According to an article in the Fresno Bee on Saturday, uber prospect Carlos Correa has been making waves in his short time with the Fresno Grizzlies. The linked article has some great tidbits provided by Bryant-Jon Anteola, including one quote from a major-league scout that wished to remain anonymous, “He’s the real deal. The game seems to come easy for him.” Of course this is nothing that we didn’t already know, but it sure is nice to be reassured on a daily basis, isn’t it?
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The Bee’s article also mentions a piece from the Houston Chronicle in which they interviewed Houston Astros’ General Manager Jeff Luhnow, with the GM having previously said that it takes two weeks to evaluate a player in the minors. Anteloa goes on to say that given that timeline, Correa’s two weeks would be up after Tuesday’s game in Fresno. Of course, there is still the Super Two status that could be an issue, but as always, there will be speculation about when Correa will get the call until that glorious day arrives. He is currently batting .288 with Fresno after an 0-for-4 outing on Sunday.
As for the Grizzlies, they took three of four from visiting Nashville (A’s) over the weekend, pushing their record to 25-18 and padding their lead over Sacramento (Giants) to 4.5 games. On Sunday Dan Straily followed up his last start (6 IP, 7 hits, 7 K’s) with another solid outing, going seven innings of three-run ball, lowering his ERA on the season to 4.25. As we mentioned last week, Straily told co-editor here at CTH Eric Huysman that he watched some video before his last start and made some minor mechanical tweaks. Those adjustments have sure been paying off, as the righty has totaled 13 innings in his last two starts giving up just the three runs while striking out 13 and walking just two in the process.
The other sterling pitching performance of the weekend goes to Thomas Shirley who went six innings of two hit ball on Saturday, allowing one run and striking out seven. This is on the heels of his start on May 16th, where he went 4 2/3 of two hit ball, allowing one run and striking out eight. Shirley seems to have been allotted more pitches in his outing over the weekend, throwing 18 more than in his outing on the 16th.
Now for the big question: How is Jon Singleton doing? Lucky for you I’ll never tire of saying that he’s on a tear, going 6-for-16 (.375) with two home runs and six rbi over the weekend. One of those home runs was off of a rehabbing Sean Doolittle, Oakland’s closer, on Sunday afternoon. Over his last ten games, Singleton is batting .341 with more walks (seven) than strikeouts (six). Bryce Harper may be leading the majors in rbi with 41, Singleton is leading the Pacific Coast League with his 47 rbi on the season, and 37 of those coming in the month of May. He’s struggling against lefties this season with a .209 batting average, but is absolutely raking against righties with a .352 average, .482 on-base percentage, .857 slugging and an incredible 1.340 OPS.
As hot as Singleton has been, L.J. Hoes has been on fire all season in his own right, holding a .345 batting average. In his past ten, Hoes has turned up the heat even more, batting .415 with two homers and eight driven in.
One player that has struggled all season is Max Stassi, who has been hovering around the Mendoza Line all season, and currently finds himself with a .194 batting average and .257 OBP. In a weird twist, thankfully the Astros have Hank Conger.
Another player that has struggled recently is Joe Sclafani who has is batting well below his career average of .289 with a .225 mark between Fresno and a brief stint with Corpus Christi. On the bright side, Sclafani’s OBP is hanging tough at .376 with Fresno this season, just below his career mark of .381.
The Grizzlies wrap up their home stand with four against Memphis (Cardinals) Monday through Thursday before heading out on the road to take on Oklahoma City (Dodgers) to close out the month.