Astros' Javier piggybacks way to award
As a pitcher with Class A Quad Cities this season, Cristian Javier has had to piggyback with his fellow River Bandits. But because of his recent performances, he's earned a recognition all his own. The Astros' No. 18 prospect has been named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week for May
As a pitcher with Class A Quad Cities this season, Cristian Javier has had to piggyback with his fellow River Bandits. But because of his recent performances, he's earned a recognition all his own.
The Astros' No. 18 prospect has been named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week for May 21-27 after striking out 18, walking one and scattering four hits in 10 scoreless innings over two appearances. This is the second time Javier has been named a Pitcher of the Week during his career. He won the Appalachian League award while with Rookie-level Greeneville in August 2016.
Javier opened his week by fanning nine over four scoreless innings in a relief appearance last Monday against Wisconsin and followed that with his most impressive start of 2018, fanning nine again but over six one-hit innings against Peoria. The 21-year-old right-hander's 18 strikeouts were tied for second among all Minor Leaguers over that span. (Eastern League Pitcher of the Week Kyle McGowin fanned 20 for Double-A Harrisburg.)
• View the Offensive Players of the Week winners »
This isn't just a recent phenomenon for the native of the Dominican Republic. He's fanned 65 batters over just 39 innings this season and 40.9 percent of the batters he's faced, the third-highest rate among Minor Leaguers with at least 30 frames in 2018. His 19.6 percent swing-and-miss rate is the best in that same group.
"We get a lot of feedback, even from our own hitters during Spring Training, that guys don't pick up the ball well off him," said Quad Cities manager Mickey Storey. "He doesn't appear to be deceptive, but guys still have trouble with him. We use the word 'hop' when we talk about fastballs, and he really has it when he can ride it in there with some real life. He's good a wipeout slider too, and really, it's just been a good mix of everything so far."
The 6-foot-1 right-hander, who owns a 1.85 ERA this season, has dealt with control issues in the past, most notably last season when he walked 27 over 60 innings across three levels. Javier started this season by walking 11 batters over 11 innings in his first three starts with the River Bandits, but since then, he's issued just eight free passes over his last 28 frames, and last Saturday's gem was his first walkless outing since Aug. 8, 2016.
Storey chalked up part of the improvement to the warming of the weather. Indeed, Javier's first two outings featured gametime temperatures of 37 and 47 degrees at Quad Cities' home of Modern Woodmen Park. But he added that there have been more tangible changes in Javier's development from when he first showed up to camp in Florida.
"It's been the overall command that I've seen grow the most," said the skipper. "He's got the same makeup all the time, along with a quiet confidence. But he gets a ton of swings and misses because of his improved ability to work in the zone. Then, he can work out of the zone when he's ahead in the count. A big thing, too, has been elevating the fastball. That's something they like to develop early in this organization. The really good big leaguers can pitch up in the zone, and if we can get them to do that early like he's doing now, they can be in good shape."
The next test for Javier will be how deep into the 2018 season he can take this run of dominance. His career high for innings in a season is only 60, and he's already 65 percent of the way there. Piggybacking has allowed the Astros to get Javier into the rhythm of appearing every fifth or sixth day while also capping his innings with another scheduled pitcher either ahead or behind him. Storey said starters have been limited to about 85-90 pitches per outing, but that will open up to 100 in a month.
Javier, who continues to exhibit the dominance needed to stay in a starting role, will be part of that expanded group. But for now, his manager can't help but be excited by what he's seen out of his early performance, no matter the role.
"It's a little different what we do here," Storey said. "At this point, it allows us to develop more starting pitchers. We're not limiting ourselves yet. But it also gives our guys a little taste of the pen, too. Honestly, I've been impressed by the way all our guys have handled it. When I was coming up, you were one or the other, and if you were both, that could lead to some issues. But with him specifically, he's been consistent with both. It's been really impressive to see."
Here is the full list of Minor League Pitchers of the Week for May 21-27:
| League | Player | Team | MLB | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| International | Shane Bieber | Columbus | CLE | 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 1 SHO, 7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K |
| Pacific Coast | Austin Gomber | Memphis | STL | 2-0, 0.64 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 14 IP, 11 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 15 K |
| Eastern | Kyle McGowin | Harrisburg | WAS | 2-0, 1.38 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 13 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 20 K |
| Southern | Jon Duplantier | Jackson | ARI | 2-0, 1.59 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 11 1/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 10 K |
| Texas | Ariel Jurado | Frisco | TEX | 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 1 SHO, 9 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K |
| California | Dustin May | Rancho Cucamonga | LAD | 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K |
| Carolina | Keegan Thompson | Myrtle Beach | CHC | 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K |
| Florida State | Austin Warner | Palm Beach | STL | 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 1 SHO, 9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K |
| Midwest | Cristian Javier | Quad Cities | HOU | 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 G, 1 GS, 10 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 HBP, 1 BB, 18 K |
| South Atlantic | David Parkinson | Lakewood | PHI | 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K |
Sam Dykstra is a reporter for MiLB.com. Follow and interact with him on Twitter, @SamDykstraMiLB.
These 15 moments led to season No. 15 of Minor League road trips
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast crew makes Opening Day predictions
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Everything you need to know for Triple-A Opening Day
First, there was big league Opening Day. Now it's Triple-A's turn to take the spotlight. The Minor League season opens Friday when the Triple-A International League and Pacific Coast League seasons get underway for the first of MiLB’s two Opening Days. And right out of the gates, several of baseball's
Top prospects to watch at Triple-A -- one for each organization
It’s Triple-A’s turn up to bat on Friday. The regular season begins for the Minor Leagues’ highest level one day after the action starts on the Major League side. Fun fact: it’ll be the earliest start to a Minor League season since 1951 (March 27). Double-A, High-A and Single-A will
Here's where every Top 100 prospect is expected to start the season
The 2025 Opening Day prospect roster announcements began last week when the Cubs informed Matt Shaw (MLB No. 19) he was making the trip overseas to compete in the Tokyo Series. Roki Sasaki (No. 1) also received the good news, but his assignment was much less of a surprise. Now
Nationals prospect King joins MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Here are the 2025 All-Spring Breakout Teams
Fifteen games, several jersey swaps and countless highlights later, the second edition of Spring Breakout has officially concluded – and it lived up to its billing. Of the 16 contests sprinkled across four days, only one game (Dodgers vs. Cubs) was rained out. Coincidentally, the Cubs were one of two
Rox young sluggers aim to bring pop back to Coors Field
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coors Field may provide the best run-scoring environment in Major League Baseball, but the Rockies haven’t taken advantage of it in recent years. Even without adjusting for Coors, they have fielded offenses worse than the league average the past three seasons, and they scored the fewest runs
Astros brass sees potential in consistently 'underranked' farm system
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The last time the Astros landed in the top 10 of MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings was before the 2019 season. Since those rankings expanded to all 30 teams ahead of the 2020 season -- 11 lists in total -- they’ve never ranked higher than
Complete results and highlights from Spring Breakout
The second edition of MLB Spring Breakout is complete, and there was no shortage of highlights from the future stars of Major League Baseball over the four-day showcase. Here's a complete breakdown of the 16-game exhibition:
Southpaw Spring Breakout: White Sox future on display with Schultz, Smith
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If all goes as planned for the White Sox, left-handers Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz won’t spend much time following each other to the mound in a single game. Schultz, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline, and Smith, who is
In first pro game, Rainer offers pop, promise to Tigers fans
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Bryce Rainer’s pro career consisted of workouts and batting practice until Sunday.
'Me and Brady on the dirt again': House, King reunite at Spring Breakout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 2025 Spring Breakout was a flashback for Brady House and Seaver King. Over 10 years ago, the infielders were travel ball teammates in Georgia who shared the dream of making it to the Major Leagues. Now, they are top prospects in the same organization,
Lambert -- 'an adrenaline guy' -- hoping to be next Mets bullpen gem
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Lambert loves throwing hard. He relishes the idea of getting to two strikes and blowing hitters away. “Get me in a game,” Lambert said, “cool things will happen.”
Stewart embraces Spring Breakout: 'What's not to love?'
PHOENIX -- Sal Stewart was one fired-up Reds prospect. On Sunday in the first inning during the organization's 9-7 Spring Breakout win over Brewers prospects, Stewart lifted a 2-2 pitch that sailed over the center fielder's head to the wall. Already not known as a speedster, he stumbled running between
Prospect Peña quietly drawing raves in Brewers' farm system
PHOENIX – Jesús Made was at the top of the Brewers’ lineup for Sunday’s 9-7 loss to the Reds in the finale of MLB’s four-day Spring Breakout, a fitting perch when you consider that the 17-year-old infielder is under a bright spotlight as MLB Pipeline’s No. 55 prospect. Made could
Brecht -- in 1st outing since '24 Draft -- wows at Spring Breakout
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Sunday's Spring Breakout showcase was the perfect unveiling for Rockies No. 5 prospect Brody Brecht. A right-handed pitcher from the University of Iowa whom the Rockies selected 38th overall last summer, Brecht had a nice collegiate resume, an interesting backstory as a former wide receiver for the
Braves prospects show promise in Spring Breakout
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- As Terry Pendleton prepared to serve as the manager of the Braves prospect team that played the Tigers prospect team in a Spring Breakout game on Sunday afternoon, he said fans should be patient with John Gil and Luis Guanipa, a pair of teenagers who have
Yanks' Lagrange flashes triple-digit heat in Spring Breakout
SARASOTA, Fla. -- There was an audible “Ooh” from the crowd at Ed Smith Stadium, and Carlos Lagrange quickly glanced beyond the right-field wall, checking the velocity of the pitch he’d just thrown in Saturday’s 5-4 Spring Breakout loss to the Orioles. It had registered in the triple digits, and
Bradfield dedicates Spring Breakout performance to late friend
SARASOTA, Fla. -- It was about more than playing in the national spotlight. More than the dinner bet placed with an old college teammate earlier in the month. More than a game. As Enrique Bradfield Jr. slid home to score a run during the first inning of Saturday night’s Spring