AAA Fresno Grizzlies: Off Night
AA Corpus Christi Hooks: 8-4 loss to Midland (OAK)
-> Ramon Laureano: 2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
-> Myles Straw: 2-for-4, BB, RBI
-> Trent Woodward: 1-for-3, BB
-> Kyle Tucker: 1-for-4, BB, solo HR
-> Carlos Canelon: 1-for-4
-> Jon Singleton: 0-for-3, BB
-> Antonio Nunez: 0-for-4, R
SP Framber Valdez: 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 5 K (loss)
RP Ralph Garza: 1.0 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 0 K
RP Nick Hernandez: 2.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 4 K
RP Ryan Thompson: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K
A late spark for Laureano in a frustrating, baffling season. He's collected seven hits in his last four games, three of them long balls. Those represent a third of all the homers he's hit this season.
Speaking of recent homers, Tucker has hit one in back-to-back games now, and has four in his last seven games. Thanks to that, his ISO has risen from .191 to .232 during that short stretch. He's now hitting .256/.306/.488 in 61 games with Corpus.
A+ Buies Creek Astros: 7-3 win over Lynchburg (CLE)
-> Randy Cesar: 3-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R
-> Yordan Alvarez: 2-for-4, R
-> Stephen Wrenn: 1-for-2, R, 2 BB
-> Alex De Goti: 1-for-4, 2B, R
-> Anthony Hermelyn: 1-for-4, 2 RBI
-> Ronnie Dawson: 0-for-2, RBI, R, 2 BB
-> Taylor Jones: 0-for-2, BB, RBI
SP Brett Adcock: 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K
RP Kevin Hill: 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K
RP Abdiel Saldana: 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 5 K (win)
Alvarez is on a stunning streak right now. He has multiple hits in seven of his last ten games. He was hitting .234/.313/.351 at the end of play on August 4. Since then, he's hit .429 (30-for-70) over his last 17 games, and is now hitting .309/.359/.448 for BC.
A reliever selected in the 25th round certainly has a long road ahead of him, but Hill has been walking it well. He's up wot 23.0 innings with BC now, and has allowed just two earned runs during that time, while posting a strong 5.5 K/BB ratio. On the season he owns a 2.03 ERA and a WHIP just under one in 53.1 combined innings across three levels (QC, BC, and Corpus).
A- Quad Cities River Bandits: 3-0 loss to Beloit (OAK)
-> Daz Cameron: 0-for-2, BB
-> Luis Payano: 0-for-2, BB
SP Ronel Blanco: 4.2 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 5 BB, 1 K (loss)
RP Patrick Sandoval: 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K
Yep. A combined no-hitter against QC.
Blanco has done a good job preventing runs with Quad-Cities, but the peripherals (5.1 BB/9) are a bit worrisome. He's also somewhat old for the level (he'll be 24 on the last day of August).
Sandoval, on the other hand, is just 20 still. He's missing bats (10.7 K/9) and his walk rate has improved this month (2.6 BB/9, down from 4.5 in July). He's still a project who is several years off, at least, but he's showing signs.
SS Tri-City ValleyCats: 5-2 loss to Connecticut (DET)
-> Jacob Meyers: 2-for-3, 2B, 2 R
-> Gabriel Bracamonte: 1-for-3, BB, RBI
-> J.J. Matijevic: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Miguelangel Sierra: 1-for-4
-> Adrian Tovalin: 0-for-3, BB
-> Michael Papierski: 0-for-3, BB
SP Carlos Hiraldo: 4.1 IP, 4 R (0 ER), 6 H, 0 BB, 7 K (loss)
RP Tyler Ivey: 3.1 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 5 K
RP Luis Ramierez: 0.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K
Ivey got off to a terribly rough start, amassing a 13.89 ERA through his first six games a pro. In four games since, however, he owns a 2.46 ERA, 3.1 BB/9, and 11.1 K/9 in 14.2 innings of work, and has shaved more than six full runs off his ERA in the process. Much more what was expected, or at least hoped for, when the Astros spent their third-round selection on him. He doesn't appear to be a special prospect, but certainly a solid one.
Any time you have a catcher who might hit a little, you take notice. Bracamonte has been in the system for a while and is a tad old for short-season ball at 22. He's hitting .327/.387/.527 in 16 games for Tri-City this season. Walk and strike out rates are solid, but he now has 276 at-bats as a pro and is still looking for his first long ball.
RK Greeneville Astros: 4-1 win over Johnson City (STL)
-> Wilson Amador: 2-for-3, 2B, RBI, R
-> Juan Pineda: 1-for-3, RBI, R
-> Roman Garcia: 1-for-3, RBI
-> Gilberto Celestino: 1-for-4, RBI
-> Frankeny Fernandez: 1-for-4, R
-> Brody Westmoreland: 1-for-4
-> Joan Mauricio: 0-for-2, BB, R
SP Jairo Solis: 5.0 IP, 1 R (0 ER), 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K (win)
RP Tim Hardy: 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 8 K (save)
Celestino is continuing his solid-if-unspectacular production for Greeneville. He's batting .285/.348/.406 now, with 15 extra-base hits and 10 steals in 12 tries. There's a bit of swing and miss in his game right now but he's 18 years old, no worries at this point.
Solis hasn't been on the roster as long as some of the other starters, but he's been no less effective in his three outings. He's limited opposing hitters to three earned runs on 10 hits in 11.0 innings, and has a 10.6 K/9.
Today's Scheduled Starters
AAA: David Martinez vs. TBD
AA: Forrest Whitley vs. Casey Meisner
A+: Hector Perez vs. TBD
A-: TBD vs. Seth Martinez
SS: TBD vs. TBD
RK: Francisco Villegas vs. Zach Prendergast