Rangers Farm Report: Games of Thursday 7 July

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 2, Albuquerque (COL) 5
Round Rock: 7 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 3 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 43-38, 5.5 GB

SP Kohei Arihara: 4 IP, 7 H (2 HR), 4 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 5 SO, 75 P / 50 S, 5.67 ERA
RP Hever Bueno: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 6.50 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 6.48 ERA
RF Steele Walker: 1-4, HR (5), .264/.354/.424
3B Andy Ibanez: 4-4, 2 2B, .250/.329/.397

According to Statcast, 30% of Hever Bueno’s pitches were changeups (season rate: 4%), all three strikeouts came on changes, and no fastball exceeded 93 MPH (season average: 95.3). Okay?

AA: Frisco 1, at San Antonio (SDG) 2
Frisco: 4 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 5-4, 2 GB, 41-37 overall

SP Owen White: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 84 P / 55 S, 1.62 ERA
LF Dustin Harris: 2-4, 2B, 3B, .262/.353/.469

Owen White was ultimately effective despite some early troubles. San Antonio put two aboard with none out in the 1st and 2nd, and two more with one out in the 3rd, but managed to bring only one home. White retired his last 11 in order, five on strikeouts.

San Antonio walked off victorious on a bases-loaded hit batter by Triston Polley. Polley has walked or hit 13 of 36 batters since promotion to AA. His control during a longer Hickory stint was above average.

High-A: Hickory 3, at Bowling Green (TAM) 4
Hickory: 8 hits, 1 walk, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts
Record: 5-7, 3 GB, 43-35 overall

SP Robby Ahlstrom: 6 IP, 6 H (2 HR), 4 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 85 P / 54 S, 6.05 ERA
SS Luisangel Acuna: 2-4, 2B, .302/.397/.491
LF Miguel Aparicio: 1-4, HR (1)

Miguel Aparicio homered in his first plate appearance back from rehab. 2022 is his walk year, I believe, unless the Rangers place him on the 40 (highly doubtful) or otherwise entice him into staying if mutually desired. Aparicio has enjoyed sporadic attention as a prospect, but for the most part his performance hasn’t measured up. Last year, I was out of the Aparicio business, to be frank, only to see him display unprecedented power and better patience in high-A (.274/.366/.567, 12 homers in 48 games). His subsequent time in AA went poorly: .179/.195/.256 in 15 games, then injured the final month. As happens with international prospects who show enough promise to hang around, he’s been in the system seemingly forever but is still just 23.

Low-A: suspended

Scoreless in the 3rd.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Hearn
AA: Kent
Hi-A: TBA (Krauth)
Lo-A: TBA (Stephan)

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Ricky Vanasco made his pro debut in Arizona, fanning the side around a hit and walk.

To quote myself: “Unless I missed an announcement, the Rangers didn’t sign any other draft picks before yesterday’s deadline.  The top unsigned pick is 21st-round 1B/OF Daniel Robert of Auburn.  Robert is a senior, so he’s not going back to school (not as a ballplayer, at least).  Other unsigned picks, all considered tough signs, were draft-eligible Arkansas sophomore RHP Blaine Knight, high school pitcher Griff McGarry and high school catcher Spencer Smith.”

Robert would sign later. Knight was drafted by Baltimore in the 3rd round the next year, and he’s in AAA now, albeit without much success. Philly picked McGarry in last year’s 5th round. Smith went the juco route and then played for UNC Greensboro as a catcher. He was never redrafted and doesn’t appear to have signed a pro contract anywhere.