Astros Prospect Report: Games of May 18, 2016

The Fresno lineup will look significantly different while Colin Moran and Tony Kemp are enjoying prime time in the Major Leagues, but we won't see the new look until tomorrow, when Joe Musgrove will take the mound for his second appearance in Fresno.  The rest of the teams erupted tonight, both offensively and (mostly) on the mound, to outscore their opponents 25-9 and join the parent club in a beautiful organizational sweep.

Now you know the end.  Also, SPOILER ALERT: The Titanic sinks at the end of the movie.

The journey getting there, though...that's the fun part.

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: OFF

The Grizzlies are coming off a rough four game sweep at the hands of the Nashville Sounds, and will try to catapult from their off day and the addition of Preston Tucker's bat (assuming he's arrived with the team and is ready to go tomorrow) to jump out with a victory against the Memphis Redbirds.  Joe Musgrove makes his second start for the Grizzlies after a five inning, one (earned) run debut.

AA Corpus Christi: WON 5-2 over the San Antonio Missions (SDP)

Alex Bregman is just a gifted human being on the baseball field.  As has been pointed out by others, Bregatron hit another home run last night, bringing his total for the season to nine.  Amazingly, Bregman has also struck out only nine times.  No other player anywhere in baseball, majors or minors, has as many home runs as strikeouts.

It was also noted during the Missions' broadcast of the game that Alex Bregman is a former state champion chess player in his home state of New Mexico, dating back to his high school days.  That seemed an interesting factotum to pass along to our readers.

As for this game, Bregman's 2-3 night (he had a single, a stolen base, two runs scored, and two RBIs in this contest as well) wasn't the only highlight.  J.D. Davis went 2-4 with his fourth home run run of the season and a double.  His bat is heating up on the season: he now has a six game hitting streak and has hit safely in eight of his last ten games.  Four of those games are multi-hit games, and three of his four home runs on the season have come in the same stretch.  James Ramsay added a two run home run of his own (his second home run of the season) in the first, plating Bregman following his single and stolen base.  Chan Moon and Trent Woodward each added a pair of singles to the offensive effort.

Cy Sneed got the start and pitched well once again.  He did give up his first and second home runs of the season, accounting for both of his earned runs allowed, but otherwise scattered two singles across five innings of work with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Making his second Double-A appearance, Evan Grills impressed once again.  He allowed no runs to keep his ERA in Double-A at zero, allowed three hits and no walks in four innings of work and trucks out two.  He was rewarded for his effort with a save.

Box Score:

High A Lancaster: WON 11-4 over the Inland Empire 66ers (LAA)

The erstwhile-light hitting Jethawks erupted for four home runs (two of them off the bat of catcher Garrett Stubbs) in an 11-4 rout of the 66ers.

Stubbs' first blast tied the game at one in the bottom of the first, and his second was a three run bomb to put the 'Hawks ahead for good, breaking what was a 4-4 tie at the time.

Garrett Stubbs has quietly assembled a very impressive offensive start to his season.  He's in the midst of a fifteen game hitting streak and has seen his slash line climb to .292/.388/.472 (.860 OPS) while his walk rate has ascended to an 11.7% clip and his strike out rate has dipped to 12.9% for the season.  In eighty-five plate appearances this year, he’s struck out eleven times and walked ten times.  In short, it’s been an impressive display for a young catcher who was thought of by many as a glove-only catcher (he won the collegiate equivalent of the gold glove for catchers) coming into the season.  Certainly, it’s Lancaster, but an .860 OPS, even considering the Lancaster Mirage Effect, is still very, very encouraging for those following Garrett’s progress.

First baseman Bryan Muniz added his third home run of the season, a two-run shot with one out in the seventh inning, and Jason Martin added a solo shot (his second home run of the season) an out later in the seventh.  The offense was vast and varied in this one, as every single player had at least one hit, and six of the starting nine had multi-hit games.  All told, the ‘Hawks banged out sixteen total hits on the night.  Kristian Trompiz and Ramon Laureano had the only non-home run extra base hits, each with a double.

Scott Weathersby got the start and pitched to a no-decision, allowing four earned runs on four hits and two walks and recording a single strikeout.  The night went much better for both Ryan Deemes, who made his second appearance in High-A and once again didn’t allow a run in a single inning of work, and meta-human Brock Dykxhoorn, who struck out four in four innings while scattering two hits to continue a very strong Lancaster campaign for himself.

Box Score:

Low A Quad Cities: WON 9-3 over the Clinton Lumberkings (SEA)

Hey.

Hey.

Hey…guess what?

Kyle Tucker is pretty good at baseballing.

He had another good day at the plate, going 2-4 with a pair of singles, a walk, and two more stolen bases (bringing his season total to eighteen, against just three times caught stealing) to raise his season slash line as one of the youngest players in the Midwest League to a cool .323/.399/.436 for the young season.  His 150 wRC+ leads the team comfortably and is twelfth among qualified hitters in the league.  Among hitters with more than 150 plate appearances, Tucker is sixth in wRC+, sixth in wOBA, fourth in OPS, and is the very best in wSB (weighted stolen base runs) in the entire league at 2.4 wSB.  In fact, he’s exactly twice as good in that regard as the second place player (Michael Gettys from the Padres system) in the Midwest League this year among players with 150 plate appearances.  If you open up the filter to include all players in the Midwest League, he’s still the best – narrowly edging Michael Russell from the Tampa Bay Rays’ A ball affiliate. 

As for the rest of the team, there were no home runs in this game but everyone (except Osvaldo Duarte) had at least one hit, and five players – including Tucker – had multiple hits.  Dexture McCall, Pat Porter, and Connor Goedert each had doubles, accounting for the only extra base hits on the day.  Seven total walks and ten singles were enough, in addition to the three doubles, to comfortably beat the LumberKings in this one.

On the hill, Kevin McCanna got the start and went five strong innings.  He allowed just three hits, a walk, and one earned run while striking out four batters.  Franklin Perez, a highly-regarded right-handed pitching prospect who is just eighteen years old, made his debut in A ball with a three inning, four hit performance.  He allowed two earned runs and two walks while striking out five hitters.  He threw fifty-seven pitches, with thirty-four of them for strikes.  Ralph Garza entered in the game to finish it out and had a perfect ninth inning.

Box Score: