Houston Astros Minor League Week In Review: April 18th – April 24th

Houston Astros MiLB Week in Review

Another week of 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 (7-9) went 3-4 this week.

• AJ Reed, 1B: .263 BA (5-for-19), 2 R, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 BB/2 SO
• Colin Moran, 3B: .280 BA (7-for-25), R, 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB/4 SO, SB
• Danny Worth, IF: .269 BA (7-for-26), 4 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, RBI, 3 BB/6 SO, SB

• Jordan Jankowski, RHP: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
• James Hoyt, RHP: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
• Juan Minaya, RHP: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
• Michael Feliz, RHP: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
• Thomas Shirley, LHP: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
• Jandel Gustave, RHP: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Reed put together a solid week raising his batting average a bit and hitting 2 HR (to include a grand slam). Even with the lower batting average, Reed still has 4 HR, 15 RBI in 14 games this season. Nice to see him only strike out twice this week. Moran continues to hit, though the power hasn’t shown up. He just seems like a guy who will hit for average no matter where he goes as he is hitting .304 this season. Worth has been a pleasant surprise for Fresno but outside of these three, they didn’t get much offensive production.

The starters didn’t do well this week, outside of Shirley who through 6.2 scoreless innings giving him 11.2 scoreless to start the season. The bullpen came to play though. The guys listed combined for 14 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 17 K. Gustave had a rough first outing of the season but since then he has gone 7.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K for Fresno. Hoyt and Jankowski have been showing off the strikeout with SO rates of 14.0 K/9 and 11.2 K/9 respectively.

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (9-6) went 2-3 this week.

• Alex Bregman, SS: .100 BA (1-for-10), R, RBI, 2 BB/2 SO, SB
• Derek Fisher, OF: .294 BA (5-for-17), 3 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI
• Teoscar Hernandez, OF: .222 BA (4-for-18), 5 R, HR, 3 RBI, 5 BB/8 SO, 5 SB
• JD Davis, 3B: .294 BA (5-for-17), R, 2B, RBI, 3 BB/2 SO

• Joe Musgrove, RHP: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
• David Paulino, RHP: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
• Edison Frias, RHP: 10.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 12 K
• Cy Sneed, RHP: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
• Brendan McCurry, RHP: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
• Reymin Guduan, LHP: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
• Brian Holmes, LHP: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K

As stated last week, the Hooks have a very talented roster but it didn’t all come together this week. Unfortunately, Alex Bregman had a bit of a down week and ended up leaving his most recent game with a hamstring injury, landing him on the 7 day DL. Derek Fisher showed off his tools this week with the two doubles and two homers in just five games. Fisher now has 3 HR, 10 RBI in 14 games. While Teoscar didn’t have a high average; he got on base, stole five bases and scored five runs. JD Davis put together a solid week as well as he continues to get adjusted to the Texas League.

The pitching once again was sensational for the most part. Musgrove had a solid outing in relief and now owns a 0.73 ERA in 12.1 innings with 2 BB/14 K. Paulino had his best outing in AA this week. He was nearly unhittable allowing just one hit over four shutout innings striking out six. He has 3 BB/16 K in 13 innings this season. Sneed has yet to allow a run this season in 9 innings. Lefty flamethrower, Guduan, has yet to allow a run this season and has 3 BB/13 K over 9 innings.. Brendan McCurry, had another nice week. His season line is 10 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 13 K.

A+: Lancaster Jethawks (5-10) went 1-6 this week.

• Jason Martin, OF: .250 BA (5-for-20), 5 R, 2 3B, 4 BB/2 SO, 2 SB
• Bobby Boyd, OF: .333 BA (8-for-24), 6 R, HR, 2 RBI, 4 SB
• Marc Wik, IF: .333 BA (8-for-24), 4 R, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 6 BB/4 SO, 2 SB
• Nick Tanielu, 3B: .323 BA (10-for-31), 6 R, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 5 RBI, SB

• Trent Thornton, RHP: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
• Brock Dykxhoorn, RHP: 9.0 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
• Riley Ferrell, RHP: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
• Evan Grills, RHP: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Another solid week for Martin. Only the five hits but the 4 BB/2 SO ratio is great. He is also 5-for-6 in stolen bases on the season and hitting a solid .319. Nick Tanielu had a good season last year and has built on it in 2016. With a strong week he is now hitting .293 with 5 2B, HR, 9 RBI in 14 games. Boyd is doing exactly what was expected, hit for some average (.308) and steal bases (9 SB).

A rough week for the Jethawks overall means a rough week for the pitchers. Thornton made a solid start this week and has now struck out 14 batters in 13 innings this season. Brock Dykxhoorn has looked good so far this season. A solid 9 innings of work this week puts him at a 2.57 ERA, 14 IP, 2 BB/14 K. Potential closer, Riley Ferrell, is off to a good start in 2016 now allowing a run in 7 IP with 2 BB/10 K.

A: Quad Cities Riverbandits (7-11) went 5-2 this week.

• Aaron Mizell, OF: .278 BA (5-for-18), 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI
• Kyle Tucker, OF: .286 BA (8-for-28), 2 R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 BB/4 SO, SB
• Anthony Hermelyn, C: .286 BA (4-for-14), 3 2B, 2 BB/5 SO
• Dexture McCall, 1B: .438 BA (7-for-16), 2 R, 2B, RBI, 3 BB/2 SO
• Brooks Marlow, 2B: .286 BA (6-for-21), 3 R, 2 2B, RBI

• Albert Abreu, RHP: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
• Andrew Thome, RHP: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
• Matt Bower, LHP: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
• Rogelio Armenteros, RHP: 9.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K
• Kevin McCanna, RHP: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
• Ralph Garza, RHP: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Tucker keeps on hitting, which is his calling card. He is hitting .286 on the season and has reached base safely in 16 of the 17 games this season. While the offense didn’t do a ton, they got enough from guys like McCall and Marlow. Marlow has 3 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB/7 SO in 13 games. Daz Cameron is still struggling a bit but he did cut down on the strikeouts this week.

The River Bandits had a great week finished 5-2, thanks primarily to the pitching. Abreu showed off his stuff striking out  in 5.2 innings. Abreu now has 19 K in 12.1 innings on the season. Armenteros has been very impressive thus far. He has a season line of 1.93 ERA, 18.2 IP, 3 BB/20 K. Bower has also shown off the strikeout too with 18 K in just 12.1 innings. Relief pitches, Thome and Garza, have been great and have posted a 1.17 and 1.69 ERA, respectively.

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The future is bright and go Astros!

**Photo Credit: Tammy Tucker**