The Double-A Midland RockHounds, coming off three straight league championships, entered 2017 without a lot of star power in their lineup. There were three members of our Community Prospect List — infielders Richie Martin, Max Schrock, and an injured Yairo Munoz, and even two of them were coming off down years. By the team’s All-Star break in June, Munoz had moved up to Triple-A and Martin had fallen flat at the plate.
Reinforcements have arrived, though, from multiple avenues. The Hounds opened the second half by bringing up two members of the 2016 draft class: C Sean Murphy (3rd round), and OF Tyler Ramirez (7th round).