OKC was held to 1 run again, losing 4-1 to Omaha. They were held to 3 hits, and Koby Clemens had the only RBI. Nelson Figueroa probably shouldn't be in the Astros' plans at this point, as he gets the bare minimum quality start, walking 1 and striking out 2. Corpus had a 6-run 3rd, but it wasn't enough as they fell to NW Arkansas 10-7. Mr. Altuve was not with the Hooks tonight for rather obvious reasons. Instead, filling in was Mr. Super-Utility himself, Brandon Wikoff. Wikoff would go 1-3 and score a run. Chris Wallace had a bases-clearing double in the 3rd. The next batter, Kody Hinze hit his first homer with the Hooks, a 2-run homer scoring Wallace. Xavier Cedeno had a rough night, only lasting 3 2/3, allowing 6 runs (5 earned) on 8 hits (1 homer), walking 1 and striking out 3. However, Brad James would get the loss, allowing the Naturals to score the go-ahead runs. Lancaster had a harrowing final few innings in their game with RC, but they ultimately walked off with a 9-8 victory. Jose Thompson hit his 8th homer of the season, a solo shot in the 3rd. Adam Bailey went 2-5 with 2 RBI from the cleanup spot. Rene Garcia went 3-4 with 2 RBI. Austin Wates tripled and drove in a run. David Flores had the walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th. Zach Grimmett allowed 5 runs on 4 hits (2 homers) in 5 innings, walking 4 and fanning 2. Kirk Clark allowed the game-tying solo homer in the 9th, but he was bailed out on Flores' winner. Lexington managed to avoid being swept out of Hickory with an 8-7 victory. Holy crap, Delino DeShields had a pretty good game today. He went 3-4 with an RBI, scored twice, and stole his 20th base. He's once again trying to reach the Mendoza Line, and he now stands at .209. Jay Austin went 2-4 with 3 RBI. Ben Heath had a 2-run double, and Tyler Burnett hit his 5th homer of the season, a solo homer in the 5th. Carlos Quevedo allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits (2 homers) in 5 1/3, striking out 2. David Martinez got the win in 2 no-hit innings of relief, walking 2 and striking out 1. After being held to 2 hits and getting shut out last night, Tri-City was powered by Zach Johnson's first pro homer in a 5-1 win over Aberdeen. Johnson went 3-4 with the solo homer, drove in 2, and scored twice. Hector Rodriguez drove in a run, and Jacke Healey drove in a run on an out. As mentioned earlier by rockets934life, Jonas Dufek held the IronBirds to 4 hits over 6 shutout innings, fanning 3. Greeneville scored 2 in the top of the 1st, but allowed Elizabethton to score 3, and couldn't quite recover from that, losing 5-4. Jesse Wierzbicki drove in 2, Luis Alvarez drove in 1, and Ariel Ovando went 2-3 with a double and and RBI. Also mentioned by rockets934life is that he's hitting .367/.424./.533 with 7 RBI on the season. That translates to a .955 OPS. Still waiting for that 1st homer, but his pop is certainly good as advertised. Brad Propst allowed 5 runs on 5 hits in 2 1/3, walking 2 and striking out 1. Rod Quintero struck out 5 in 2 2/3 as the first reliever for the Appy Astros. The Gulf Coasters were postponed. And I don't know the result of the Academy's game with the Royals as of right now. Anyway, one last observation on the Futures Game.... we're not just seeing guys who can throw hard. We have guys who can throw hard with some semblance of control. And that's a scary thought.
It still kind of bothers me that so many scouts and analysts say that Altuve "plays above his tools" like they really don't believe he's as good as he has been showing. It bothers me on one level because I fear that it means that maybe he has just been playing over his head and it also bothers me because it's frustrating to hear the performance of the Astros top prospect met with such a level of doubt.
Kind of like people saying that what Jose Bautista is doing is still a fluke. At some point, you have to acknowledge and accept that the player might actually be that good.
Its something that is ingrained in their minds. It is the old scouting mentality that refuses to acknowledge results and focuses on intangible things like projections and "stuff". This is the exact reason why Billy Beane raped in the early 2000's.
I wish the Astros would have signed Barret Loux last year. Ranger signed him for 312k which is like 2nd round money and he is having a good year in high A with a ERA of 3.29 and 108 strikeouts in 90 innings. Probably would have been Astros best pitching prospect right now if he signed. Instead Wade spent like $8 million for Clint Barmes and Bill Hall.
Jim Callis was on a radio station here in Houston and said something that made sense. Altuve has reached a point where people will stop looking at projections and start looking at his stats but it's hard to say what he can become because what do they have to compare him by? When was the last time a guy that small became a superstar let alone an everyday player? Honestly I think scouts don't know what to make of the guy and it scares them a bit so they stay conservative.
It remains to be seen that his elbow and his shoulder will hold up long enough for Loux to make it to the bigs.
Yeah but isn't that the case for almost every pitcher? Loux was a first round talent. Every signing has its risk just like every draft pick does. I just think it was worth the risk to go after Loux considering his talent. After all, Diamondback liked him so much they picked in the top 10. I just don't understand how a GM can spend millions and millions of dollars on average talent but can’t spend a few hundred thousand dollars on prospects who can help them down the road and if they make it, will be making the minimum league salary for at least three years.
