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Astros: Hooks Send Eight to the AA All-Star Game
The Astros’ Hooks Secure 1st Place in the First Half Standings; Send Eight Players to the Texas League All-Star Game.
2016 Hooks All-Stars: @ABREG_1@McCurry_12@DeFish23@BHolmes130@davidpaulino94@TeoscarH@JDDavis26
— Corpus Christi Hooks (@cchooks) June 14, 2016
Keegan Yuhl pic.twitter.com/4gMTMIWhja
The Corpus Christi Hooks, the Astros Double-A affiliate, led the way in South Division All-Star representatives, sending four pitchers and four position players to the North vs. South Showdown this week in Springfield, Missouri. The balanced representation mirrors the balanced attack that led the Hooks to their first half title.
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One of those All-Stars, closer Brendan McCurry, was promoted to AAA this week converting his first save opportunity against the Albuquerque Isotopes on Thursday. Also joining him with the Fresno Grizzlies was infielder Chan-Jong Moon. Ryan Thompson was promoted to the Hooks from Lancaster while Albert Minnis has been assigned to Tri-City on a rehab assignment, then on to Lancaster. Marion Avea has joined the Hooks from Quad Cities.
Evan Grills and Edison Frias have been activated from the temporary inactive list. David Paulino has been placed on the temporary inactive list.
Game Results
Monday: San Antonio, W 5-3
Tuesday: San Antonio, W 5-1
Wednesday: San Antonio, L 1-2
Thursday: @ Frisco, W 3-2
Friday: @ Frisco, L 7-8
Saturday: @ Frisco, W 3-0
Sunday: @ Frisco, W 9-2
First Half Record: 47-23, 1st in South Division, eight and one-half games ahead of Frisco
Second Half Record: 4-2, 1st in South Division, tied with Midland
Next: Offense
Offense
Homers and Selfies #GetHooked @ABREG_1 pic.twitter.com/w9V2KOvvav
— Derek Fisher (@defish21) April 10, 2016
The Hooks had a well balanced offensive attack this week with every hitter, except for catcher Alfredo Gonzalez, collecting at least one RBI and nobody driving in more than five. The offense averaged 9.86 hits and 4.71 walks per game, consistently giving opposing pitchers plenty of traffic on the base paths.
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Derek Fisher walked 11 times while going 5-23 from the plate with a triple and a home run. Fisher is the 9th ranked prospect in the Astros system, but he hasn’t received as much fan fare as Alex Bregman (#1) or even J.D. Davis (#11). After some long drives this week Fisher’s slugging percentage sits at .490, fourth best in all of the Texas League. His OPS (.905 this week) sits at .895, trailing only Bregman on the team. Fisher has quietly become one of the most dangerous three-hole hitters in all of Double-A.
Mott Hoyde continues to swing the bat well since returning from injury, leading the team in hits this week with 8 in 23 at bats producing a .348 batting average and a .375 OPS on the week. Only one of those hits went for extra bases, a double in Tuesday’s game against the San Antonio Missions.
Next: Pitching and Defense
Pitching and Defense
Congrats to the Texas League leader in Saves @McCurry_12 on getting called up to @FresnoGrizzlies! #Growlifornia pic.twitter.com/rReLYunG6J
— Corpus Christi Hooks (@cchooks) June 20, 2016
With McCurry now in AAA with the Grizzlies, Aaron West is expected to take over the majority of the work in the closer’s role. McCurry and West have combined for 22 of the Hooks 33 saves this season. West picked up his ninth save this week, as did starter Cy Sneed. Sneed’s 10.46 strikeouts per nine innings suggest he might have enough “umph” to close the door at the end of games.
#cchooks WIN 3-2! Cy Sneed fans the final 2 in the 9th. He struck out 10 in 4 innings of work...Most Ks by a Hooks pitcher this year.
— Corpus Christi Hooks (@cchooks) June 24, 2016
Francis Martes continues to show improvement with his command and his two outings this week gave Hooks fan plenty to smile about. In 12 innings Martes gave up just six hits and two walks while striking out 12. His one earned run this week brings his ERA down to 3.65, more than 60 points better than where he came into the week at 4.26. Like Martes, every Hooks starter except for Keegan Yuhl allowed two runs or less in each outing and threw at least five innings. If the staff can hold that mark going forward, the Hooks will keep winning the majority of their series in the second half.
Next: Astros to Promote Bregman and Hernandez After AA All-Star Game
Kent Emanuel and Michael Freeman ended the week with an exclamation point. After a rocky first inning for Emanuel in which he gave up two runs on four hits, he and Freeman would combine to allow just two hits in the final eight innings.
**Statistics provided by MiLB.com and Baseball Reference**