Astros Prospect Report: Games of May 9th

Though Astros prospects have largely met or exceeded expectations thus far in 2017, Tuesday night featured little action for Astros affiliates as they went 2-2. Three of those games had no home runs, and the starting pitching was mostly nondescript. That said, let’s dig into last night’s action anyway in search of some silver linings.

Quad Cities (16-14) 7, Bowling Green (14-16) 2

The River Bandits dispatched Lucius Fox and the Hot Rods with relative easy last night, led by a strong pitching performance from Dustin Hunt who went the first four frames. The club’s tenth-rounder in last year’s draft, the Northeastern product has posted some promising K and BB numbers in the low minors (20/8 in 18.1 IP) but has struggled some with hittability over all. Though last night was more of the same in that regard, he managed to limit damage allowing two runs in four innings while recording 5 Ks. Older prospect Rodrigo Ayarza recorded two hits in the game, both doubles, while Stephen Wrenn picked up a double and single to raise his average to .297 on the season. Wrenn’s speed/hit tool combination continue to make him a player to watch. Backstop Chuckie Robinson continues to to handle duties with aplomb, as he racked up three hits in Tuesday’s game including a double. Ronnie Dawson also added three hits, continuing his slow recovery from an awful start to the season at the plate.

Notable Lines

Rodrigo Ayarza: 2 for 5, 2 2B, K

Randy Cesar: 2 for 5, K

Stephen Wrenn: 2 for 4, 2B

Ronnie Dawson: 3 for 4, 2B, K

Chuckie Robinson: 3 for 4, 2 2B

Dustin Hunt: 4 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K

Buies Creek (20-12) 1, Salem (20-11) 6

The BC Stros offense was simply stymied by Salem pitching tonight as the team combined to go 3 for 29 in the game, with only Kyle Tucker reaching safely twice, save for Ryne Birk’s two walks. Buies Creek pitchers did come to play, however, despite allowing six runs. The story of the night was Yoanys Quiala, who was brilliant in four innings. Though he allowed two runs, he struck out eight without issuing a free pass and moved his K/BB ratio to a Musgrovian 35/4 through 26.2 innings thus far. Though he is already 23, Quiala, who was signed out of Cuba, bears monitoring given how dominating he has been thus far on the season.

Notable Lines

Kyle Tucker: 1 for 3, 2B, BB, K

Framber Valdez: 5 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 6 K

Yoanys Quiala: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 8 K

Corpus Christi (15-17) 4, San Antonio (18-14) 6

The Hooks managed some offense in this one, thanks largely to home runs from Jon Singleton and the usually offenseless Bobby Boyd, but still fell short to the Missions as their pitching simply couldn’t keep them in the contest. Starter Brock Dykxhoorn was quite solid, allowing two in five, but Cy Sneed was shelled following him and four missions relievers combined for three scoreless innings to close the door. Garrett Stubbs was 0 for 4 and is mired in something of a slump right now.

Notable Lines

Ramon Laureano: 1 for 5, 2 K

Bobby Boyd: 1 for 4, HR, BB, K

Garrett Stubbs: 0 for 4, K

Jon Singleton: 2 for 5, HR, 2 K

Kristian Trompiz: 2 for 4

Fresno (13-20) 5, Colorado Springs (20-8) 8

CS starter and former major leaguer, Hiram Burgos, mostly kept the Grizz’ offense in check on Tuesday night. Fresno managed nine hits on the night, led by two from Max Stassi who has been on absolute tear as of late. With his 2 for 5 night, he’s now hitting .444 over his last 10 and .344 for the year. He is the Astros’ third catcher and will come up right away should there be an injury to McCann or Gattis. Derek Fisher had another nice game and continues to knock on the door: he was 1 for 3 with two walks and no strikeouts. AJ Reed narrowly missed a golden sombrero, going 1 for 4 with three Ks, and has been mildly disappointing thus far this year. Fisher may be closer to his first call up at this point than Reed is his next opportunity at the big league level.

Notable Lines

Derek Fisher: 1 for 3, 2 BB

Tyler White: 2 for 5, K

AJ Reed: 1 for 4, 3 K

Max Stassi: 2 for 5, K