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

Houston Astros MiLB Week in Review

Another week of Astros minor league baseball is in the books.  Let’s take a look at the best performances this past week.

AAA: Fresno Grizzlies (53-46) went 5-2 this week.

• Alex Bregman, SS: .320 BA (8-for-25), 5 R, 2 2B, 2 SB
• Teoscar Hernandez, OF: .250 BA (5-for-20), 4 R
• Tony Kemp, OF: .272 BA (6-for-22), 2B, 2 RBI
• Tyler White, 1B: .214 BA (6-for-28), 6 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, SB
• Tyler Heineman, C: .455 BA (5-for-11), 2B, RBI
• Jon Kemmer, OF: .333 BA (5-for-15), 4 R, 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI,

• Mike Hauschild, RHP: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 10 K
• Brady Rodgers, RHP: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
• Joseph Musgrove, RHP: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
• Jandel Gustave, RHP: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Bregman played his last week in the minors as he got called up. Hopefully he won’t see the minor leagues again. Teoscar had his first down week but still managed to get on base and score runs. White played shortstop a few times this week and while the average was down, it’s nice to see the 2 HR again. Heineman started slow but now has his OPS up to .728 which is very reasonable. He could be a solid backup next season if Castro walks. Kemmer started slow too but has really picked it up. He is now hitting .258 with a .735 OPS on the season.

Hauschild was solid once again. He has been overshadowed by Rodgers but has been very good posting a 2.89 ERA with 24 BB/97 K in 109 IP. Rodgers continues his breakout season lowering his ERA to 2.68. He has walked only 16 in 100.2 innings. After a few rough starts in AAA Musgrove has really turned it around. He now has a 3.98 ERA with 6 BB/50 K in 52.0 innings in AAA. Gustave complied the 6 innings over 3 outings.

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (61-39) went 3-4 this week.

• Garrett Stubbs, C: .444 BA (8-for-18), 2 R, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB/0 SO, SB
• Nick Tanielu, 2B: .333 BA (9-for-27), 5 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI
• J.D. Davis, 3B: .313 BA (10-for-32), 5 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI
• Conrad Gregor, 1B: .348 BA (8-for-23), 2 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI
• Ramon Laureano, OF: .333 BA (3-for-9), R, 2 2B

• Francis Martes, RHP: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
• Edison Frias, RHP: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
• Kent Emanuel, LHP: 12.2 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Stubbs might just be the breakout prospect of the season so far. He started out the season great in Lancaster and has continued that success following his promotion to AA. So far in 10 AA games he has 7 BB/2 SO. Tanielu has had a good season too. Between Lancaster and Corpus he is hitting .311 with 18 2B, 10 HR in 91 games. Davis has started to pick it up lately and now has 19 2B, 16 HR in 87 games. Gregor started off very slow but is hitting .293 in the second half of the season.

Martes’ start was better than the line shows.  A couple of the runs scored after he was out of the game. The encouraging sign is 1 BB/6 K which gives him 37 BB/80 K in 81.2 innings this season. Frias has been very good for Corpus this season posting a 2.44 ERA over 73.2 innings. Emanuel had one start where he tossed 7 scoreless and the other where he gave up 3 runs. Overall he has done well since coming back from TJS.

A+: Lancaster Jethawks (54-45) went 3-2 this week.

• Bobby Boyd, CF: .286 BA (6-for-21), 2 R, HR, 4 RBI, SB
• Johnny Sewald, OF: .368 BA (7-for-19), 3 R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, SB
• Drew Ferguson, OF: .333 BA (4-for-12), 3 R, 3B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 SB
• Antonio Nunez, SS: .278 BA (5-for-18), 4 R, 3 RBI
• Jamie Ritchie, C: .353 BA (6-for-17), 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI

• Trent Thornton, RHP: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
• Akeem Bostick, RHP: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
• Rogelio Armenteros, RHP: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 7 K
• Dean Deetz, RHP: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Boyd has probably been the Jethawks most consistent hitter this season. The speedy outfielder is hitting .304 with 8 HR, 31 SB in 71 games. Sewald has hit well since joining Lancaster. He has a .288 with a .374 OBP. Ferguson had a nice week highlighted by a big 2 HR game, including a walk-off HR. Nunez hasn’t hit for much power but he is drawing walks and getting on base at a nice rate (.378 OBP).

Since Thornton’s last start he has been promoted to AA Corpus. He leaves Lancaster with a 4.12 ERA and 16 BB/89 K in 89.2 innings. Bostick has really pitched well since coming back from his injury. Over his last 3 starts he has gone 19 innings and allowed 3 earned runs. Armenteros gave up 4 runs but but picked up 7 more strikeouts giving him 108 K in 89.1 innings this season.

A: Quad Cities Riverbandits (48-51) went 4-1 this week.

• Myles Straw, OF: .375 BA (9-for-24), 5 R, 2B
• Dexture McCall, 1B: .500 BA (8-for-16), 2 R, HR, 6 RBI
• Randy Cesar, 3B: .400 BA (6-for-15), 4 R, HR, 4 RBI
• Anthony Hermelyn, C: .429 BA (3-for-7), 2 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI

• Elieser Hernandez, RHP: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 14 K
• Chris Murphy, RHP: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• Yoanys Quiala, RHP: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
• Matt Bower, LHP: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 11 K

Straw just keeps on hitting. He is now hitting .347 in 54 games for the River Bandits. McCall had a great week and did some damage with 6 RBI in just a handful of games. McCall now has a .283 BA with a .350 OBP this season. Cesar was recently promoted to Quad Cities from Tri-City and made an immediate impact this week.

Elieser Hernandez has been great since going back to Quad Cities. He has a 2.05 ERA with 57 K in 44 IP since rejoining the River Bandits. Quiala, a Cuban born pitcher, started the season slow but has picked it up posting a 3.99 ERA over his last 10 outings. Bower dominated in Quad Cities earning him a promotion to Lancaster where he struggled. He has since gone back to Quad Cities and found his stride again.

A-: Tri-City ValleyCats (19-17) went 3-3 this week.

• Ryne Birk, 2B: .267 BA (8-for-30), 5 R, 2 2B, HR, 6 RBI, SB
• Brauly Mejia, LF: .400 BA (4-for-10), 2 R, 2 2B, 3 RBI
• Carmen Benedetti, RF: .360 BA (9-for-25), 2 R, 2B, 6 RBI
• Chuckie Robinson, C: .353 BA (6-for-17), 2 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI

• Framber Valdez, RHP: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
• Ryan Hartman, LHP: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
• Nick Hernandez, RHP: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

LINE OF THE WEEK:

Joseph Musgrove, RHP, 07/19/16: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K (WIN)

Drew Ferguson, OF, 07/21/16: 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, BB (including walk-off HR)

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**Photo Credit: Richard Guill**