AAA: Round Rock 18, at Albuquerque (COL) 6
Round Rock: 20 hits, 10 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 16 hits, 6 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 25-22, 9.5 GB
SP James Marvel: 4 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 82 P / 53 S, 4.91 ERA
RP Marc Church: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Lucas Jacobsen: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 3.78 ERA
2B Justin Foscue: 2-5, BB, HBP, .274/.390/.463
1B Blaine Crim: 2-5, BB, .264/.368/.429
SS Davis Wendzel: 2-4, 2 HR (7), 2 BB, .243/.361/.471
C Matt Whatley: 3-6, 2 2B, .237/.308/.305
Davis Wendzel homered twice, the latter a grand slam that landed in Las Cruces. Actually 448 feet from the plate, off the bat at 102 MPH and 30 degrees. None of 23 balls in MLB at that velo/angle this season has traveled more than 417. Credit the City of Albuquerque, perhaps Wendzel connecting on the absolutely perfect spot on the bat, and maybe some residual Baylor Bear spirit. Wendzel is slugging 1.500 this week and has raised his overall percentage from .375 to .471 in three days. Make an offer, Colorado.
Travis Jankowski was 3-4 with a double and walk as DH. Mitch Garver did not play.
In his AAA debut, Marc Church escaped two mostly self-created bases-loaded situations in the 7th and 8th. He touched 98 once but sat 95-96 with an upper 80’s slider. The ‘Topes had a righty-only lineup, and Church worked vertically and mostly near the outside border. He has MLB-quality stuff but has endured his share of rough outings in the upper levels, and the control that was plus in the lower levels has been so-so lately.
AA: Frisco 2, at Arkansas (SEA) 8
Frisco: 7 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 8 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 18-23, 4.5 GB
SP Owen White: 4 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 4 R, 5 BB, 5 SO, 92 P / 54 S, 4.24 ERA
RP Alex Speas: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 HBP, 2 SO, 1.17 ERA
DH Dustin Harris: 2-3, 2B, BB, SB (17), .226/.367/.411
1B Trevor Hauver: 3-4, .250/.368/.348
Owen White entered the 5th with 73 pitches and left with 19 more and none retired. On came Alex Speas, he of the 100 MPH fastball, 90 MPH slider, and often little sense of where they’re headed. On just 12 pitches, Speas induced a sac fly and struck out two to avoid a blowup. Speas has a 16% BB/HBP rate, poor on its own but quite a bit better than his history. He’s having an impressive season, especially for coming out of retirement.
Hi-A: Hickory 9, Asheville (HOU) 12 (10)
Hickory: 15 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 23 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 15-25, 9 GB
SP Yohanse Morel: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 41 P / 23 S, 2.35 ERA
RP Florencio Serrano: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 2.79 ERA
LF Geisel Cepeda: 2-5, 2B, .272/.370/.320
2B Max Acosta: 3-4, BB, SB (11), .311/.368/.455
DH Abi Ortiz: 2-5, 2 HR (3)
CF Daniel Mateo: 3-5, 2B, .262/.277/.426
Abi Ortiz homered twice and has an organization-leading ten for the season, just as we all expected. Honestly, Ortiz has some genuine power and ranked second in homers for Down East last year with 11, but I wasn’t expecting this. Down a run in the 9th, Max Acosta reached on an error and scored on Daniel Mateo’s two-out double.
Listed starter Josh Stephan did not appear.
Lo-A: Down East 0, at Carolina (MIL) 5
Down East: 2 hits, 2 walks, 14 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 23-18, 0.5 G up
SP Luis Ramirez: 4 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 4 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 2 SO, 57 P / 35 S, 3.44 ERA
RP Nick Lockhart: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
Down East entered the 9th without a hit, mostly because of Milwaukee’s 2022 2nd-rounder Jacob Misiorowski, who has fanned 41 in 22.2 innings. After a Yeison Morrobel walk, Danyer Cueva’s hard chopper scampered into right field for an honest single. Ian Moller then singled, and suddenly the Wood Ducks had the tying run on deck. Unfortunately, that would conclude the offense for the evening.
Nick Lockhart was Texas’s 8th-round pick in 2019 and received a high-than-average bonus of $400,000. Lockhart also pitched in Down East in 2022 and had a 4.78 ERA but a better opposing line of .214/.289/.376 plus a 30% K rate.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Dye
AA: Vanasco
Hi-A: Kindreich
Lo-A: TBD (maybe Porter)
Five Years Ago Yesterday
A Maddux from Ariel Jurado, who shut out AA Arkansas on just 86 pitches. He struck out one and generated two swinging strikes. The first five innings required just 36 pitches.