Rangers Farm Report: Games of Saturday 16 July

Final Mock Draft Predictions
C Kevin Parada — Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, Carlos Collazo of Baseball America, Kiley McDaniel of ESPN

OF Elijah Green — Jim Callis of MLB.com, Keith Law of The Athletic

IF Jackson Holliday — Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs.com

Futures Game
Jack Leiter retired C Diego Cartaya (high-A), Pete Crow-Armstrong (high-A), and Joey Wiemer (AA) on nine pitches using a 96-98 fastball and 83 slider. Wiemer hit a farly deep fly, while the other grounded out.

1B Dustin Harris drove in the game’s first run with a softly lined single off Bobby Miller (AA). Harris was hitless against Miller in a May meeting between Frisco and Tulsa. Harris also walked and hit another soft singleoff Andrew Abbott (AA).

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 1, at El Paso (SDG) 7
Round Rock: 7 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 46-43, 6 GB

SP Tyson Miller: 2.2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 3 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 67 P / 44 S, 5.36 ERA
RP Nick Snyder: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 5.89 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 6.00 ERA
RP Yerry Rodriguez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 4.50 ERA
1B Andy Ibanez: 2-4, 2 2B, .270/.321/.430

Texas designated OF Zach Reks for assignment to make room for reliever Jonathan Hernandez. Other than perhaps Demarcus Evans, Reks was who I had in mind since last winter as first in line whenever the Rangers had to create roster space. Nothing against him. He just wasn’t getting much attention and didn’t seem part of even the short-term plan. He proved me wrong and collected his first MLB hit and eight more, but ultimately he had the same problem as last year with the Dodgers, a complete cratering of his his BB/SO ratio. Reks has zero walks and 17 strikeouts in 44 trips to the plate.

Texas also optioned catcher Sam Huff and recalled OF Nick Solak.

AA: Frisco 2, Midland (OAK) 14
Frisco: 8 hits, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 6 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 9-8, 4 GB, 45-41 overall

SP Avery Weems: 4.2 IP, 3 H (2 HR), 4 R, 1 BB, 2 HBP, 5 SO, 71 P / 42 S, 5.56 ERA
RP Marc Church: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
RF Kellen Strahm: 2-4, HR (5), .277/.406/.380
DH Sandro Fabian: 3-4, 2B, .249/.320/.463

Justin Slaten (0.2 IP, 6 R) and Josh Smith (1 IP, 4 R) followed Avery Weems. Marc Church has fanned six of 14 batters in AA.

High-A: Hickory 6, Wilmington (WAS) 5
Hickory: 10 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 7-13, 7 GB, 45-41 overall

SP Larson Kindreich: 3 IP, 7 H (2 HR), 4 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 78 P / 48 S, 2.50 ERA
RP Leury Tejeda: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 4.01 ERA
RP Juan Mejia: 2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 1 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 5.12 ERA
RP Tyree Thompson: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 6.00 ERA
DH Evan Carter: 1-3, HR (8), .266/.366/.464
LF Trevor Hauver: 2-3, HR (10), .222/.380/.407
3B Keyber Rodriguez: 2-3, 2B, BB, .263/.318/.350

Like yesterday, Hickory badly needed innings from its starter and didn’t get them. Larson Kindreich is a good prospect but not without occasional control issues. Three walks, two wild pitches, and other issues resulted in his shortest outing as a Crawdad. Kindreich had allowed a total of four hits in his first three high-A starts.

Management absolutely must spring for guac on Leury Tejeda’s next Chipotle burrito for saving the day with three solid innings. Juan Mejia, promoted from Down East specifically because of this situation as best as I can tell, added two innings.

Both Carter and Hauver homered for the second day in a row.

Low-A: Down East 5, Columbia (KAN) 2
Down East: 10 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 0 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 12-7, 1.5 GB, 45-40 overall

SP Mitch Bratt: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 HBP, 7 SO, 82 P / 55 S, 1.81 ERA
RP Kai Wynward: 3.1 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 1 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 3 SO, 1.23 ERA
SS Cam Cauley: 2-4, HR (2), SB (21), .200/.301/.281
CF Yosy Galan: 2-4, HR (11), SB (13), .232/.322/.429

Mitch Bratt wasn’t bad in his first four outings this season, just a little walk-prone. Since then: 38.2 IP, 6 BB, 49 SO, 1.16 ERA, .181/.237/.268 opposing line. He turned 19 two weeks ago and is in his first full professional season, so I’m not feeling any urgency toward a promotion, but I suppose some late action in Hickory is a possible, if not likely. Bratt has 7-8 potential starts remaining, assuming he’s not shut down early, another possibility.

Much as I enjoy watching him, Yosy Galan does have contact issues. His K rate over his last 20 games is 44%.

Rookie:
I’ll save the weekly recap for another day, but I wanted to note that pitchers Dane Acker and Kyle Cody took the mound yesterday. Acker was part of the Elvis Andrus trade. After just two appearances for Down East last May, he succumbed to elbow surgery. Kyle Cody underwent shoulder surgery last September. Acker retired six straight with three strikeouts, and Cody whiffed one in a 1-2-3 3rd.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Allard
AA: TBD
Hi-A: Englert
Lo-A: TBD (Santos)

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Hickory’s Kyle Cody reeled off a fifth straight strong start, holding Greenville scoreless for six innings.