AAA: Round Rock 4, Sugar Land (HOU) 0
Round Rock: 7 hits, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 2 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 72-58, 1 GB
SP Yerry Rodriguez: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 33 P / 22 S, 4.47 ERA
RP Ryder Ryan: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 3.76 ERA
RP Fernery Ozuna: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, 7.36 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 5.56 ERA
RP Nick Snyder: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 4.36 ERA
3B Josh Jung: 2-4, .274/.317/.526
SS Davis Wendzel: 1-2, HR (14), BB, .211/.295/.406
Five relievers combined on a two-hit shutout.
Davis Wendzel, pre-injury: .193/.281/.329, 31% SO
Davis Wendzel, post-injury: .244/.320/.544, 19% SO
A persistent issue with Wendzel is pop-ups and sky-high flyouts; he hits them at about double the rate of his teammates, about one of every four balls in play.
AA: Frisco 7, Tulsa (LAD) 11
Frisco: 6 hits, 8 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 9 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 32-25, 1.5 G up, 68-58 overall
SP Jack Leiter: 4 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 4 R, 3 BB, 6 SO, 78 P / 48 S, 5.32 ERA
3B Jonathan Ornelas: 2-3, 2B, 2 BB, SB (13), .298/.357/.429
1B Blaine Crim: 1-3, 2B, BB, .291/.359/.493
CF Kellen Strahm: 1-3, HR (9), BB, 2 SB (8), .281/.393/.413
RF Miguel Aparicio: 1-3, BB, 2 SB (3), .206/.342/.302
A typical outing for Jack Leiter in his penultimate regular-season start. I watched a portion on MiLB.tv, and as usual was amazed by his stuff and frustrated by the actual line. The Drillers swung at 38 of his pitches and came up empty 19 times. He fanned six of 20.
He also walked three and allowed three unnervingly solid flies. One fly disappeared, one was prevented from leaving by CF Kellen Strahm, and one was corralled by RF Aaron Zavala on the track. The 1st inning encapsulated his season: six-pitch walk, two-run homer, then three strikeouts on nine pitches.
High-A: rain
Two today. Hickory was eliminated last week, while visiting Rome leads Asheville by two games for the second-half division title. Two Crawdads wins will secure their tenth winning season in 13 as a Texas affiliate.
Low-A: Down East 2, at Delmarva (BAL) 5
Down East: 6 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 5 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 31-30, eliminated, 64-63 overall
SP Mitch Bratt: 4.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 5 SO, 84 P / 54 S, 2.45 ERA
2B Maximo Acosta: 1-3, BB, 2 SB (43), .262/.342/.359
SS Cam Cauley: 2-4, 3B, .215/.312/.298
In his final 2022 start (assuming no unlikely final-day start on four days rest), Mitch Bratt was slightly out of form and had to endure more than one instance of “I got it, you take it” by his defensive compatriots. Nevertheless, Texas’s 2021 fifth-rounder had a fine first full season, striking out 99 against 28 walks in 80.2 innings with a 2.45 ERA. On to Hickory.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Miller
AA: Brennan
Hi-A: TBD (Stephan / Ahlstrom)
Lo-A: TBD (Santos)
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Spokane lost its playoff opener to Vancouver 2-1. 28th-overall pick Nate Pearson of the Canadians struck out ten in four innings and touched 100 on the stadium gun several times. Down East’s playoff opener against Myrtle Beach was postponed by rain. MiLB also shortened the series to a best-of-three in anticipation of Hurricane Irma.