Speaking of Buies Creek pitchers, Justin Ferrell walked 1 and struck out 7 in 3 innings of work. He has yet to allow a run in 14 innings this season. Season line: 14 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 18 K, 0.43 WHIP, .068 opponent average
Brandon Bailey continues to rack up the strikeouts... 5 IP, H, 2 unearned runs, BB, 8 K; he now has 28 strikeouts in 17 IP this season.
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-fringe-five-baseballs-most-compelling-fringe-prospects-105/ Josh Rojas made the Fringe Five (Fangraphs weekly article that identifies under the radar prospects performing well) again this week based on plate discipline, power, and being perfect in 3 stolen base attempts. Josh James remains on top of the Fringe Five leader board this week with an honorable mention this week (i.e., next five). Last year, Astros didn't make the Fringe Five very often though they usually perform very well in performance-based assessments.
If Rojas were 20 months younger he’d be a Top 100 prospect. His SB so far is pretty amazing, as he’s on pace for over 60 over the course of a season, which would point to elite base running skill. He’s walking 16% and only striking out 11.5%. Granted, he’s only hit 1 HR so far this season, but he hit 10 in 56 games last year. I wish I knew more about his defensive skills. He’s played 3B, 2B, and LF. If he can maintain anything close to what he’s doing once he moves up to AA, his stock will shoot up, but being almost 24 years old it’s tough to fully trust his success in High A.
He's got the best defensive runs (2B, 2 runs) of anyone in Astros full season farm system according to Clay Davenport stats except for Straw. KATOH incorporated them as they were found to be statistically relevant regarding MLB WAR. I agree that age will likely to keep him under the radar until AA.
Lol saying Rojas would be a top 100 prospect if he were 20mo younger is like saying Fisher would be an all-star if he had a 60 bat instead of a 40 bat. Walks and stolen bases are metrics that I've become less convinced are useful evaluation tools for low minors players. -Nolan Fontana was a perfect example of how high walk rates can be extremely misleading. He ran a huge BB% in the low minors and then couldn't do jackcrap when he actually had to hit the ball in the majors. -DDJ is a good example of how a gratuitous SB number in the minors doesn't translate much either. He's had up to 29 SB's in the majors, which is still above average but not elite.
On Fontana, his lack of power and BABIP foretold his lack of hitting ability. That said, he put up an impressive OBP of 0.174 considering his BABIP was 0.
Corbin Martin vs. Frederick: 5 IP, H, BB, 5 K The former Cy Ranch star has allowed 4 hits in his first 19 innings this season.
Brett Adcock finishes off a 1-hitter by walking one and striking out nine over the final four innings as Buies Creek won 4-0. Josh Rojas hit three doubles, two of which drove in a run. Chas McCormick had a couple of RBI singles.
Jonathan Arauz just hit a two-run homer in the second game of Quad Cities' doubleheader, his first home run of the year. Cristian Javier allowed a run on 4 hits, walked 1, and struck out 8 in 5 innings.
In the doubleheader, Adrian Tovalin extended his hitting streak to eight games and RBI streak to six in the first game... and then they were both snapped in the second game. Tovalin (9 HR), Jake Adams (10 HR), Colton Shaver (10 HR), and Roman Garcia (7 HR) all mashed in their debuts, but they all strike out a ton, so it'll be interesting to see whether any of these guys will be able to tone down the strikeouts so that they can tap into their power on a regular basis.
Corpus erupted for five runs in the 6th to take a 6-1 lead on Arlington's AA team. Randy César whacked a 3-run homer (1), while Myles Straw ripped a 2-run triple in the inning. César is currently 3-4 while Straw is 2-4 with a stolen base, his 13th of the year.
Happenings in the system on Sunday... - Kyle Tucker finished 3-5 with a 2-run home run (2) in Fresno's 11-5 win over Tacoma. His other RBI came on a ground-rule double. - Josh James threw 4 scoreless in Corpus Christi''s 8-3 win over Frisco. He allowed one hit, walked one, and struck out six; James now has 34 strikeouts in 20 innings this year. - Taylor Jones hit a 2-run homer (3), Alex De Goti (1, 2-run), and Stephen Wrenn (1, solo) all homered for the Hooks. Jones is slashing .377/.480/.689; let's see how long he keeps this up. - Abraham Toro went 2-3 with a double and an RBI in Buies Creek's 9-4 loss to Frederick. - Parker Mushinski allowed an unearned run on 4 hits, walked 3, and struck out 6 in 4 innings of Quad Cities' 4-2 loss against Cedar Rapids. Mushinski, the lefty from Texas Tech, has 25 Ks in 15.1 innings.
