Houston Astros Triple-A Report: Singleton Struggling, Monthly Awards

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Mar 8, 2015; Lakeland, FL, USA; Houston Astros first baseman Jon Singleton (21) at bat against the Detroit Tigers at a spring training baseball game at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros Triple-A affiliate Fresno Grizzlies are in a bit of a slump over the past six games, spanning seven days. This past week the Grizzlies went 2-4, being outscored 27-19 over this span, and having accumulated just four runs in their past three games with outputs of three, zero and one. With this slide, Fresno finds themselves looking up in the division at Sacramento, but still just a half game back of first with an 11-11 record.

Preston Tucker continues to impress, going 7-for-22 since last Sunday, including another three home runs and eight runs batted in. Tucker still leads the Pacific Coast League in both categories. What’s most impressive about Tucker through the first month is that while he has 17 strikeouts in 88 at-bats (19.3%), he has only struck out multiple times in a game twice this season. At the very least he’s making contact, and doesn’t seem to be getting fooled much either, as evidenced by his home run total and .318 batting average.

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Domingo Santana has also been making some loud contact this season, belting two home runs last Sunday, giving him a total of five on the season. That’s good for seventh (with eight other players) in the PCL. Jon Singleton went hitless this week, going 0-for-16 with six strikeouts. On the bright side, he did work five walks to maintain a solid on-base percentage of .337, but his batting average fell from .266 on Monday to .218 following last night’s game.

There was some roster movement throughout the course of the week with Houston visiting San Diego, so here is the list of transactions from the past week if you missed anything.

Roster Moves:

Asher Wojciechowski optioned to Fresno, L.J. Hoes called up to Houston

Jed Lowrie placed on the D.L., Jonathan Villar recalled to Houston

Brett Oberholtzer added to the roster for rehab assignment

Hoes sent back to Fresno, Kevin Chapman called up to Houston

Joe Sclafani assigned to Fresno Grizzlies from Corpus Christi

While the offense ranks 5th in runs scored with 118 (Las Vegas has the most with 148), the pitching in Fresno has been struggling a bit with a team ERA of 4.96, ranking 13th out of 16 teams. While the team as a whole may be struggling, there have been some notable performances. Next, we’ll hand out some monthly awards for their achievements, as well as the achievements of the offensive side.

Next: Monthly Awards

Mar 16, 2014; Kissimmee, FL, USA; A Houston Astros hat sits on a wall during the game against the Washington Nationals at Osceola County Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports

Starter of the Month: Thomas Shirley

Tommy to most, but Thomas to Baseball Reference, Shirley holds a 3-0 record to go along with his 2.70 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. He has made three starts and four appearances with Fresno this season, totaling 16 2/3 innings. Since one of his outings was a one inning relief appearance on April 10th, you won’t find his name among the league leaders in any statistical categories since his innings total doesn’t qualify just yet.

While his first start on April 14th was a bit rough, going five innings while allowing four runs on nine hits, he didn’t allow a walk and struck out one. In his two starts since, he has combined to go 10 2/3 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks while striking out eleven. His strikeout to walk rate thus far is a solid 4.67.

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Reliever of the Month: Jordan Jankowski

While I doubt that I’ll be giving away a reliever of the month award every month, special attention has to be given to Jankowski for his performance out of the bullpen thus far. Jankowski has made ten appearances spanning 11 2/3 innings, and has accumulated a 1.54 ERA, giving up two runs this season. He has allowed twelve hits and six free passes, so his living on the edge style may catch up to him sooner rather than later, especially with his ground ball to fly ball ratio (0.53) not especially good for inducing double plays, but somehow he’s getting the job done.

Offensive Player of the Month: Preston Tucker

No surprise here. Tucker has a good shot at winning a similar award in the PCL for April, so for us not to hand it out to him for his own team would be silly. We’ve run down his stats already, so the big question is this: If he continues performing this well, will he get a look in Houston?

In an article in the Houston Chronicle this week, Jeff Luhnow told Evan Drellich that they’re well aware of how Tucker is performing. My guess is that they brought up Hoes earlier in the week knowing they likely wouldn’t use him much. Right now, Tucker is benefitting from getting regular playing time, so unless he’s taking over for George Springer (never gonna happen), Jake “Climbing Tal’s Hill” Marisnick or Colby Rasmus (trade bait?) then he likely won’t be seeing Minute Maid Park any time soon. I really hope I’m wrong, however.

Later this week we’ll hand out some weekly awards for the first week of May, but until then, who wants to see some dingers?

Next: April's Stars of the Month in Houston

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