Jorge Alcala vs. Winston-Salem: 5 IP, H, ER, 2 BB, 8 K The one run came on a groundout. Buies Creek got three runs in the 6th to take a 3-1 lead.
Cionel Perez allowed a hit and struck out six over four scoreless innings. Corpus rallied with 5 runs in the 7th to snatch a 5-4 win over San Antonio. Myles Straw went 2-4 and is now up to 23 stolen bases this season.
2 appearances in a row where the stadium gun had Perez as high as 97. And he has 3 other good pitches. If he stays healthy he will be a major leaguer just a matter of starting vs relief and how good he is, but for ceiling I would say #2 SP is a possibility (with #4 most likely assuming he stays healthy).
Miguelangel Sierra went 2-4 with a 2B, HR, and BB. How well he can keep the strikeouts in check will determine his ceiling but next to Arauz he’s the best SS prospect among Houston’s full season affiliates (not saying all that much). Power, defense is a good starter pack.
If he could be what Josh Hader has been for the Brewers at some point that’d be excellent. A lot to ask as Hader is looking like one of the best in the game right now.
He’s not gonna be as good as Hader. Robbie Ray and Felipe Vasquez are the best 2 comps I could scrounge up. Ray is a good MoR SP and Vasquez is a good setup man. Both guys are a little on the smaller side like Perez is, although not quite as extreme.
Quick look at the minor bats with a OPS above 800: Name Position G AB OPS AAA Tim Federowicz C 20 71 1.118 Tyler White 3B 37 134 1.097 J.D. Davis 3B 31 123 1.070 Drew Ferguson CF 35 135 .924 Garrett Stubbs C 20 81 .885 Tony Kemp 2B 38 161 .841 Kyle Tucker RF 36 148 .802 AJ Reed 1B 37 137 .799 AA Taylor Jones 1B 33 116 1.143 Josh Rojas 2B 13 46 1.030 Yordan Alvarez LF 27 107 .916 Myles Straw CF 36 137 .882 Carmen Benedetti RF 29 110 .821 Randy Cesar 3B 30 118 .806 A+ Josh Rojas 3B 24 90 .921 Abraham Toro 3B 38 132 .870 Troy Sieber 1B 26 86 .836 Anibal Sierra SS 34 103 .801 A- J.J. Matijevic LF 13 48 1.155 Jonathan Arauz SS 35 129 .874 Jacob Meyers CF 33 115 .833
A quick look at minor league pitchers who have a WHIP of 1.10 or lower: Name IP H BB K WHIP AAA James Hoyt 13.2 10 4 15 1.02 Kent Emanuel 32.0 27 7 31 1.06 AA Ralph Garza 21.0 17 5 22 1.05 Brock Dykxhoorn 31.0 22 12 27 1.10 Ryan Hartman 29.0 27 5 31 1.10 A+ Corbin Martin 19.0 4 7 26 0.58 Justin Ferrell 16.2 6 4 24 0.60 Kit Scheetz 23.1 15 5 38 0.86 Brett Adcock 30.0 11 18 40 0.97 Carlos Sierra 21.2 13 10 21 1.06 Ronel Blanco 18.0 9 11 23 1.11 A- Humberto Castellanos 5.1 2 0 5 0.38 Enoli Paredes 8.2 3 2 11 0.58 Tanner Duncan 12.0 5 5 16 0.83 Adam Bleday 2 13.2 9 25 1.10 Patrick Sandoval 31.0 28 6 36 1.10
According to the latest installment of Baseball America's Minor League Transactions, Wilson Amador and Juan Corniel were also released. Amador, an outfielder, was signed in July 2013 out of the Dominican for $400,000. He spent 2017 with Greeneville, hitting .270/.308/.356 with a home run and 20 RBI in 52 games. Amador also stole 20 bases for the Appy Astros. Corniel, a right-handed pitcher, signed with the Astros in 2015 out of the Dominican Republic. He split 2017 with the GCL and Greeneville and in 11 appearances (1 start). he went 3-1 with a save and an ERA of 3.00. In 24 innings, Corniel allowed 8 runs on 19 hits (2 homers), walked 10, and struck out 26 between both levels. Opponents hit .221 against him and he had a WHIP of 1.21.
Cristian Javier in the first game of a doubleheader for Quad Cities: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K Javier now has 47 strikeouts in 29 innings this season. He's also walked 18, so the walk rate has also spiked quite a bit.
Hector Perez has struggled mightily this month, but hopefully this outing against Winston-Salem signals the start of a turnaround: 4 IP, H, 5 K
I hope he’s able to play SS everyday. If so we will know within 60 days if he’s a viable prospect or destined for release.
Lefties Ryan Hartman and Parker Mushinski throwing for CC and QC tonight, both off to good starts. Houston entered the season with left handed pitching as a weakness in the system, but so many guys have taken steps forward I consider it a strength. Patrick Sandoval, Mushinski, Kent Emanuel, Hartman, Cionel Perez, and Brett Adcock have all been really, really good so far this year.
Whats the feeling on Straw? September call-up who's going to eventually get playing time for another team?
Ryan Hartman's current line: 6 IP, 4 H, BB, 11 K Josh Rojas is 2-2 with a stolen base and he's driven in the only run of the game.
Straws upside certainly has a lot of question marks, but I could easily see him being our 4th OFer next season. He is plus defensively, and has plus plus speed. Whether his hitting translates enough to be an everyday player is the real question mark. MLB pitchers are gonna challenge the hell out of him given that he is a complete non threat to take you deep. But he has a great eye, and will give competitive AB's.
