Astros Prospect Report: Games of June 20, 2016

AAA Fresno Grizzlies: 2-1 win over Tacoma (SEA)

-> Andrew Aplin: 2-for-4, 2B, R
-> A.J. Reed: 1-for-3, HR, R, 2 RBI
-> Preston Tucker: 1-for-3, 3B
-> Colin Moran: 1-for-4

SP Tommy Shirley: 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K (win)
RP Brendan McCurry: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K (hold)
RP James Hoyt: 1.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K (save)

Reed is getting close, you can feel it. He's hitting .293 in his last ten games, and has two homers in three. I'm a little worried about his peripherals, though; he has 11 strike outs and no walks in his last nine games. With 56 strike outs in 56 games this year, it hasn't been horrible...but, well, Jon Singleton's strike out rate in Triple-A wasn't horrible, either...

Hey, nice to see McCurry get a promotion after shredding the Texas League. With him, Hoyt, Gustave, Fields and Gudaun, Fresno has a heck of a bullpen right now. Too bad Chris Cotton is on the DL, throw him into that mix and whoa.

Nice to see Shirley bounce back. Two starts ago a nine-run disaster destroyed his ERA, but he had been mediocre outside of that game, frankly. This is his first outing allowing less than three earned runs since May 17.

AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 5-3 win over San Antonio (SDP)

-> J.D. Davis: 2-for-3, RBI, 2 BB
-> Conrad Gregor: 2-for-5, RBI, R, 2 2B
-> Alejandro Garcia: 2-for-5, SB, R, 2 RBI
-> Alex Bregman: 1-for-3, 2B
-> Roberto Pena: 1-for-5, 2B, R
-> Teoscar Hernandez: 1-for-6, SB
-> Derek Fisher: 0-for-2, SB, 2 R, 3 BB

SP Kent Emanuel: 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K
RP Francis Martes: 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 7 K (blown save)
RP Aaron West: 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K (win)

Emanuel has pretty much been nails since returning from Tommy John surgery. He's allowed more than two runs in just one of his five games, and he boasts a 2.70 ERA and 3.4 K/BB ratio so far. Third-round southpaw with some talent, getting him back on track would be a nice boost to the system.

Martes' rebound continues. Last time some bad luck hit him, with base runners scoring after he left. No such trouble this week, and seven strike outs in four innings is awesome to see, as early on in the year he wasn't missing bats like we've come to expect. His strike out rate in June is 9.6 per nine innings.

I wish Fisher would quit punching out so much, but he may have value even if he never cuts that down. His walk rate is awesome this year (49 already in just 64 games), and he's already got double-digit figures in doubles, homers, and stolen bases. Tools on display. He's hitting .274/.398/.491 so far, but again, the strike out rate could depress that eventually if he doesn't trim it down. Still, he's actually hitting better than he did in Lancaster last year, which is amazing. His less-than-incredible showing and the strike outs in the California League had me worried for him moving to Double-A, but he's definitely looked much better than expected. Oh, what a shame we had to give up Appel to Philly instead of him......

A+ Lancaster JetHawks: All-Star Break

A- Quad Cities River Bandits: All-Star Break

SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 10-9 win over Brooklyn (NYM)

-> Marcos Almonte: 3-for-7, SB, R, 2 2B
-> Carmen Benedetti: 3-for-8, 2B, 2 RBI
-> Stephen Wrenn: 3-for-9, HR, SB, R, 4 RBI
-> Kolbey Carpenter: 2-for-5, 2 BB, 3 R
-> Ronnie Dawson: 2-for-6, BB, SB, R
-> Daz Cameron: 2-for-9, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Chuckie Robinson: 1-for-2, 2B
-> Jake Rodgers: 1-for-5, BB, 2B, RBI
-> Taylor Jones: 1-for-6, 2B, 2 BB, 2 R
-> Alexander De Goti: 1-for-6, BB, 2B

SP Brett Adock: 1.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K
RP Ricardo Castro: 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K
RP Dylan James: 1.1 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K (blown save)
RP Carlos Sierra: 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 5 K
RP Nick Hernandez: 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K
RP Luis Ramirez: 2.0 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K (win)

Holy Moses. This one went 17 innings. It was 2-2 after three innings, then Tri-City was down 6-4 after six innings. They scored one each in the seventh and eighth innings to tie it. The next scoring wasn't until the 17th inning, when Tri-City got four in the top half, and Brooklyn got three in the bottom half, just falling short. 575 total pitches thrown during this six hour, five minute marathon. Wow.

Half of the four runs TC scored in the top of the 17th came on a timely-two-run jack from Stephen Wrenn. One of the TCB staff's favorite picks this year, Wrenn has already shown some of the tools uncommonly found in a sixth-round collegiate player. In four games, he already has three extra-base hits (two long balls), five walks, just two strike outs, and is 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts. Excellent early start.

Rogers, catcher extraordinare, caught the first 12 innings of this one. He's off to a solid start as well, sporting a .438 OBP in his three games.

Things aren't going as well for Cameron. He's still young, but his strike out rate in four games with Tri-City is approaching 50% after he whiffed five times in this one. He'll need to show serious improvement soon; though he is still young, he's also not even in full-season ball. This isn't the place a top-flight prospect wants to get stalled at.

I don't know why Adcock left the game so early. In the second inning, he allowed a single and a walk, but got a pair of strike outs as well. The run only scored after he was pulled. The ValleyCats twitter account doesn't mention an injury or a reason of any kind. If anyone knows anything, sound off. He had thrown 31 pitches, and that doesn't seem crazy-high. No idea.

Today's Scheduled Starters

AAA: Brad Peacock vs. Jordan Lyles (broken dreams...)
AA: Evan Grills vs. Aaron Northcraft
A+: All-Star Game
A-: All-Star Game
SS: Sebastian Kessay vs. TBD