I really do not consider Baez an outfield prospect any longer, he still could be useful at first base and the Astros are weak there so he still has potential value. If he has any trade value left the upcoming deadline may be the last opportunity to get any return on investment out of him. Villarreal will likely have fallen off my list of most valuable prospects after the upcoming draft.
The Astros picked up the Brewers minor league prospect at 1B Wes Clarke. https://www.mlb.com/player/wes-clarke-682265?stats=career-r-hitting-minors&year=2025 June 19, 2025 Milwaukee Brewers traded 1B Wes Clarke to Houston Astros for cash. DD
Logan Cerny was released from Corpus yesterday. Cerny was acquired from the Phillies for Garrett Stubbs in 2021. He had a nice first full season with Fayetteville and looked poised for a breakout that never materialized. Hudson Leach, who has essentially missed two months after a really nice start with Asheville, is starting a rehab stint in Palm Beach, and Brandon McPherson, who signed out of indy ball a couple weeks ago, is heading to Fayetteville.
I had high hopes for Cerny. Plus CF defense, speed, arm, power. Just too much swing and miss and looking at strikes.
The FCL squad poured it on the Marlins in a 13-3 win. Wilton Lara drove in 3 with a single and a two-run double, while Ethan Wagner, Darwin De Leon, and Yosweld Vasquez all drove in 2. Javier Perez allowed an unearned run on three hits and struck out four in five innings. Perez is a 21-year-old RHP from Mexico in his first season stateside after beginning his career with the DSL Blue team last year. The DSL Blue team used a late outburst to beat the Rays 8-1. Kevin Alvarez had an RBI single and drove in two more runs with groundouts. Ariel Lebron scored three runs, and Sami Manzueta walked four times. Adrian Ardines allowed three hits and struck out six over four scoreless. Ardines is an 18-year-old righty from Panama who spent last season with the Orange team. After walking 20 and striking out 21 in 20.2 innings last season, he's issued just two walks while striking out 24 in 17.1 innings so far this year. The DSL Orange team blew a 7-1 lead and lost 9-7 to the Royals Fortuna. Juan Rojas had a bases-clearing triple in a 6-run 4th inning.
Joan Ogando vs. Augusta: 5 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K Ogando has had a mediocre outing, two good starts, and a dud this month. The most encouraging sign, however, is that his walk rate has improved markedly from the first two months of the season. Waner Luciano went 2-4 with an RBI as Fayetteville won 5-1. It's been a rough go for Luciano as his stock has plummeted since moving out of the complex leagues. However, he's slashing .259/.371/.448 in June, which is most likely his best month in who the hell knows. Luciano is playing the entire year at age 20, so he has a bit of time to salvage his standing in the organization. He's now a 3B, so there's some added pressure to sustain this offensive improvement.
Zach Cole tripled and hit his 6th home run of the season. Too bad he's had injury issues the last two years; had he stayed healthy he'd probably be in Sugar Land right about now.
9. The Astros have a knack for venturing off the beaten path to find pitchers. Former Missouri righthander Bryce Mayer may be the latest example after Houston drafted him in the 16th round in 2024. The 23-year-old proved to be too much for Low-A hitters to handle, and he earned a quick ticket to High-A in May. “He’s got a good vertical break on his fastball and good extension,” Astros farm director Jacob Buffa said. “He’s in the zone a lot.” https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/10-mlb-prospects-who-caught-our-attention-in-june/
Jancel Villarroel went 2-2 with an RBI single, an RBI double, drew a walk, and scored three runs in Fayetteville's 10-1 win over Augusta. Dylan Howard allowed a run on two hits and struck out three in five innings of work, and Brandon McPherson walked two and struck out four over the final four innings in his Woodpeckers debut.
Colby Langford was the first man out of the Asheville bullpen tonight and he turned in three scoreless innings, allowing three hits, walking one, and striking out three. Langford has only allowed three hits in 15.2 innings (.065 opponent average) on the road... but 21 walks has negated that. A pretty serious red flag is his inability to limit walks. He's been hovering around 8 BB/9, which is simply horrid.
Brice Matthews had a pair of doubles and scored a run for Sugar Land. He's now slashing .285/.404/.481 on the year.
With the obligatory K. Just one game without a K would be an improvement. Singleton also went 2 for 4 with a HR.
[QUOTE="MAstroS, post: 15788279, member: 62379" Singleton also went 2 for 4 with a HR.[/QUOTE] How was the bat flip?