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

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***