Astros Minor League Weekly Recap: April 27-May 3

AAA Fresno 

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

(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