greenveville win or an Elizabethton loss clinches the spot.

The loss was not for lack of effort on Tucker's part. Definitely one of the best games of his young career. He's 13-for-15 (86.7%) in stolen base attempts with Greeneville, and that's in just 29 games. That would be roughly a 60 SB pace in 162 games. With Tuck 2, you were buying a high-upside bat; if the run tool proves that legit moving forward, his value just jumps, possible .300 hitter with 20-20 potential at least.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Brett Oberholtzer vs. Aaron Laffey
AA: Kyle Westwood vs. Jose Leclerc
A+: Troy Scribner vs. TBD
A-: Elieser Hernandez vs. Justin Anderson
SS: Alex Winkelman vs. TBD
RK: Salvador Montano vs. Spencer Moran