Climbing Tal's Hill
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Who’s Hot, Who’s Not for Astros AA Corpus Christi

By Issa Cook

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Mar 5, 2015; Jupiter, FL, USA; A general view of baseballs on the field at Roger Dean Stadium prior to a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Who’s Not: Kyle Westwood

If I’m understanding the Astros philosophy correctly, Kyle Westwood will be on his way to AAA Fresno very soon. Mark Appel’s ERA was 4.26 when he was plucked from Corpus Christi and promoted to the Grizzlies, so you would think that Westwood is perfectly qualified at his mark of 4.40.

In all seriousness though, Kyle Westwood didn’t have a great first half on the mound for Corpus Christi. He had some solid starts where he displayed quality strikes and got batters out efficiently, but wasn’t able to put together a string of starts where his stuff was clicking inning after inning. Coming out of the first half of the Texas League season, he had given up 25 hits and 10 earned runs in 3 games.

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On the season, he has a 4.40 ERA, a 1.45 WHIP, 77 hits allowed, 30 strikeouts, and 12 walks. What was working for him in Lancaster was the fact that he could get strikeouts on hitters in such a hitter-friendly ballpark. He had 88 strikeouts in 2014 and the Astros front office was encouraged by that, as they don’t really have high expectations for pitchers to post low ERAs in Lancaster.

All in all, I think Kyle Westwood needs another season in Corpus Christi before he gets promoted to AAA or the majors. The Astros drafted him back in 2013, so he has some more room to work on his control and consistency. Astros fans shouldn’t worry about Kyle Westwood getting traded before the deadline, so I would say just wait on him to work out whatever he’s been doing wrong in Corpus Christi and we’ll see how he develops from there.

Next: Lance McCullers Jr.: CTH's Pitcher of the Month for June

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