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Keeping up With the Astros Prospects: Fresno Grizzlies Win Big

By Eric Huysman

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Once upon a time, a long, long, long time ago, the Fresno Grizzlies had a night to remember. This game happened on May 19, 2015 in a game versus the El Paso Chihuahuas, the Triple-A team for the San Diego Padres. The El Paso lineup included a player the Astros were almost forced to get in return along with Evan Gattis in the offseason trade activity. This player is Melvin Upton Jr., formerly known as B.J. Upton. Also in the El Paso lineup, former Astros first baseman Brett Wallace. What was so special about this particular game, who helped the Grizzles win was the best part?

Last Sunday after Dan Straily‘s start, I had a short conversation with him about his game, and then we started talking about the Grizzly team. Here are some of his comments, “Yes, man our team is pretty much a major league team it seems. We have a lot of talent here. But the whole organization is loaded. So guys are waiting for their name to be called.”

Part of the nature of Triple-A is it is a place where the depth of the major league roster is stored until needed. Also, the most major league ready Astros prospects are also on the Triple-A roster. The Astros happen to have many former MLB players on the Fresno roster, plus the cream of the crop prospect. The Grizzlies won the game on May 19th 12-2, so let’s look at the stars of that game.

The Hot Hitters on May 19

More from Prospects

Someone is on fire, and that someone is

Domingo Santana

. He had himself a game Tuesday. He went 2-5 with his ninth and tenth home run of the season as well as his 23-24-25 runs-batted-in of the season. Santana is so hot that he has raised his batting average to .321. While there is no space on the Astros lineup for Santana, a trade could change things.

Past ten-games: .432/ 3 HR/ 11 RBI’s/ 11 walks

The golden boy Carlos Correa is starting to resume his dominating ways from Corpus Christi at Fresno, and hopefully soon with the Astros. May 19th was a big day for Correa because he hit his first Triple-A home run. Correa went 2-6 which is not great, but he is currently batting .316 after hitting his first homer. Some people are predicting that Correa will be called up on June 12th, but no one knows what Jeff Luhnow is thinking until it happens.

Past ten-games: .319/ 1 HR/ 5 RBI’s/ 3 walks

Jon Singleton is biding his time at Triple-A while regaining his Mojo he lost in his MLB debut last year. Singleton went 4-5 with one run scored and driven in, including his eighth double of the year. Chris Carter and Evan Gattis are currently blocking Singleton from the majors, but a trade could change that.

Past ten-games: .410/ 5 HR/ 24 RBI’s/ 9 walks

Now for the major leaguers who had a good game on May 19th

Robbie Grossman: 2 for 6/ 2 runs/ 1 HR/ 2 RBI’s

Matt Dominguez: 5 for 5/ 2 runs/ 1 HR/ 1 RBI (Interesting note, after a 5 for five night, his batting average is .229)

L.J. Hoes: 2 for 6/ 2 runs/ 1 HR/ 1 RBI (Currently batting .345)

Grizzly Pitching on May 19th

Asher Wojciechowski won his second game as a Grizzly by pitching 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He walked two batters and struck out two hitters. Wojciechowski had his cup of coffee with the Astros, so he knows what he needs to work on to get back. He can’t wait too long because the prospects are on the rise. Lance McCullers Jr. has leapfrogged all the pitchers at Triple-A Fresno, including Dan Straily. If Wojciechowski can’t stay in the rotation, maybe he will find a niche as the long man in the bullpen in the future.

Update from Last Night’s Game

Carlos Correa hit his second home run in two games, which was a two run bomb. He has three Runs batted in on the night.

Next: AstrosAre Winning in an Unusual Way

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