Astros Prospect Report: Games of May 8, 2016

A mother's love persists even in the face of soul-crushing, mind-numbing, heart-rending systemic days such as these.  Happy Mother's Day, everyone - here, have a minor league recap with the system getting outscored 35-10 in three losses.

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: LOST 9-4 to the El Paso Chihuahuas (SDP)

There was just very, very little to be excited about in this game.  Even James Hoyt had a bad day, getting knocked around the ballpark during his appearance in the eighth inning.  Hoyt gave up four runs, but thanks to an error by Colin Moran (his second of the season) only one of the four was earned.

In a game where James Hoyt struggles, you know there's a good chance the Grizzlies lose.  When James Hoyt struggles, catcher Roberto Pena is the only player to log more than one hit individually, and the only two extra base hits come from (thus-far, in Triple-A) light-hitting Colin Moran and Tony Kemp, it becomes exceedingly likely that the Grizzlies lose.

The Grizzlies lost.

A positive, sort of: Jordan Jankowski gave up a solo home run but was otherwise pretty solid in one inning of work. That should give you an idea about the lack of positives in this game.

For those on prospect watch duty, Colin Moran and Tony Kemp each raised their respective ISO (isolated power) statistics today with doubles.  Kemp added a walk and how now surged past A.J. Reed for second on the team in wRC+ with 129.  Danny Worth, of course, maintains a healthy lead over the rest of the team in hitting.

Box Score:

AA Corpus Christi: LOST 7-4 to the San Antonio Missions (SDP)

There were a few more positives in this game than the Fresno game.

Evan Gattis played Designated Hitter today a day after catching seven innings for the first time since 2014 and had a double and a run scored.  Teoscar Hernandez was 2-4 and hit the ball solidly three of his trips to the plate.  One time it resulted in a loud fly out, but he did manage a rope of a single and his third home run of the season.  He also stole second and third base after his single.  Danry Vasquez had a pair of hits, and Alex Bregman had a walk on the day.

Derek Fisher was the offensive star today, though.  He was 4-4 with a double, two singles, and his fourth home run of the season:

Kyle Smith was essentially shelled in his five innings of work, giving up two home runs en route to four total earned runs on the day on five hits and a walk.  He honestly wasn't as bad as his final stat line showed for most of his appearance, but the results overall weren't good.

David Paulino was not unhittable today, as he gave up three runs (only one earned, on a home run) with two coming as a result of his own throwing error.  He did, however, show excellent poise and calmness under pressure in working out of trouble and avoiding a bigger inning.  In four innings of relief, Paulino allowed four hits, one of which was a home run, and struck out five batters without allowing a walk.

Box Score:

High A Lancaster: LOST 19-2 to the Visalia Rawhide (ARI)

If you haven't stopped reading yet, this wouldn't be a bad time to.

No?  Slogging through it with me?  Ok, here we go.

Lancaster got dismantled by Visalia, who scored nineteen runs of their own (including nine unanswered runs to end the game) a day after Lancaster laid their own nineteen run bomb shell down.  All told, the Jethawks lost two of three in this series with final scores in the three game set of 14-7 (loss), 19-5 (win), and 19-2 (loss).  ESPN's Keith Law tweeted on Saturday during Lancaster's win a screenshot of the box score with the caption "Baseball as played on one of Jupiter's small moons."

That pretty much sums up each game of this series.

Ramon Laureano started in center field and notched two hits, including a double, along with a walk and a stolen base. Jason Martin, who has gone completely ice cold after a hot start to fall to a .235/.318/.347 slash line for the season, did manage to pick up a hit - a double - and a walk.  He was also caught stealing for the second time this season.  Stellar defensive catcher Garrett Stubbs had his second straight two-hit game.

Elieser Hernandez, Eric Peterson, Andrew Walter, and Ryan Thompson each took their turn in the woodshed (read: on the mound) in this game, allowing 22 total hits and five walks.  Ten of the 22 hits were extra base hits, including five different home runs to five different Visalia players.

The 'Hawks will have an off day to lick their wounds and try to forget today ever happened.

Box Score: