New podcast today. A deep dive into Martin Perez plus Josh Smith, Eli White, Sam Huff, and a bunch of prospects. Link in signature.
Baseball America updated its top-30 rankings for the Rangers. Some notable moves:OF Evan Carter up from 8th to 3rd, and new to the overall top 100 at #75.
IF Ezequiel Duran enters the top 100 at #80 and 4th on the Rangers.
RHP Cole Winn drops behind the previous two at #5, and down to 90th overall.
LHP Cole Ragans jumps from 24th to 14th.
OF Bayron Lora drops from 20th to unranked. MLB.com beat writer Kennedi Landry mentioned that Perez had pitched to now-manager Kevin Cash back in 2011. He did, and I was there:
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 0, Oklahoma City (LAD) 8
Round Rock: 6 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 3 walks, 14 strikeouts
Record: 29-20, tied for first
SP Tyson Miller: 3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 60 P / 43 S, 35156.00 ERA
RP Jose Leclerc: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 0 SO, 27.00 ERA
RP Hever Bueno: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 3.42 ERA
RP Nick Snyder: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
LF Bubba Thompson: 2-5, 2B, SB (26), .333/.343/.491
RF Steele Walker: 1-3, 2B, BB, HBP, .299/.390/.507
OF/DH starts in the 10 games since 5/20, when Nick Solak made his first appearance after being optioned:
Solak — 8
Taveras — 8
Thompson — 7
Walker — 6
Reks — 4 (plus 3 games at 1B)
Calhoun — 4
Smith — 2 (plus 8 games at 3B/SS)
Optioning Calhoun, Reks (now back in Texas), and Solak in May certainly crowded the outfield, what with Leody Taveras, Bubba Thompson, and Steele Walker already there and deserving of steady time. So far, the person most crowded out has been Calhoun, unless he been fighting a minor injury of which I’m unaware. Calhoun started three straight when he reported to Round Rock and pinch-hit the day after that, but since then, he’s started nine of 19 possible games, batting 214/.261/.286 in that span.
Cole Winn appears to be having his rotation turn pushed back slightly. I think I said “skipped” on the podcast, but that’s not quite true. He’s listed as Sunday’s starter, eight days after his last outing. Despite his issues lately, I see no cause for alarm. Texas employed this tactic with a bunch of pitchers (Winn included) around this time last year and is doing so right now with some AA guys. The AAA season is also 150 games, running through September 28 instead of the traditional Labor Day finish.
AA: wet
Frisco’s first venture to Kansas since 2007 was suspended by rain. The Wichita Wranglers relocated to Springdale, AR, as the NW Arkansas Naturals in 2008. 12 years later, the Wichita Wind Surge replaced them as a would-be AAA team, but after the lost 2020 and MLB’s top-down reorganization of the minors, the Surge were relegated to AA before taking the field in their $75 million stadium.
High-A: Hickory 2, at Asheville (HOU) 4
Hickory: 9 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 27-19, 0.5 GB
SP TK Roby: 5.1 IP, 5 H (1 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 9 SO, 86 P / 57 S, 6.21 ERA
RP Joe Corbett: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 2.50 ERA
RF Aaron Zavala: 2-3, BB, .275/.431/.380
SS Luisangel Acuna: 1-3, BB, SB (8), .308/.419/.615
3B Keyber Rodriguez: 1-3, BB, SB (3), .300/.340/.414
2B Thomas Saggese: 3-4, SB (3), .276/.323/.401
In an otherwise fine start, one pitch defined the outcome for TK Roby, a three-run homer by Colin Barber. The lefty-swinging Barber went deep to right, which in Asheville is all of 297 feet down the line and 327 to the alley. Maybe Barber’s shot would have carried in any park, but maybe not.
Low-A: Down East 11, Charleston (TAM) 5
Down East: 13 hits, 8 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 5 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 22-24, 4 GB
SP Gavin Collyer: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 7 SO, 79 P / 50 S, 3.78 ERA
LF Alejandro Osuna: 1-2, HR (6), 2 BB, .318/.424/.508
2B Maximo Acosta: 2-4, 2B, BB, SB (15), .257/.354/.360
1B Tucker Mitchell: 3-5, HR (3), .205/.333/.373
CF Daniel Mateo: 3-5, .248/.301/.338
3B Junior Paniagua: 2-3, BB, .219/.274/.333
As a group, the Woodies are at the low end of the range in everything but homers, but last night they reached double-digits hits for the first time in over two weeks. Alejandro Osuna remains the team’s best statistical hitter by a wide margin. Osuna isn’t on any top-30 list and didn’t even make Jamey Newberg’s top 72, but I think there’s a little something to this guy, even though he’s repeating low-A. Osuna’s just 19, has a keen eye, speed, and six homers in 39 games.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Howard
AA: Leiter
Hi-A: Vanasco
Lo-A: TBD
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Andy Ibanez homered twice, doubled and singled in a 13-2 victory for Frisco.