Astros Minor League Weekly Recap: April 27-May 3

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The Astros were on a ten game winning streak prior to Monday’s action. The team has found a way to stockpile minor league talent while bringing in quality veterans to help the major league team win. The Astros may have the 8th best minor league system, but the quantity of talent is better than others. With the Astros already in playoff competition, the Astros might be parting with some of the future skills to win now. While Astros look to trade for a proven starter, the only untouchables are Mark Appel and Carlos Correa.

While the minor league affiliates have cooled down a little from their torrid start, most of the teams still have a winning record. Winning has become contagious throughout the organization this season. The group of prospects rising with Carlos Correa has won a championship the past two years. The future is bright. Let’s look at what the future Astros have done this week.

Next: AAA Fresno

AAA Fresno 

Aug 11, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros left fielder

Doming1o Santana

(13) reacts after striking out during the eighth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Grizzlies started off the season on a hot streak with the bats but have slowed down a little. They are 12-11 on the season but were 2-4 last week playing against Reno and Tacoma.

Best Single Game Performance

The best single game performance of the week was Sunday’s 6-5 win, where Domingo Santana hit two home runs in the game. This is the second Sunday in a row that Santana has had two homers, so when the Astros recall him, he must be an automatic starter for all Sunday games.

Who’s Hot?

Preston Tucker – Hit .283 with two homers. Tucker now has nine homers and 29 RBI’s on the season; he’s knocking on Houston’s door. Here is the second interview that I did with Preston Tucker.

Domingo Santana – Just because of his game Sunday, he deserves to be in this list despite struggling for the rest of the week. Domingo is still a top prospect, but he is quickly being moved down the totem pole in fans minds with the poor showing in 2014.

Who’s Cold?

Jon Singleton has gone cold recently after talk about promoting him over Jonathan Villar. Villar got the call, and Singleton has struggled after a hot start. Last week he had one hit in 19 at-bats while striking out in approximately 36% of his at-bats.

Grizzly Pitching

Best Pitching Performance of the Week

Luis Cruz pitched five shutout innings, allowing three hits, three walks, and tallying three strikeouts.

Because the pitching wasn’t great, this has led to the 2-4 record for the week. One good note to pass on is that Wojciechowski pitched decently in his first start in Triple-A. He pitched six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits.

Who’s Hot?

Luis Cruz has a high ERA for the season -5.21 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 19 innings so far this year–but he had the best start of the week, too. While Cruz is no longer a top prospect, he could make the Astros as a left-hander in the bullpen. He pitched five innings of shutout ball while striking out three and walking three.

Who’s Cold?

Brady Rodgers – I won’t get into too many details on Rodgers because he’s about to do an interview with me. In his start on the week, he went six innings while giving up five runs. On the plus side, he did have his stuff that day, as he had seven strikeouts.

Next: AA Corpus Christi

AA Corpus Christi 

Mar 8, 2015; Lakeland, FL, USA; Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa (76) at bat against the Detroit Tigers at a spring training baseball game at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Corpus Christi Hooks were hot early on in the season but appear to have hit a wall this past week. The Hooks are now 14-10 after Monday’s late rally stole the win from the Frisco RoughRiders (Rangers). However, last week the star-studded roster had it’s first real test of mental toughness. They played seven games, and only came away with one victory for the week, and that was an 8-1 win last Thursday night. Coming into this week, the Hooks were on a five-game winning streak.

Astros top prospect Collin Moran had his jaw broken when a ball hit him in the face as he was sliding into second base. It was a non-displaced fracture, so he will bee out for a while recovering.

Best Single Game Performance

There were many great single game performances this past week, despite the six out of seven losses. The best single game for the week is Brandon Meredith‘s 3-5/ 1 homer/ 2 runs/ 1 RBI game. (Correa’s 3 stolen base game also could have won)

Corpus Christi Hitters

Who’s Hot?

Carlos Correa – Correa hit .360 with 8 stolen bases last week. Fans have been clamoring for Correa to make his debut soon.

Tony Kemp – Kemp hit .423 while scoring seven runs. With Jose Altuve holding down the fort at second base, Kemp’s fate depends on him learning the outfield.

Who’s Cold?

Teoscar Hernandez – Recently the rising prospect with five-tool potential, has struggled a little. Just look at that batting average.

Corpus Christi Pitchers

Who’s Hot?

Lance McCullers – while he does not appear to have the best numbers, on the season he is still dominating Double-A hitters. I did an interview with McCullers here. Some people feel like McCullers will be a closer type of player. McCullers sees himself as a starter and has shown it with displays like

Who’s Cold? 

Mark Appel – Hold off on his tickets to Houston for at least one more start–just kidding. Appel got hit around a little, giving up 5 earned runs in four innings. Will Appel make it to the big leagues this year this is still to be seen, but he must make better starts in the future. Once Appel makes his debut, look for him to stick.

Next: High-A Lancaster

High-A Lancaster

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

The Jet Hawks started the week tied with Rancho Cucamonga Quakes for first place, having lost five of six games this week. As I stated earlier, all the high levels of the Astros minor league system have struggled recently. Lancaster won their lone game 6-4 to pull back even with the Quakes but quickly lost the next four games. The Jet Hawks may be struggling, but future five-tool player Brett Phillips has been on fire recently.

Best Single Game Performance of the Week

Brett Phillips went 2-4/ 2 runs/ a homer/ and 2 RBI’s in the win.

Who’s Hot?

Brett Phillips – He is on fire right now, but he hasn’t been hot all season. I asked for an interview earlier, and he told me he was struggling at the plate. Soon after that, he broke out and became “Maverick” again.  He batted .440/ 2 HR’s/ 4 RBI/ 7 runs scored.

Who’s Not?

Danry Vazquez – Vazquez went on a hot streak for a few games, but he’s cooled off a little.

Who’s Hot?

Brian Holmes is the guy probably most Astros fans don’t know about, but he turned in a solid start last week. On the season, he has struggled a little, but he pitched well giving up one hit in five innings while striking out seven hitters. He’s not a big name prospect but keep an eye out for him to make the backend of the rotation or serve as long relief for the Astros someday.

Who’s Cold?

Adrian Houser struggled this year and did so again last week. Adrian had a 5.40 ERA in 13.1 innings for the year but allowed two runs in four innings. People say that the path to the big leagues is reliant on your control of your pitches. Houser walked four runners in that start while striking out three hitters.

Check back next Monday for the Weekly Recap post

Here is my top prospect reports list.

Did you miss Part 1 of the Astros top Prospects? Click here

Did you miss Part 2 of the Astros top Prospects? Click here

Did you miss Part 3 of the Astros top Prospects? Click here

Did you miss Part 4 of the Astros top Prospects? Click here

Next: Minor Leagure Week in Review

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