The Houston Astros have been turning heads all season so far. At 44-22, they sit atop the American League West with an 11-game lead over the second place Los Angeles Angels. They have the best record in baseball and nothing seems to be able to slow them down. Even unfortunate injuries to starting players. Houston has so much depth in their minor league system that once one goes down, another steps in.
That was the case on Wednesday when the Astros placed outfielder Josh Reddick on the 10-day disabled list due to a concussion. With no panic at all, Houston called up one of their hottest hitting players in the minors, Derek Fisher. Fisher has been tearing it up all season for the Fresno Grizzlies of the Pacific Coast League. Before the call-up, he was batting .335 with 16 home runs and 45 RBI. Fisher was in a zone his last 17 games where he hit safely in 16 of them, with two hitting-streaks of nine games and seven games respectively.
The Houston Astros selected Fisher in the first round of the 2014 draft, and he’s been flying through the system ever since. He started his professional career with the Gulf Coast Astros before heading off to the Tri-City ValleyCats of the New York-Penn League. 2015 had him get to the Class-A Advanced level playing for the Lancaster JetHawks (No longer affiliated with Houston).
Last season Fisher made it up to Triple-A Fresno after playing in over 100 games in Double-A Corpus Christi. His average wasn’t as high as it had been in the smaller sample size of the highest minor league level, but he did hit five home runs in 27 games.
Other than his batting average and home runs this season in Triple-A, he had 19 doubles (3rd in the PCl), 82 hits (5th in PCL), and he added 13 stolen bases which puts him third in the league. Fisher has a skill set that will play anywhere and he seemingly can do everything. It is a well deserved promotion and could be his chance to make an impact on an already World Series contender.
Fisher is penciled in the #8 spot in the lineup Wednesday night against the Texas Rangers. Another one of Houston’s top prospect Francis Martes is making his for professional start as well. He made his debut already but this is his first start.s
John Ginder
John has recently graduated from the University at Albany with a B.A. in History and is currently finishing his Master's Degree there as well in secondary education. After being away from school for over two decades he decided to go back and work towards his dream of becoming a social studies teacher.
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