Friday's Trip to Round Rock

We're going to try something different this Friday. Since I've got so much catching up to do, we're breaking down Friday's Trip into the different minor league teams. Let's start with Round Rock's best and worst performances from the past week:

Outfielder Brian Bogusevic has a 12-game hitting streak right now, going 17 for 54 over the course of those games. Bogusevic has seven runs scored and 10 RBIs this month with a line of .303/.361/.382 in 82 plate appearances. Bogusevic also has a double and two home runs during his current streak, which has brought his average up to .279 this month.

Right-hander Polin Trinidad started twice since last Friday and lasted seven innings in each, but they couldn't have been more different. In the first, Trinidad allowed four hits and two earned runs while striking out five and walking two. In the second, he gave up nine hits and five earned runs while striking out five and walking three. His Round Rock records is now at 2-1 after winning the first start and losing the second, but Trinidad only got one run of support last night as the Express were baffled by Charlie Haeger and his magical flutterball. Trinidad's game scores since joining the Express have been 51, 76, 64 and 41 while getting 2, 3, 5 and 1 run in support over that stretch. He's also struck out 17 in 28 2/3 innings, which is right in line with his season K/9 rate.

Shortstop Tommy Manzella was named to the Farmstros Five for this past week, and it was well-deserved. The 26-year old is 21 for 69 with eight walks, nine runs scored, 12 RBIs, five doubles, one triple and four home runs. His line of .304/.377/.580 features his highest OPS of any month so far this season. Manzella leads the Express with 14.7 runs created this month and has a weighted OBA of .322, which is second on the team to Yordany Ramirez.

Bud Norris only made one start and it wasa Phantom of the Opera start. Good, bad, you can't tell which at any given moment. Norris threw eight innings, good. He allowed 10 hits and four earned runs, bad. Norris induced the highest number of ground ball out of his season with 14 and had nine fly ball outs, good. He struck out just one in eight innings, bad. His FIP of 3.33 was the highest in four starts and second-highest in eight, which is good and bad. Norris is sitting at 114 innings pitched this season with 108 strikeouts and 50 walks. His Pitcher Runs Created is at 48.47 and when you compare that to the hitters on the team, puts him in third place behind Bogusevic (50.2) and Manzella (49.5).

Yorman Bazardo started twice, lasting six innings in the first and seven innings in the second. His game scores of 48 and 63 were both fairly good. In the first start, Bazardo struck out one and walked one, which lowered his game score for an otherwise Quality Start. In the second, Bazarod upped the strikeouts to four, but also walked four, so it was a wash... Felipe Paulino has started twice since being demoted from the Astros. Paulino wasn't in the starting rotation regularly at the end of his tenure with the big league team, so his first two starts have been short. Paulino has lasted 4 and 4 2/3 innings in the two starts while allowing two earned runs, seven hits, while striking out five and walking seven. ... T.J. Burton has appeared in two games since being called up from Corpus Christi. In those two games, Burton has pitched 1 2/3 innings while allowing one hit and striking out one while walking none. The 25-year old has a 1/2 G/F ratio and has thrown only 20 total pitches.

J.R. Towles broke his nose after falling off a tractor over the All-Star Game, meaning the Express called up Brian Esposito for a couple games. Towles returned on Wednesday and has gone 3 for 7 in the past two games, bringing his monthly line up to .286/.375/.429. ... Chris Johnson hit another home run this past week. Johnson is 15 for 57 with nine walks, six runs scored, four RBIs, two doubles and two home runs this month.... Yordany Ramirez has a line of .333/.344/.476 in 65 plate appearances. He surprisingly walked for the first time this month in Thursday's game, giving him six walks this season.