Rangers Farm Report: Games of Saturday 10 September

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 6, Sugar Land (HOU) 3
Round Rock: 8 hits, 9 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 74-60, 1 GB

SP Cole Winn: 5 IP, 4 H (2 HR), 2 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, 93 P / 52 S, 6.12 ERA
RP Fernery Ozuna: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 6.23 ERA
DH Meibrys Viloria: 1-2, 2B, 2 BB, .336/.465/.518
3B Ezequiel Duran: 2-4, BB, .284/.323/.545
CF JP Martinez: 2-3, 2B, BB, .189/.333/.387

For two innings, Cole Winn was the version of 2021 and early 2022: sharp, workmanlike, at ease. He faced the minimum, threw 16 of 24 pitches for strikes, missed five bats. In the 3rd, the troubled version returned, although he was able to mix in enough quality pitches to avoid being run out of the game early. The slider and change remained acceptable overall, often quite good, but he missed on 13 of 21 fastballs in his final three innings. A 3-0 get-me-over heater was taken deep for Sugar Land’s first run.

While I’ve never given up on Winn, not even close, it was nice to see the old Cole make an appearance.

Long-time division-leading OKC lost, yet Round Rock didn’t claim a share of the division lead. El Paso won its eighth straight and now stands a game ahead of both the Express and Dodgers.

I can’t remember whether I wrote about this or just thought about it, but back when Dallas Keuchel was making his first start and fans were understandably less than thrilled, I thought something to the effect of “yeah, he’s bad, but he can top 100 pitches and probably get through five innings. Ugly innings, but innings nonetheless. The alternative are Kolby Allard and Tyson Miller.” Well, Keuchel is gone, Texas just designated Kohei Arihara for assignment, and Miller is back. He’s marginally better than Arihara, a little stretched as a starter.

Jon Gray will be back tomorrow, per local media. Hallelujah. 

AA: Frisco 7, Tulsa (LAD) 10
Frisco: 8 hits, 6 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 8 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 34-27, 2 G up, 70-60 overall, magic number 6

SP Seth Nordlin: 3 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 57 P / 33 S, 3.25 ERA
RP Antoine Kelly: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 5 SO, 8.10 ERA
DH Aaron Zavala: 1-5, HR (5), .333/.459/.589
3B Justin Foscue: 1-3, BB, SB (3), .285/.368/.479
1B Blaine Crim: 2-5, HR (23), .289/.358/.496

Per usual, Frisco had a very noisy late inning to climb back from several runs down, but it wasn’t enough. Justin Foscue’s two-run single and Blaine Crim’s three-run homer erased a 7-2 deficit in the 7th, after which only Tulsa would score.

Midland lost as well. The standings say Frisco’s magic number is seven, but both teams have a rainout that won’t be rescheduled, which reduces the number to six. I believe Midland holds the tiebreaker.

High-A: wet, cancelled

No doubleheader tomorrow. The lost game confirmed a winning record for the Crawdads, currently 66-64with one to play.

Low-A: Down East 4, at Delmarva (BAL) 11
Down East: 3 hits, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 11 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 32-33, eliminated, 65-66 overall

SP Josh Gessner: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 5 BB, 2 SO, 50 P / 22 S, 6.33 ERA
DH Maximo Acosta: 1-3, BB, SB (44), .262/.341/.361
CF Yosy Galan: 1-4, HR (20), .206/.299/.429
RF Jose Rodriguez: 1-2, HR (4), BB, .197/.280/.285

Yosy Galan hit his league-leading 20th homer. In 36 games since July 27, Galan has ten doubles, seven homes, and just three singles. He’s more power-oriented than most, but one single every two weeks is really something.

Ideally, Down East will steal five bases tomorrow to tie for the most by any team since at least 1990, and Galan will have three of them to secure a 20/20 season.

Today’s Starters
AAA: TBD (No idea. Me, maybe.)
AA: Weems
Hi-A: TBD (Garcia? Acker?)
Lo-A: TBD (Curry)