Climbing Tal's Hill
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Astros Triple-A Notes: Alvarez, Sneed, Quintana impress

By Andrew Gleinser

WEST PALM BEACH, FL - MARCH 11: Yordan Alvarez #72 of the Houston Astros scores before catcher Tomas Nido #3 of the New York Mets can make a tag on a ball off the bat of Nick Tanielu during the ninth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Houston Astros at Fitteam Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on March 11, 2019 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Astros defeated the Mets 6-3. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - MARCH 11: Yordan Alvarez #72 of the Houston Astros scores before catcher Tomas Nido #3 of the New York Mets can make a tag on a ball off the bat of Nick Tanielu during the ninth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Houston Astros at Fitteam Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on March 11, 2019 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Astros defeated the Mets 6-3. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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Houston Astros prospect Yordan Alvarez continues to impress, while teammates Cy Sneed and Lorenzo Quintana are making an impact.

The Yordan Alvarez Watch continues. The slugging phenom hit a slump last week, but came out of it a bit thanks to a pair of homers (and several free passes) this week. Also of note, Cy Sneed essentially replicated his standout performance from a week ago.

A new name has come on the radar in the form of catcher Lorenzo Quintana. Meanwhile, as reported previously, top pitching prospect Forrest Whitley is on the shelf thanks to shoulder fatigue. It may be some time before he’s back in Round Rock.

Alvarez Taking After Bonds

How good has Alvarez been? So good, in fact, that he’s been intentionally walked five times in his last two games (three times on Friday, and twice more on Sunday). He’s still adding to his home run total and carries a ridiculous .357/.453/.760 batting line. Makes you wonder how much longer the Astros will wait to call him up.

Cy Sneed or Cy Young?

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Last week, Sneed tossed eight scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and no walks. On May 27, he pitched in the continuation of the game that was suspended on April 18. In that game, Corbin Martin started but only made it through one inning before play was halted.

What did Sneed do? Why, of course, he threw another eight scoreless innings. This time he allowed two hits and one walk while striking out 10. Unfortunately he came back down to earth on Sunday, allowing six runs on eight hits in five innings.

Looks like there’s a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde situation with Sneed, as you’re not sure which version you’ll be getting on any given day. But he clearly has the talent to have a good MLB career if he can put it all together and capture some consistency.

Not Your Everyday Prospect

Since being called up from Double-A to replace Garrett Stubbs, catcher Lorenzo Quintana has hit .318/.333/.591 in five games, with two homers and six RBIs. This comes after slashing .304/.360/.500 at Corpus Christi. What makes him unique? He’s 30 years old and this is his first taste of Triple-A.

Next. Astros: Straw instrumental in sweep of Oakland. dark

Quintana played professional ball in Cuba for several years before being signed as a minor league free agent by the Astros in Oct. 2017. He was a career .310 hitter there, so his bat seems to have carried over well. One wonders if he might be the next man up should the big club need reinforcements behind the dish.

***Statistics courtesy of MiLB.com and Baseball-Reference***