Astros Prospect Report: Games of May 14, 2016

Nashville Sounds 9, Fresno Grizzlies 1

In all honesty, the pitching wasn't quite as bad as it looks: Jankowski did allow four runs, but they were all in the eight inning, and he did manage to strike out six for his eight outs. Peacock wasn't exceptional, but he did spread out the damage. But outside of the 2nd inning, in which they loaded the bases with one out and proceeded to score zero runs (remind you of anyone?), the Grizzlies' offense was rather limited, a Max Stassi double plating Fresno's only run of the game in the ninth. Jankowski has done well on the season, striking out 31 in 20.2 innings, but his ERA has ballooned from an impressive 1.35 to an unseemly 5.23 in just four outings. Hopefully luck gets on his side, as he's still struck out 14 in those 7.1 innings, two homers making up the brunt of the damage.

Corpus Christi Hooks 6, Frisco Roughriders 3

Another game, another misleading scoreline. Going into the bottom of the eighth, the Hooks were up 4-0, whereupon they scored two on a J.D. Davis home run and gave up three in the top of the ninth before finishing off the Mini Rangers. Paulino only had a pair of strikeouts, but he limited Frisco to three singles and walked none in an impressive effort. The lanky righty has allowed just six earned runs and issued six walks on the season, with 34 strikeouts in 31 innings. The team's effort to acquire him from the Tigers as the PTBNL in the Jose Veras trade (Danry Vasquez has been only above-average). Now that he's on the 40-man, we're nearly guaranteed to see him in September, and if he keeps up this excellent pitching, he may have a promotion or two in his very immediate future--after all, he did advance three levels last year.

J.D. Davis has been heating up lately. After a slow start, he's hit .342 in his last ten games, all three of his homers coming in that span. He's obviously not been up to the standards he set in Lancaster last year (.289/.370/.520 with 26 home runs), but this hot streak is definitely something to watch. When Davis gets hot, he's definitely on fire, as he showed last year, when he hit homers in six consecutive games last August.

Lancaster Jethawks 5, Lake Elsinore Storm 1

Hernandez's blown save is sort of a technicality: he allowed a run in the top of the sixth, but Lancaster responded for four in the bottom half of the inning. Outside of that one mishap, the Lancaster pitching squad was on top of its game, striking out thirteen and walking only two. Bower was especially impressive in his Jethawks debut--he was just called up from Quad Cities where, in the only performance in which he allowed more than one run, he still struck out nine in 4.0 innings. Hew now has 38 Ks and only 8 walks in 24.2 innings on the season. A tall, rangy lefty, he was picked in the 23rd round last year and has done nothing but dominate, posting a 12.1 K/9 over four levels.

Laureano is on a tear, hitting .370 over his last nine games, also walking eleven times and only striking out seven times. He has walked in nearly 20% of his plate appearances, showing off the necessary patience for a hitter lacking power. Still, he managed to hit his 10th double of the season last night, attempting to compete with Nick Tanielu for best hitter on the team.

Beloit Snappers 7, Quad Cities River Bandits 1

Abreu, by the way, did pitch in the fourth, but was pulled after two singles, two walks, and a two-run double. Although he's struck out under six once (he K'd three in one two-inning appearance), he's still winless, not helped by two blowouts of his in which he's allowed five runs (this one included). The walks are rarely an issue--the four walks tonight matched one-third of his previous season total--and the Ks are coming at an insane rate, what with his 14.5 K/9. Entering yesterday's game, his FIP did bode well, as it sat at 2.24, nearly a run-and-a-half below his ERA (which, obviously, got a lot worse last night). This outing should be more of an aberration than what's actually expected out of the 20-year-old.

Kyle Tucker, QC's resident bright spot, drove in the only run in the game. He's been tearing the cover off the ball lately, what with a .474 batting average over his last ten games--only four extra-base hits over that span, but the power is developing. He does have only one homer on the year, but with sixteen stolen bases accompanying the 19-year-old (he was born in 1997, y'all), it's easy to see why he hasn't focused on it as much so far.