Houston Astros: Corpus Christi Player Spotlight – Francis Martes

Houston Astros Prospect Francis Martes Has a Big Game

The amount of talented pitching in the Astros’ farm system is astounding and even got better with the draft this year. Throughout the minor leagues, future Astros are dominating on the mound. One top pitching prospect of the Astros is Francis Martes. After a slow start in Double-A Corpus Christi, he has turned it around and is a very promising prospect.

Francis Martes began his professional career by being signed by the Miami Marlins as a free agent in 2013. He was not there very long, as he was traded to the Astros in the Jarred Cosart trade. Along with Martes, the Astros also received two other players still in the organization: Colin Moran and Jake Marisnick.

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Martes has dominated most everywhere he has gone with the Astros. Last year between Single-A and Double-A, he compiled a 2.04 ERA. This year he started with Corpus Christi and had shown signs of being an incredible pitcher in the league.

The big right-hander has many strengths in his game. A middle to high 90s fastball is one of his greatest strength and is one that will have success at the major league level. His next strength is an incredible curveball that he throws hard and with consistency. Those are his primary two pitches and strengths, but he also has a decent changeup.

This season has been an interesting one for Martes. High expectations were given to him, as he is in the top-5 of Astros prospects. But, as previously mentioned, he started out slow, allowing 13 runs in his first three games of the year. But as the Hooks have improved in the month of May and on, so has Martes. He allowed nearly half the runs in May as he did in his first three starts, with 7. June has been just as good or better for him, having surrendered only one run in two starts. Even with his struggles on the year, Martes has still only given up two home runs in 44.1 innings on the year.

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Francis Martes brings much promise to an already-stacked Astros farm system. The velocity on his fastball and control and break on his curveball give him the potential to be a front-line starter for the team in the future. I predict that Martes will continue to do well this year and get the promotion to Fresno.

*All stats via milb.com*