Houston Astros Minor League Week In Review: May 2nd – May 8th

Houston Astros MiLB Week in Review

Another week of Astros minor league baseball is in the books. It was a better week for the River Bandits but Fresno struggled. There were some great performances in the Astros system this week though. Let’s take a look at the best performances this past week.

AAA: Fresno Grizzlies (13-16) went 3-4 this week.

• AJ Reed, 1B: .143 BA (3-for-21), R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI
• Colin Moran, 3B: .263 BA (5-for-19), 2 R, 2B, RBI
• Danny Worth, IF: .444 BA (8-for-18), 5 R, 3 2B, HR, 6 RBI, 7 BB/3 SO
• Tony Kemp, 2B/OF: .269 BA (7-for-26), 4 R, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB

• Brady Rodgers, RHP: 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
• Lance McCullers, RHP: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
• Mike Hauschild, RHP: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
• Brad Peacock, RHP: 12.0 IP, 11 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 12 K
• Thomas Shirley, LHP: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
• Asher Wojciechowski, RHP: 6.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Reed finally had a bad week but still managed to have two extra base hits. He has 20 RBI in 26 games this season. Moran has slowed down a bit but is still hitting .295 with 16 RBI in 25 games. Worth has been great this season and had another great week. He is hitting .365 with 4 HR, 18 RBI, 16 BB/15 SO on the season. He will get a shot at some point this season, if not with the Astros then with another club. Nice to see Kemp have a solid week. Average was only .269 but the three extra base hits are encouraging. Kemp is hitting .295 with .407 OBP.

Brady Rodgers had the game of the week throwing a complete game shutout on just 86 pitches. He now has 2 BB/23 K in 30 IP for Fresno. McCullers made a rehab start and was dominant. Hopefully he will be starting for Houston soon. Peacock had two solid starts this week, and while he hasn’t been overly impressive, he hasn’t really had any bad outings. He has a 3.98 ERA with 37 K in 31.2 IP for Fresno this season. Shirley now has a 2.79 ERA in 29 innings in AAA this season.

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (14-15) went 4-3 this week.

• Chase McDonald, 1B: .272 BA (6-for-22), 5 R, 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 5 BB/4 SO
• Alex Bregman, SS: .231 BA (3-for-13), 2 R, 3 2B, 4 BB/2 SO
• Derek Fisher, OF: .269 BA (7-for-26), 5 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, SB
• Teoscar Hernandez, OF: .389 BA (7-for-18), 3 R, 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB/1 SO, 3 SB
• JD Davis, 3B: .250 BA (4-for-16), 2 2B, 3 R, HR, 3 RBI

• Joe Musgrove, RHP: 9.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
• David Paulino, RHP: 9.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 K
• Keegan Yuhl, RHP: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
• Aaron West, RHP: 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

Solid weeks for the Hooks’ hitters. Chase McDonald started off the week hot with a HR the first three nights. He now has 8 HR in 24 games for Corpus.  Bregman returned to the lineup and made an impact with three doubles and the ability to get on base. Derek Fisher has been a bit up and down but finished the week strong with a 4-for-4 night. He has 4 HR, 16 RBI in 28 games this season.  Really encouraging week for Hernandez. He has 15 BB/25 SO in 25 games this season. He has improved his walk rate (6.4% to 13.8%) and strikeout rate (24.5% to 22.9%) from 2015 to 2016.

Musgrove really had nothing left to prove in Corpus. With the 9 scoreless innings he pushes his season line to 0.34 ERA with 3 BB/30 K in 26.1 IP this season. Paulino continues to pitch well. He has 6 BB/32 K in 26 IP with a 2.08 ERA. The walk to strikeout ratio is very encouraging for a guy in his month in a half of AA baseball. has been great as well. Yuhl has put together a good season so far. In 27.2 IP he has a 3.25 ERA with 7 BB/27 K. West looks dominant at times and his peripherals on the season are great (3 BB/21 K in 18 IP).

A+: Lancaster Jethawks (11-17) went 3-4 this week.

• Ramon Laureano, OF: .333 BA (8-for-24), 5 R, 4 2B, 5 RBI, SB
• Garrett Stubbs, C: .417 BA (5-for-12), 3 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB/1 SO, SB
• Nick Tanielu, 3B: .444 BA (12-for-27), 4 R, 2 2B, HR, 6 RBI, 2 BB/2 SO
• Bobby Boyd, OF: .333 BA (6-for-18), 5 R, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 SB
• Drew Ferguson, OF: .313 BA (5-for-16), 3 R, 2B, 4 RBI, SB

• Trent Thornton, RHP: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
• Dean Deetz, RHP: 5.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
• Joshua James, RHP: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
• Rogelio Armenteros, RHP: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Great week for Tanielu which included a five hit night. He is hitting .350 with 3 HR, 19 RBI in 26 games for Lancaster. Laureano has been solid hitting .289 with 15 RBI, 8 SB for this season. Unfortunately the power hasn’t fully shown up with just 8 doubles and zero homers. Stubbs had a nice week in just three games. He is hitting .267 with 8 BB/8 SO in 14 games. Boyd is now hitting .282 with 14 SB in just 19 games.

Thorton has put together a nice season in the California League posting a 3.75 ERA with 5 BB/24 K in 24 innings. Deetz continues to pitch well with a 2.63 ERA, though he does have 10 BB/16 K in 24 IP. James had a rough first three outings but over his last two he has gone 9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 12 K for Lancaster.

A: Quad Cities Riverbandits (12-17) went 2-4 this week.

• Kyle Tucker, OF: .375 BA (9-for-24), 2 2B, 3B, 2 R, 3 RBI, 5 SB
• Aaron Mizell, OF: .357 BA (5-for-14), 3 2B
• Anthony Hermelyn, C: .250 BA (3-for-12), R, RBI, 5 BB/3 SO
• Brooks Marlow, 2B: .235 BA (4-for-17), 3 R, 2 2B

• Albert Abreu, RHP: 10.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 16 K
• Zac Person, LHP: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
• Matt Bower, LHP: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
• Alex Winkelman, LHP: 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
• Ryan Deemes, RHP: 3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
• Justin Ferrell, RHP: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
• Jose Hernandez, RHP: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

Not a great week offensively for the River Bandits. Tucker is off to a nice start though. While he hasn’t hit for much power his average has stayed high and he is stealing bases. With the five stolen bases this week that give him 11 on the season with a .282 BA. Hermelyn has had a pretty good season so far hitting .316 with 15 BB/19 SO. No homers but does have 8 doubles. Marlow continues to put good games together and now has a .325 BA over his last 10 games. The River Bandits as a team only have 5 HR this season.

Solid week of pitching for the River Bandits. Albert Abreu showed his dominance with 1 ER, 16 K in 10 innings. He now has a 3.70 ERA on the season with 38 K in 24.1 IP. The Astros system is a bit low on left handed starters but there are some guys to watch here. Person has 11 K in 11 IP, Bower has 28 K in 19.2 IP (2.29 ERA), and Winkelman has 20 K in 20.2 IP (4.79 ERA). Deemes continues to be impressive as he pitched a perfect 3.1 innings in relief. His season ERA is now 0.52. Hernandez has another nice start and while the ERA is a bit high (4.95) he 6 BB/26 K in 20 IP.

LINE OF THE WEEK:

Brady Rodgers, RHP, 05/04/16: 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K (86 pitches/70 strikes) 

Derek Fisher, OF, 05/08/16: 4-for-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, SB

Be sure to subscribe to receive weekly updates on the Astros minor league system. Also be sure to follow on Twitter, @AstrosFuture, and like my Facebook page, facebook.com/AstrosFuture.

**Photo Credit: Tammy Tucker**