Rangers Farm Report: Games of Saturday 2 July

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 8, at Las Vegas (OAK) 6
Round Rock: 11 hits, 6 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 5 walks, 15 strikeouts
Record: 41-36, 6.5 GB

SP Taylor Hearn: 5 IP, 5 H (1 HR), 4 R, 3 BB, 7 SO, 79 P / 53 S, 7.20 ERA
RP Yerry Rodriguez: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.31 ERA
RF Bubba Thompson: 3-4, HR (9), BB, .297/.337/.456
LF Josh Sale: 1-4, HR (6), BB, .282/.378/.577

Ezequiel Duran, center fielder extraordinaire (video). I’m sure someone like Leody Taveras would have taken a cleaner route, but Duran made a tough play requiring a snap decision and physical commitment. Otherwise, I’ve only watched snippets of the last two games and don’t have a read on Duran’s outfield prowess. (He was an infielder during the Ragans and Winn starts I saw in person.) Plus, judging outfielders on tv is pretty much impossible because the reads and initial steps are almost never visible.

Yerry Rodriguez threw a pitch 100.1 MPH, the first triple-digit toss by an Express pitcher this season. It was fouled off preceding Duran’s grab. Rodriguez broke his own team record of 99.8.

The Rangers did not option reliever Jonathan Hernandez but were able to extend his rehab assignment for ten days, which required league and Players Association approval. Relievers Demarcus Evans and Spencer Patton both cleared waivers and were outrighted to AAA. Spencer Howard is on Texas’s taxi squad.

AA: Frisco 2, Corpus Christi (HOU) 3
Frisco: 4 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts
Record: 2-3, 2 GB, 38-36 overall

SP Tim Brennan: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 68 P / 48 S, 3.67 ERA
RP Kevin Gowdy: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 9.00 ERA
RP Josh Smith: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 2.57 ERA

Down 3-1, Frisco started the 8th with a single and double and in the 9th had runners at the corners with one out. Out of those situations, one run scored. Corpus Christi CF Justin Dirden caught a Dustin Harris fly at the deepest spot in the park to end the 8th. In the 9th, a failed double steal erased the lead runner, after which David Garcia struck out.

High-A: Hickory 8, Greensboro (PIT) 0 (7)
Hickory: 8 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 4-4, 1.5 GB, 42-32 overall

SP Larson Kindreich: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 SO, 80 P / 46 S, 1.00 ERA
CF Jayce Easley: 2-4, .245/.368/.382
C Randy Florentino: 2-3, HR (1), .286/.378/.351

Mother Nature called this one early. Larson Kindreich pitched to form. The median Kindreich appearance in 2022: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 SO. He’s allowed 29 hits and 29 combined walks and hit batters.

Hickory hadn’t hit well with runners in scoring position lately but collected three such hits while batting around in the 5th.

Low-A: Down East 4, Kannapolis (CHW) 1
Down East: 4 hits, 7 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 5-3, 2 GB, 38-36 overall

SP Mitch Bratt: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 SO, 77 P / 50 S, 2.08 ERA
RP Nick Lockhart: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 5.26 ERA
CF Yosy Galan: 1-2, HR (10), BB, .232/.320/.441

The Woodies have scored a modest 3.6 runs per game during the last month but are 15-10 thanks to the pitching (and defense). Down East has allowed an average of 3.4 runs and 6.0 hits per game in that span.

Mitch Bratt has started five of those games, permitting three runs in 24 innings while striking out 30 and walking only four. Last year’s 5th-rounder turned 19 this morning.

Yosy Galan is Down East’s first to ten homers, good enough for a fifth-place tie in the relatively pitcher friendly Carolina League. Ten homers would place him 12th (Sally), 21st (Texas), or 23rd (PCL) in Texas’s other full-season minor leagues.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Ragans
AA: TBD (Brennan’s listed but nope)
Hi-A: Englert
Lo-A: TBD (Winston Santos’s turn)

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Down East’s Kyle Cody fanned ten in six scoreless innings.