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Lancaster JetHawks Update: High-A Team Is Dominating Opponents

By Brian Del Castillo

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In my weekly update of the Lancaster JetHawks last week, I focused on the lack of team success as they won just one game of seven.  The news is much better this week.  The Jethawks have not lost since that report.  Instead, they have dominated their opponents.

Lancaster got off to a roaring start on May 6th with an 18-4 shellacking of Stockton.  The offensive attack was led by no other than the 2014 Golden Spikes award winner, A.J. Reed.  The first baseman had a night to remember, slugging three home runs, driving in nine, walking twice, and scoring five times.  He would be 9-19 coming into Tuesday night’s late affair, raising his season average to .266.

Reed, who struggled early in the season, has clearly gotten it going.  All eyes are usually on him and Brett Phillips.  However, the rising star J.D. Davis at third base has also commanded attention as one of the big three offensive players for Lancaster.  This week, Davis continued his hot streak with hits in 11 of his 22  at-bats.  His average is now .339 on the season.

As for Brett Phillips, he had a mere human week scattering four hits with no homers.  The same could be said of the surprising second baseman Jose Fernandez who saw his hit streak come to an end on Saturday, May 9.  Despite his average dropping to ONLY .325, Fernandez still sports a nice .409 on-base percentage.  With his lack of pop, he still has shown value as a heart of the order hitter, batting fifth regularly.

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While Fernandez seems to be an excellent candidate for the #2 slot in the lineup behind Phillips, Jack Mayfield has instead gotten the call there.  Mayfield is a right-handed hitting shortstop who is just under six feet tall.  His bat has been consistent all year to the tune of a .310 batting average and .367 on-base.

The JetHawks weren’t all offense in this past week.  There were some nice pitching performances as well.  Brian Holmes, a 24 year-old, 6’4″ southpaw, tossed six shutout innings on May 7th.  He surrendered only two hits and one walk while punching out ten.  Chris Cotton got in on the action that night with all five of his outs recorded coming by way of the whiff as Lancaster blanked Stockton 2-0.

Coveted arm Michael Feliz had a strong showing, scattering three hits and striking out three over four shutout innings.  His ERA on the year is now 3.91.

That’s your recap for this week of the Houston Astros high-A farm club.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed for another unblemished week ahead.  Go JetHawks and go ‘Stros!

Next: Astros Players of the Week (Week 5)

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