Jonathan Arauz (Greeneville Astros 2016), Jose Hernandez (Greeneville Astros 2015), Mitch Keller (Bristol 2015), Abraham Toro (Greeneville Astros 2016), and Brady Whalen (Johnson City 2017) gave outstanding performances on Tuesday.
Jonathan Arauz (Greeneville Astros 2016), Jose Hernandez (Greeneville Astros 2015), Mitch Keller (Bristol 2015), Abraham Toro (Greeneville Astros 2016), and Brady Whalen (Johnson City 2017) gave outstanding performances on Tuesday.
Astros SS Jonathan Arauz , Class A Advanced Fayetteville: 4-for-6, 2B, 2 RBIs -- The big night for Houston's 23-ranked prospect began a knock through the left side in the third inning. Arauz led off the fifth with a double, then snapped a tie in the seventh with a two-run single up the middle. After singling again in the eighth, he grounded out to first with a shot at the first five-hit game in Woodpeckers history. The Panama native is 13-for-21 over his last four games to raise his average 69 points to .244 with a .703 OPS.
Astros P Jose Hernandez , Triple-A Round Rock: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R/ER, 12 K, 1 BB -- Hernandez did not fan more than eight batters in an outing this year. The right-hander eclipsed that total and then some against San Antonio, falling one short of the career high he set on July 16, 2016 with Class A Quad Cities. The Astros; No. 30 prospect retired his first seven batters and, after the Missions tagged him for a run in the third, struck out the side in the fourth. The 24-year-old retired 10 of the final 11 Missions he faced, throwing 61 of 90 pitches for strikes in his second Triple-A start.
Pirates RHP Mitch Keller , Triple-A Indianapolis: 7 IP, 1 R, 6 H, BB, 6 K -- The top Pirates prospect picked up his fifth victory with a strong seven-inning showing against Louisville. Allowing one run on a single in the third, Keller produced his longest start of the season. Overall, he threw 66 of 95 pitches for strikes in his sixth start this season with at least six strikeouts. He's second in the International League with 56 punchouts and ranks fifth with a 3.45 ERA across 47 innings.
Astros 3B Abraham Toro , Double-A Corpus Christi: 4-for-5, 2 RBIs -- Clearly, it was a big night for Astros prospects. Houston's 21-ranked prospect rapped out his second career four-hit game and first this year. Two of Toro's four singles -- one in the fifth inning and another in the ninth -- plated runs. The 2016 fifth-round pick has a seven-game hitting streak, with multi-hit efforts in four of his last five contests. Toro is batting .322/.423/.513 and he ranks in the top five in the Texas League in nearly every offensive category -- average (third), on-base percentage (third), slugging percentage (fifth), RBIs (first, 35), walks (tied for second, 26) and total bases (fifth, 78).
Cardinals 1B Brady Whalen , Class A Peoria: 2-for-4, 4 RBIs, 1 R -- After the opener of Tuesday's game, Whalen had driven in 12 runs in his last three games. The Cards prospect hit his 14th double to plate two runs and also delivered a two-run single. In the nightcap, Whalen went 0-for-4 but drove in another run to strengthen his position atop the Midwest League leaderboard with 39 RBIs. Whalen, making his full-season debut, is batting .305/.366/.511 for the Chiefs.
