J.J. Matijevic is on a 7-game hitting streak after a little slump a couple of weeks ago dropped his line to .235/.274/.294. He's now slashing .294/.352/.474.
Yordan Alvarez, Carmen Benedetti, Jon Kemmer, Kyle Tucker, Max Stassi, Jake Rogers, Derek Fisher, and Jason Martin are all in the Top 100 among all minor leaguers (min 200 PA, includes Mexican League) in wRC+. Myles Straw is 108th.
What?!?! That is very odd. Only 24, gave him only 22 innings in AAA and even though his ERA was high he had 14k:3bb.
My guess is he is headed overseas or just no room with guys going back to AAA as McHugh and Keuchel return.
I would have figured they would let Martinez or Hauschild go before Smith. But I don't think roster space is an issue; they can work the inactive list, plus it is likely they are about to trade 1-2 young pitchers from AAA or the big league staff. An overseas deal or a disciplinary incident seem like the most likely explanations to me.
On trading, I expect Astros add pitching in the majors without trading a AAA guy. I expect Martinez will be gone shortly, too. I do agree the overseas is the most likely option. Disciplinary action is also possible.
Or they just didn't think he was very good. A command righty with a fastball that barely hits 90mph has to dominate statistically to get somewhere, particularly in this system.
Ronnie Dawson hitting .257 now, Daz at .249. I know that's nothing to write home about, but it's nice to see top draft picks starting to turn things around
For context, there's only 3 guys in the Midwest League with a .900+ OPS. However, that doesn't count guys like Yordan Alvarez who obliterate the league for 32 games (1.125 OPS) and get called up. Edit: #marchtotop100
Ryan Hartman vs. Winston-Salem: 5 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 2 K Hector Perez is now on the mound for Buies Creek in a 1-1 game in the 7th inning.
Derek Fisher pulled from last nights game and not in the lineup tonight for Fresno. Precautionary because of Springer? Trade a brewing?
Tovalin finished 4-4 with 6 RBI; one of the homers was a grand slam. Corbin Martin and Brandon Bielak also made their debuts; Martin got the start and allowed an unearned run on 3 hits and struck out 5 in 4 innings, while Bielak was the second man out of Tri-City's bullpen and went 3 innings, allowing 2 hits and striking out 6.
