Houston Astros Farmhands Turn in Stellar Performances

Before the action started last night, I had planned on writing about Brett Oberholtzer‘s start in Fresno and speculating on when he could join the Houston Astros rotation. We’ll get to that in a moment, but first we need to call attention to the game that A.J. Reed had for Lancaster.

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Reed, a 21 year old first baseman/designated hitter and 42nd overall pick in last year’s draft, lead the JetHawks to an 18-4 victory over the Ports in Stockton Wednesday night. Well past midnight in Houston, Reed was still driving in runs, finishing with nine on the night. Here is his stat line from Wednesday: 3-for-4 with 3 HRs, 5 runs, 9 rbi and 2 walks. The three dingers gives him a total of eight on the year, with the nine rbi bringing his total to 24, both of which make him the new team leader in these categories, while his rbi total now leads all California League batters.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming. While Oberholtzer wasn’t as amazing as Reed, he did pick up the win in Fresno’s 7-3 victory over El Paso. Obie went 5 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just four hits while striking out nine. This is a vast improvement over his first outing when he lasted just 2 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs last Thursday.

Oberholtzer threw 72 pitches (55 strikes) on Wednesday night, which was a total Jeff Luhnow said he wanted the lefty to be at before considering a promotion to Houston. With how poorly the game went for the Astros last night, and with no real long relief option as Sam Deduno made the start and took one for the team in the process, it’s likely that Oberholtzer will be stretched out the rest of the way while pitching in the Astros rotation.

After failing to record a hit in the week prior to Sunday’s Grizzlies wrap-up, Jon Singleton has gone 6-for-15 since, including last night’s 3-for-3, two home run, four rbi performance. In this same time frame he has only recorded two strikeouts. If he can stay hot for a stretch, it’s not unfathomable that he could get a look in Houston before long. What that means for Chris Carter is anybody’s guess, but the fans seem to be tiring of Carter’s “wait until July” routine.

To recap: Oberholtzer should be called up in the coming days, A.J. Reed had a career night and Singleton is my favorite. Now let’s hope that the Astros can get back on the winning track!

Next: The Correa Timeline