Astros Prospect Report: Games of May 16, 2017

Quad Cities (18-18) 8, Burlington (11-23) 1

The River Bandits spread the offense around on Tuesday night, collecting 11 hits and 6 walks against a weak Burlington club. Catching prospect Chuckie Robinson raised his average to .293 with a 2 for 4 day that included a triple, and 19-year old Cuban prospect Yordan Alvarez, playing in his second game in full-season ball, went 2 for 3 with a double, home run, walk and strikeout out of the DH spot. Starter Dustin Hunt walked 3 and struck out 4 over 3.2, while 2016 25th-rounder Kevin Hill struck out 5 over 2.1 following him. Quad Cities is currently quite light on prospects on the offensive side.

Notable Lines

Stephen Wrenn: 1 for 5

Chuckie Robinson: 2 for 4, 3B, K

Ronnie Dawson: 1 for 3, BB, K

Yordan Alvarez: 2 for 3, 2B, HR, BB, K

Kevin Hill: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K

Buies Creek (24-15) 5, Myrtle Beach (21-18) 1

BC managed five runs in this game without any player recording more than one hit, and without Kyle Tucker in the lineup. Jason Martin plated two with a home run while striking out twice, bringing his average to .276 on the year. Martin has had moderate success so far in the Carolina League, though his contact skills need further polish before he is ready for higher levels. The story in the game was starting pitcher Hector Perez, who continued to rack up strikeouts with seven over six frames. More impressively, he did not issue a walk, moving his K/BB to 47/20 on the year. If Perez can manage to limit his free passes more often, he could start to make significant noise as a prospect given his swing and miss potential.

Notable Lines

Myles Straw: 0 for 3, 2 BB

Jason Martin: 1 for 4, HR, 2 K

Jake Rogers: 1 for 4, K

Anibal Sierra: 1 for 4, 3 K

Hector Perez: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K

Corpus Christi (18-20) 4, San Antonio (22-16) 1

The big power bats in Corpus’s lineup came through yesterday against the Missions, as J.D. Davis and Jon Singleton both went yard. Davis continues to perform solidly, as he is now slashing .272/.336/.496 with 8 home runs on the year. However, he is 24 years old already and is not raking enough to force himself into the Astros plans. If he can catch fire with his power stroke, there’s a chance he could get some at bats for the big league club at some point down the stretch. Starter Kyle Smith, a largely forgotten prospect, had a very good start for the Hooks. He struck out four against no walks while allowing just one run over 5 innings to lower his ERA to 3.71. Smith is a polished arm who lacks overpowering stuff and has to locate very well to have success, and he was able to do so last night.

Notable Lines

Garrett Stubbs: 0 for 3, BB, K

JD Davis: 2 for 4, 2B, HR, 2 K

Jon Singleton: 1 for 4, HR

Ramon Laureano: 1 for 3, BB

Kyle Smith: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Fresno (15-24) 6, Nashville (17-18) 11

The Grizz lost a slugfest to a Nashville club that sports a mix of prospects like Franklin Barreto and Matt Olson and ex-big leaguers, with most of the damage coming against journeyman starter David Martinez. Tyler White had a big fly in the game as did Colin Moran, and Teoscar Hernandez put the ball in play four times, with two going for hits. Tony Kemp and catcher Juan Centeno had the other multi-hit efforts for Fresno. Derek Fisher was 0 for 5 on the night, but did not strike out. If the Astros had less of a logjam in the outfield, Fisher very well might be in the big leagues already, but as it stands now he needs an injury to come up before the mid-summer. Notably, promising youngster Jharel Cotton started for Nashville in this game.

Notable Lines

Tony Kemp: 2 for 5, K

Derek Fisher: 0 for 5

Teoscar Hernandez: 2 for 4, 2B

Tyler White: 1 for 4, HR

Colin Moran: 1 for 3, HR, BB, K

AJ Reed: 1 for 4, 2B, 2 K