Astros Minor League Notes: Week Ten

Another week of baseball is in the books. Let’s look at some news and notes. I will start with a few players who have been hot in the Astros system!

Who’s hot?

Logan Cerny – Cerny was acquired in the trade that sent Stubbs to Philadelphia. Cerny started a bit slow but has been on fire of late. This week the righty hit .476 with 2 2B, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 4 SB. Over his last 12 games, he has 10 XBHs, 22 RBI and 7 SB.

Joey Loperfido – Loperfido has been solid all season but has really turned it on. This week he hit .478 with 7 RBI bringing up up to .838 OPS. Since May 1st, the lefty hitter is slashing .328/.421/.467 in 33 games. He may not be in Low-A much longer.

Michael Sandle – Sandle has quietly put up solid numbers through his first two seasons. The 10th round pick from 2021 hit .375 with 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI this week. Overall he has a .817 OPS in High-A this season.

J.J. Matijevic – Matijevic started the season hot and has really yet to slow down. The lefty hitter batted .417 with 2 2B, 2 HR this week. He is hitting .315 with 11 HR, 34 RBI and a 1.007 OPS in 38 Triple-A games.

Sugar Land Space Cowboys

The Space Cowboys were solid this week going 3-3, putting them at 24-36 overall this season. The pitching got some good performances. J.P. France had another solid outing allowing 1 run over 6 innings with 8 strikeouts. Ronel Blanco continues to pitch well in relief with a 1.80 ERA and 21 K in 15 innings. Chad Donato also had a good start striking out 9 over 5.1 innings. Hunter Brown had two good outings striking out 13 over 8 innings this week. He has 73 K in 52 innings this season. Overall the team has a 4.86 ERA.

The offense had a few good performances. J.J. Matijevic continues to rake hitting 2 2B, 2 HR. He now has a 1.007 OPS this season. Pedro Leon connected on another HR and now has 15 2B, 9 HR, 15 SB in 51 games this season. Enmanuel Valdez made his Triple-A debut this week and hit .350 with 2B, 3B, 2 HR in 5 games. Overall the team has a .752 OPS. The Space Cowboys are back in action tonight at 7:05 CT.

Corpus Christi Hooks

The Hooks struggled this week going 2-4, putting them at 24-33 this season. Jimmy Endersby pitched well allowing 1 run over 6 innings in his first start and going 4 innings with 1 earned run in the next. He has a 2.83 ERA this season. Jose Bravo pitched in a game this week and went 6 innings allowing 1 run with 7 strikeouts. Jaime Melendez had his best outing of the season striking out 5 over 5 scoreless innings. Julio Robaina also pitched well striking out 7 over 4 scoreless. The staff went from a 6.17 ERA down to a 5.91 ERA.

The offense struggled a bit with the loss of Valdez. Luke Berryhill continued his on base streak and now has a .411 OBP this season. Yainer Diaz hit .292 but had 3 HRs bringing his OPS up to .865. Justin Dirden was solid again with 2 HR, giving him a .906 OPS this season. Jordan Brewer and Will Wagner both made their Double-A debut this week. The Hooks are back at it today at 6:35 CT.

Asheville Tourists

Asheville went 2-4 this week putting them at 22-34 overall. They got some good pitching led by Spencer Arrighetti who struck out 8 over 5 scoreless innings. He has 71 K in 47.1 innings. Chayce McDermott had a dominant start striking out 10 over 6 innings. He has 74 K in 49.2 innings. Rhett Kouba made his High-A debut allowing 3 runs over 6 innings of work. Overall the ERA sits at 6.56 this season.

The offense was solid. Colin Barber followed up a great week hitting .333 with a homer and 4 RBI. He has a .969 OPS this season. Michael Sandle had a good week hitting .375 with 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI. Quincy Hamilton is hitting .344 in 16 High-A games. Nerio Rodriguez has a .920 OPS this season. The team has an overall OPS of .761 this season.  The Tourists start a new series today at 5:35 PM CT.

Fayetteville Woodpeckers

The Woodpeckers continue to play well going 4-1 putting them at 27-29 overall. The pitching was great again. Deylen Miley tossed 4 scoreless lowing his ERA to 4.46. Miguel Ullola showed off striking out 7 over 4 scoreless innings. He has a 2.08 ERA with 32 K in 21.2 innings. Another 20 year old, Edinson Batista, tossed 4 scoreless as well dropping his ERA to 2.97. Astros 2nd round pick in 2020, Alex Santos, leads the team in strikeouts with 52.  The staff ERA is down to 4.23.

Logan Cerny had another insane week. In five games he hit .476 with 13 RBI. Joey Loperfido went off this week too hitting .478 with 7 RBI. He looks ready for High-A. Justin Williams has played in five games and is hitting .368 with 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI. Miguel Palma had a solid week batting .500. The 20 year old catcher has a .700 OPS. The Woodpeckers are back tonight at it at 6:05 CT.