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Astros’ Hooks: J.D. Davis and Ramon Laureano Carry Offense

By Matthew Bartlett |
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The Astros Double-A Hooks continue to tread water in the division race and find themselves nine games back with just 14 games remaining.

Outfielder Danry Vasquez was released this week following an arrest on August 4th for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend outside of Whataburger field which was later confirmed via footage from security cameras. Major League Baseball placed Vasquez on administrative leave before his release from the Hooks meaning that if Vasquez does sign with another club, he will still face a suspension.

Related Story: Danry Vasquez Released

On Friday outfielder Drew Ferguson joined the Hooks in the roster spot vacated by Vasquez. A 19th round selection of the Astros in 2015, Ferguson began the year with Class A Lancaster. In 90 games with the Jethawks, he has a .313/.410/.531 slash line with 14 home runs and 28 stolen bases. Also on Friday, Pitcher Albert Minnis was reassigned to the Hooks from Fresno. Rogelio Armenteros made his debut on Sunday evening after being promoted from Lancaster.

David Paulino (5-2  with a 1.83 ERA in 14 games with Corpus Christi) and Evan Grills (5-5 with a 3.99 ERA in 16 games) were both promoted to Fresno, making their inaugural AAA starts on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Paulino (4 IP, 7 H,  4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) and Grills (5 IP, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K) were both saddled with losses in their debut but pitched fairly well in their debuts.

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Game Results

Monday: off

Tuesday: @ NW Arkansas W 7-2

Wednesday: @ NW Arkansas L 6-11

Thursday: @ NW Arkansas W 4-0

Friday: @ Arkansas W 4-3

Saturday: @ Arkansas L 2-4

Sunday: @ Arkansas W 1-0

Second Half Record: 28-28, 3rd in the South Division, nine games behind Midland

Next: Offense

Offense

It was a two-man show for the Hooks this week. J.D. Davis and Ramon Laureano drove in 12 of Corpus Christi’s 30 runs this week. A staple in the Hooks lineup since game 1, Davis leads Corpus Christi in hits (111), doubles (28), home runs (18), and RBI (65). This week he reached base ten times with two home runs, a triple, a double, and four singles – driving in six runs.

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Davis is the 14th ranked prospect in the Houston farm system and would figure to be in line for a promotion if not for the logjam of corner infielders in Fresno and Houston. These players are Jon Singleton, Tyler White, A.J. Reed, Colin Moran, Yulieski Gurriel, Alex Bregman, Marwin Gonzalez, and Luis Valbuena (before his DL stint).

The second part of the one-two punch came from the young outfielder Ramon Laureano. Since his promotion to Double-A on July 21st, the 22-year-old Dominican native has a slash line of .296/.418/.617 with 14 extra-base hits in 24 games. With his first-inning single on Sunday, he now owns a seven-game his streak and has reached safely in all but three games in Double-A.

Related Story: Corpus Christi Player Spotlight : Yulieski Gurriel

Bobby Boyd, Antonio Nunez, Conrad Gregor, and Garrett Stubbs all hit over .300 this week and continue to contribute to the club’s offensive improvement. Stubbs continues to average more than one hit per game and has the best strikeout to walk ratio (0.75) on the active roster. Yulieski Gurriel was played his last game for Corpus Christ on August 14th, finishing with a meager .118 average in five Double-A games.

Next: Defense and Pitching

Pitching and Defense

The Corpus Christi rotation saw the addition of talented right-hander Rogelio Armenteros, who leads all pitchers in the Astros’ system in strikeouts with 127 Ks in 109 innings (10.5 K/9 IP). Armenteros brings a 1.28 WHIP and a 3.80 ERA to Corpus Christi, but he hadn’t won a game since July 14th before Sunday night’s victory against the Arkansas Travelers (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K).

Several starters had great outings this week, headlined by Cy Sneed who has been perhaps the most up and down member of the Hooks rotation so far in 2016. After failing to have a monthly ERA under 4.00 since April, Sneed has a 1.89 ERA in three starts in August with a .188 batting average against. This week Sneed’s final line read 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.

Next: Luis Valbuena Done in 2016?

Other notable starts this week came from David Paulino (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K), Evan Grills (7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K), and Trent Thornton (6 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K). The worst night out came from Kent Emmanuel who raised his season ERA by nearly a full point after he recorded just four outs and gave up ten hits and eight runs.

***Statistics from MiLB.com and Baseball Reference***

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