Another month has come and gone for Eddie's Farm. So who are the Employees of the Month?
Round Rock
Position Player: Drew Locke. Locke followed up a strong May with another strong month, earning the honor of the Eddie's Farm Employee of the Month. Locke was 32x101 (.317/.343/.525) with 14 extra-base hits.
Pitcher: His one brutal outing for the Astros notwithstanding, this goes to Josh Banks. He was 3-1 (7-2 since April), allowing 23H/8BB in 30IP for the Express in June, for a 1.50 ERA. Hitters managed a .219 line against him.
Honorable mention: Jonah Bayliss. In eight appearances (11IP) in June, Bayliss allowed 4H/1ER, 14K:0BB.
Corpus
Position Player: Jack Shuck. Hit .347/.426/.376 in 25 games in June with 13K:14BB.
Honorable Mention: German Duran. Hit .342/.398/.425, with 8K:8BB.
Pitcher: Jordan Lyles (though you could insert Doug Arguello in here, too). Allowed 29H/7ER in 30IP, with 33K:9BB, and was rewarded with a 1-2 record.
Lancaster
Position Player: Initially had a hard time giving it to a 27-year old in the California League, but Lee Cruz hit .400/.429/.650 in June, so that took care of that.
Pitcher: Wasn't even close. Dallas Keuchel was 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA in four starts, allowing 25H/6ER in 27.1IP, with 23K:6BB. Looking forward to seeing him in Corpus.
Lexington
Position Player: Our Boy Aaron Bray followed up an April in which his OPS was .440 with a May in which his OPS was .470. June, however, saw him post a .391/.451/.516 line, for a .966 OPS. J.D. Martinez posted a .994 OPS in June, but since Bray is Our Boy, and hit .391, he's our winner.
Pitcher: Zach Grimmett. In seven appearances (20IP), Grimmett allowed 12 hits and five walks for a 1.80 ERA.
We'll pick up with Tri-City, Greeneville, and the GCL Astros when they've had a chance to play more than 10 games.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
