The Astros are 16-9 and are 1st in the AL West. Life has meaning again and everything is fun. Let's get to the Employees of the Month. These players get to park at the front and get 10% off in the Team Store.
Houston
Evan Gattis: Hitting .321/.400/.518 with 9K:7BB gets Gattis the Employee of the Month for April. Gurriel was a strong possibility but Gattis' top-to-bottom month gives him the nod.
Dallas Keuchel: No-brainer for Pitching Employee of the Month. Keuchel allowed 25H/6ER, 36K:11BB in 44.2IP for a 1.21 ERA/0.81 WHIP. These are stupid numbers.
Fresno
Jon Kemmer: Kemmer hit .356/.406/.559 for Fresno in April.
Brady Rodgers: Limited by elbow trouble, Rodgers still gets the nod because the rest of the pitching staff has been hot garbage. Rodgers made three starts, allowing 14H/2ER, 11K:1BB in 16.1IP.
Corpus
Catching prospect Garrett Stubbs hit .341/.413/.634 in eleven games in April - the next-highest OPS trails Stubbs by 191 points.
Dean Deetz: Deetz threw 13.2IP, 4H/1ER, 13K:3BB in three April games for a 0.66 ERA/0.51 WHIP.
Buies Creek
Kyle Tucker hit .301/.372/.566 with six stolen bases in April.
Franklin Perez pitched in three games, throwing 14.1IP, 3H/0ER, 14K:3BB for a 0.00 ERA/0.42 WHIP.
Quad Cities
Even though he only played in ten games, I'm rolling with Marcos Almonte over Jake Rogers. Rogers hit .258/.370/.565 with ten of his 16 hits going for extra-bases. But Almonte hit .359/.406/.667 with 6K:2BB in 39 ABs.
Carson LaRue: Over 20IP, LaRue allowed 12H/2ER, 18K:7BB. Walks are a little high, but a 0.90 ERA/0.95 WHIP over a month will play.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
