Astros Prospect Report: September 4th, 2015

PCL MVP Homers in Fresno's 7-4 Win

Matt Duffy, the MVP, homered for the nineteenth time to help lead the Grizzlies to another win. It's interesting that he was the MVP. No offense to him. Congratulations all the way. But, he wasn't top 10 in OPS, wasn't close to the leading in the main categories. But, he has been a consistent bat for Fresno. He's played 125 games which is close to the most among the top hitters in the league and probably had an impact.

Gustave Gets 20th Save in 4-2 Win

Jandel Gustave has put together a solid season as the closer for CC but is doing it in a very different way than you'd expect. A guy that can hit 100 MPH usually is successful with strikeouts. Gustave...not so much. He has a 20% strikeout rate, so a good bit below a usual dominant reliever. The 9.5% walk-rate is expected with a hard-thrower so that's in line with expectations. But, that gives a fairly poor K/BB ratio. However, he has a 57% groundball rate which indicates a lot of weak contact. Given his jump from Low-A to Double A this season, that's a solid showing.

Holberton Hits Walk-Off HR in 12th for 5-4 Win

There's not a lot of power in Brian Holberton's bat, but it came at a good time. The catcher has struggled to pick up hits in his limited playing time (56 games) this season (.242 average) but has done well with plate discipline as he has an 11% walk rate and a 11% strikeout rate.

18-Year Old Franco Homers in QC's 6-1 Loss

Wander Franco was signed out of the Dominican for $575,000 in 2013. He posted an OPS over .700 in the DSL in 2014. He has spent the majority of the season in the GCL this year but was called up to QC about a week ago. The Astros have done late promotions several times over the last several years to get players a taste of where they'll likely play next season. This would be a pretty aggressive placement for Franco next year, but it's always cool to see an 18-year old get a home run against players 2-5 years his senior.

TC rallies in Ninth; Falls Short 8-7

Bobby Wernes just keeps hitting. He's the 2015 Tyler White so far as he just hits and he draws walks (13% walk and strikeout rate). The difference at this point is that Wernes still doesn't hit for power (just six doubles, .034 ISO). There are definite areas for improvement in his swing that could help him hit for more power so it'll be interesting if he can develop some this off-season.

Tucker Leads Greeneville in 6-2 Win to Even Series

Greeneville is now even with Kingsport with the final game today. But, they don't get there with Kyle Tucker hitting a solo shot and or driving in Myles Straw on a single in the 3rd inning. But, credit also has to be given to Randy Cesar for driving in the first two runs with a home run in the second inning.