Month: September 2023

Prior to roster expansion, I wrote about who I’d call up from off the 40-man roster because I thought the idea was more interesting than writing “Texas will probably call up Sam Huff” (no offense to Sam). Nine days later, two non-40 players from my list will be in the Texas dugout tonight. On the pitching side, I uneasily chose Jatz Latz after enough waffling that I was telling myself “you don’t actually have to write this.” I certainly wasn’t contemplating Ian Kennedy, but every choice was problematic.

As for the hitters, I quickly settled on Evan Carter. As I said then, I didn’t think Carter was fully ready, but he certainly offered the most promise.Now, with an injury to the starting right fielder, Carter is the obvious choice from off or on the 40.Carter was batting .353/.436/.382 with a double, three steals, four walks, and six strikeouts in eight games. I’d delved into his batted-ball data yesterday. Expanding on that, Carter’s median exit velocity is fine (92.5 compared to 89.6 for all players), but his top-end velocity hasn’t quite shown up, nor has his hardest contact synced with the angles necessary for maximum damage. Thus, one extra-base hit. This is not a situation like Dustin Harris, whose AAA velo has yet to exceed 102. Carter had reached 106.4 in AAA,and based on his AA performance I had no reason to think higher figures weren’t forthcoming.

Where Carter has really excelled is pitch selection and contact. A better-than-average percentage of his first-pitch takes have resulted in balls. His swinging strike rate is 7.8% compared to the average of 12.2%. 55% of his swings have resulted in a ball in play. Justin Foscue is second-best on the Express at 46%. The team average is 36%. When Carter decides to swing, the fielders best be prepared. Sean Bass of The Ticket and I were recording a new podcast when the Carter news broke, and we discussed him and much more (links in signature at bottom).

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 11, at El Paso (SDP) 10
Round Rock: 16 hits, 8 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 15 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 36-24, 1 G up, 80-54 overall

SP Scott Engler: 1.2 IP, 5 H (1 HR), 5 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 31 P / 21 S, 15.26 ERA
RP Jake Latz: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 4.18 ERA
RP Matt Bush: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 6.75 ERA
CF Elier Hernandez: 3-5, 2B, BB, .307/.368/.498
SS Jonathan Ornelas: 1-3, 2 BB, HBP, .249/.363/.352
2B Justin Foscue: 4-5, 2 2B, 2 HR (15), BB, .271/.395/.467
1B Blaine Crim: 2-5, BB, .285/.384/.487
LF Dustin Harris: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, .269/.384/.431

Down a run in the 9th, the Express rallied for four runs and held off a Chihuahua comeback. Justin Foscue had a career night: two homers, two doubles, a walk.

AA: Frisco 10, NW Arkansas (KAN) 7
Frisco: 14 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 6 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 30-30, 6 GB, 61-67 overall, elimination number 4

SP Seth Nordlin: 4 IP, 12 H, 8 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 84 P / 55 S, 6.01 ERA
RP Robby Ahlstrom: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 4.57 ERA
SS Keyber Rodriguez: 2-5, 2B, HR (2), .246/.328/.386
CF Kellen Strahm: 2-5, 2B, 3B, .244/.356/.338
1B Josh Hatcher: 2-3, BB, .248/.301/.409

With apologies to the participants, this game felt much longer than its purported two hours and fifty-eight minutes and was genuinely headed that way until a brisk final third. Seth Nordlin threw 33 pitches in a four-run 1st. Two Naturals expended 47 pitches in Frisco’s three-run 4th.

Wyatt Langford drew a walk in five trips to the plate. He didn’t strike out but never hit a ball especially hard or out of the infield. Nor did he have an opportunity to make more than a routine play. Just one of those nights, and I can’t offer much more than confirmation of his existence and his muscles, which are large and plentiful.

Hi-A: suspended

Hickory leads 6-0 in the 3rd. Bowling Green’s 19-10 loss (really!) reduced Hickory’s magic number to one, so holding on to this one (or another Bowling Green loss) would clinch the second-half division title for the Crawdads.

Lo-A: Down East 4, Augusta (ATL) 2
Down East: 7 hits, 1 walk, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 29-34, tied for first, 66-58 overall

SP Joseph Montalvo: 3.2 IP, 5 H (1 HR), 2 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 60 P / 38 S, 2.83 ERA
RP Adrian Rodriguez: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 4.50 ERA
RP Tim Ireland: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 5.79 ERA
1B Anthony Calarco: 1-3, HR (1), .171/.279/.183
LF Marcos Torres: 2-3, .138/.242/.138

Undrafted Anthony Calarco’s first professional homer and a two-run error were enough for Down East. Joseph Montalvo would appear to be in line for a playoff start. Marcos Torres had his first two-hit game for the Wood Ducks.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Dugger
AA: Garcia
Hi-A: TBA
Lo-A: Davallilo

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Spokane defeated Everett 5-4 to advance to the Northwest League finals. Rehabbing Chi CHi Gonzalez lasted five innings. Closer Emmanual Clase allowed his first run in over two months and first homer of the season but stranded the tying run at second in the 9th.

I was at last night’s game in Arlington. Sorry I wasn’t better luck.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 6, at El Paso (SDP) 8
Round Rock: 7 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 6 walks, 4 strikeouts
Record: 35-24, 1 G up, 79-54 overall, elimination number 6

SP Zak Kent: 3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 2 SO, 61 P / 35 S, 3.32 ERA
RP Yerry Rodriguez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 0 SO, 4.09 ERA
LF Evan Carter: 2-4, BB, .353/.436/.382
2B Justin Foscue: 1-4, 2B, BB, .265/.390/.443

Eight games into his journey through AAA, Evan Carter’s power hasn’t quite manifested. Scanning through the data, he might have been cheated out of a double or two, but he hasn’t hit anything homer-worthy yet. However, he’s making steady contact and excelling on first pitches. He’s put the ball in play on nine of 11 swings (an absurdly high 82%), batting .333 and slugging .444, and more than two-thirds of his takes are balls. That’s how you propel a .436 OBP.

Las Vegas and Tacoma both lost again, leaving them one back, and Reno has made up three games in three days to reduce its deficit to two games. 

AA: Frisco 4, NW Arkansas (KAN) 0
Frisco: 8 hits, 5 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 2 hits, 7 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 30-29, 5 GB, 61-66 overall

SP Dane Acker: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 SO, 85 P / 53 S, 2.79 ERA
RP Aidan Anderson: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 4.20 ERA
LF Wyatt Langford: 2-2, 2B, BB
C Scott Kapers: 2-2, BB, .222/.309/.362

Contra Monday’s AA debut, Wyatt Langford produced in every plate appearance, collecting a double, single, walk, and sac fly.

More than half of Dane Acker’s opponents couldn’t or wouldn’t make contact, resulting in an inflated pitch count despite no runs. He reached four three-ball counts in addition to the two walks. He also had 17 swinging strikes. Andy Rodriguez, Michael Brewer, and John Matthews had scoreless innings.

Hi-A: Hickory 7, Winston-Salem (CHW) 6
Hickory: 7 hits, 5 walks, 16 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 10 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 40-21, 3 G up, 67-55 overall, magic number 2

SP Aidan Curry: 3.1 IP, 5 H (2 HR), 3 R, 6 BB, 3 SO, 74 P / 44 S, 8.53 ERA
RF Alejandro Osuna: 1-5, HR (5), .262/.381/.392
1B Abi Ortiz: 1-2, 2B, BB, HBP, .292/.359/.623
3B Cody Freeman: 2-4, 2B, .231/.295/.385
2B Ben Blackwell: 1-4, HR (2), .250/.314/.375

Undrafted free agent Benjamin Blackwell clubbed a three-run homer with one out in the 8th to complete the comeback. Hickory trail 2-0, 4-2, and 6-4 during the game.

The jump from low-A to high-A is no picnic, with opponents growing into more power, generally more hitter-friendly parks in the Sally versus the Carolina, and a particularly better hitting environment in Hickory compared to Kinston. That doesn’t fully explain Aidan Curry’s first two starts at the level. Last week, he walked a season-high four batters in three innings. Last night, he trumped that total and surrendered two homers for the first time. Curry’s had a terrific season but not the ending he wanted.

Bowling Green won Tuesday’s suspended game and Wednesday’s regularly scheduled game in walk-off fashion by scores of 5-4, so Hickory shaved only one off the magic number. The Crawdads are three up with four to play (or five, if an earlier rainout has to be played). 

Lo-A: Down East 1, Augusta (ATL) 0
Down East: 4 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 2 hits, 5 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 28-34, 9 GB, 65-58 overall

SP DJ McCarty: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 5 SO, 59 P / 34 S, 3.05 ERA
RP Kai Wynyard: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 2.38 ERA
RP Paul Bonzagni: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 2.89 ERA
2B Devin Hurdle: 2-2, BB, 2 SB (3), .225/.295/.254

With one out in the 8th, Devin Hurdle singled, stole second, reached third on a balk, and scored on a Quincy Scott sac fly. Winning has been heavily dependent on the pitchers lately, and they were up to the task. The defense erased five baserunners: three caught-stealing, an outfield assist by newcomer RF Wady Mendez, and a double play.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Engler
AA: Nordlin
Hi-A: TBA
Lo-A: TBA

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Spokane lost 8-3 to Everett to force a deciding third game in the Northwest League semifinals. Jake Latz was perfect for three innings but allowed six runs without retiring a batter in the 4th. In the other matchup, 31-45 Eugene eliminated 51-25 Hillsboro in two straight.

Box Scores

AA: Frisco 3, NW Arkansas (KAN) 7
Frisco: 9 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts
Record: 28-30, 5.5 GB, 59-67 overall

SP Noah Bremer: 4 IP, 7 H (3 HR), 5 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 66 P / 50 S, 6.64 ERA
RP Aidan Anderson: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.37 ERA
LF Wyatt Langford: 0-4

Langford’s first day in AA:
Check-swing grounder to the pitcher.
Soft liner to short not quite grabbed on the fly, and the shortstop threw out Langford from his knees by a quarter-step.
Grounder to second baseman playing nearly straight up the middle.
Check-swing strikeout.

In the field, Langford took a do-or-die route on a hard fly by Jorge Bonifacio to the left-center gap, and the ball arched over his glove for a double.

Courtesy of Brandon McAuliffe, here’s a couple of photos of Langford in action:

The Schedule Ahead
AAA — Round Rock leads the division by one game with 18 to play. The Express visit El Paso this week followed by series against the two teams chasing them in the standings, Las Vegas (home) and Tacoma (road).

AA — Frisco is hosting NW Arkansas this week and then visits division-leading Amarillo to finish the regular season. Losing four straight has dropped the Riders to fourth place, 5.5 games back, and needing a good week plus some help from Amarillo for next week’s series to matter.

High-A — In the final week of the regular season, Hickory hosts Winston-Salem (60-61 overall) while Bowling Green, three games back, hosts Greensboro (63-63). The basic math is simple: Bowling Green has to win three more games than Hickory to claim the division. The situation is complicated by a potential make-up of an earlier rainout between the Crawdads and Dash. A decision on that game will come later this week, dependent on whether Hickory might need an opportunity to win it in order to clinch the division. Bowling Green had an earlier cancellation and will only play 65 of a possible 66 games, so this potential make-up prevents the possibility of a tie. Just as well, as Bowling Green would own the tiebreaker. Whether Hickory plays six games or seven this week, four wins would clinch the title no matter what Bowling Green does. The Crawdads will have a radio webcast if they advance to the playoffs.

Low-A — Down East hosts Augusta for the final six games. The Woodies claimed a playoff spot in June with a 37-24 first-half record. Next Tuesday, Down East will visit the second-half division champion (likely Carolina) for the first game of a best-of-three and host one or two games beginning next Thursday. The winner will advance to the finals against Myrtle Beach or Charleston.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Ozuna
AA: off
Hi-A: TBA
Lo-A: Ramirez

Yesterday, the Rangers promoted IF Sebastian Walcott to high-A Hickory. In the evening, they announced Wyatt Langford would head to AA Frisco.

I’ll confess that both moves surprised me. In recent years, the Rangers have dialed back on such aggressive moves. Walcott is highly regarded and had a fine debut for a 17-year-old in rookie ball, but not without some distress. He batted .167/.228/.292 with a 37% strikeout rate across the final month. I’d assumed that he was done since the rookie season ended nearly two weeks ago, or that, if anywhere, he’d head to low-A both because of the single-level jump and an injury to fellow IF Echedry Vargas, assigned to Down East a few days ago. Instead, Walcott joins a high-A squad before reaching adulthood.

As for Langford, I again assumed he’d stay put. Langford has been playing real games since mid-February, and at Hickory he was getting occasional days off and spending nearly a third of his time at DH. This gave the appearance of allowing him to ease into life as a professional. Also, I thought Texas might let Langford hang around to play for a team that is likely playoff-bound, while Frisco’s hopes are in serious jeopardy. He’s looking at close to the same number of games in either location.

Frisco is at home today at 6pm for a rare Monday game, and Langford is expected to be active, but I don’t know yet if active means in the lineup. Frisco will be off Tuesday and resume the series Wednesday. I think I might be there Thursday.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 1, at Oklahoma City (LAD) 9
Round Rock: 3 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 6 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 35-22, 1 G up, 79-52 overall

SP Owen White: 4 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 5 R, 3 BB, 3 SO, 74 P / 41 S, 5.21 ERA

Evan Carter lined a pitch from rehabbing Walker Buehler 101 MPH… into the second baseman’s glove. Still impressive.

Round Rock was 4-14 with a -48 run differential against OKC this year. Should the Express hold the division lead, they’ll meet again in the best-of-three PCL Championship.

AA: Frisco 5, Corpus Christi (HOU) 7
Frisco: 11 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 3 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 28-29, 5 GB, 59-66 overall, elimination number 8

SP Jack Leiter: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 61 P / 42 S, 5.27 ERA
RP Michael Brewer: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 6.41 ERA
LF Aaron Zavala: 2-5, .202/.356/.296
C Liam Hicks: 2-4, HBP, .273/.398/.384

Using an even more narrowly tailored repertoire than his first start off the Development List, Jack Leiter excelled again.

Leiter threw 52 fastballs out of 61 pitches, 37 (71%) for strikes, in a range of 96-99 MPH. Opponents swung at 31 heaters and missed 14. Leiter emphasized working high. By my count, Leiter threw 24 pitches upstairs, generating 10 swinging strikes, seven fouls, and nothing in play. As has always been the case, it’s an unhittable pitch when located decently. Leiter threw only nine benders that generated a grounder and some fouls, but under these circumstances they were just to prevent hitters from being too complacent. A deeper outing was stymied by Kenedy Corona, who fouled off seven straight pitches before fanning on pitch number 13 to lead off the 3rd. Leiter started 3-0 to Corona and then delivered ten consecutive strikes. Though he did issue a walk and another three-ball count, like last time out he was always in control.

Hi-A: Hickory 9, at Greensboro (PIT) 0
Hickory: 9 hits, 7 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 38-21, 3 G up, 65-55 overall, magic number 4

SP Jose Corniell: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 37 P / 23 S, 3.14 ERA
RP Juan Mejia: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 4.15 ERA
RP Larson Kindreich: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 5.24 ERA
RF Alejandro Osuna: 0-1, 3 BB, .262/.382/.384
SS Cam Cauley: 1-3, HR (5), BB, .261/.343/.443
LF Wyatt Langford: 2-5, 2B, HR (5), .333/.453/.644
DH Sebastian Walcott: 1-4, 2B
2B Max Acosta: 1-3, BB, HBP, 2 SB (26), .252/.304/.383

Langford doubled and homered to right-center in his final high-A game. On Tuesday, he homered off the same pitcher and pitch.

On an 0-2 count, Walcott impressively smacked a curve just inside the line for a double. He later grounded out twice, popped up, and walked.

Hickory took four of six against the fist-half division winner.

Lo-A: Down East 2, at Carolina (MIL) 7
Down East: 6 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 27-33, 9 GB, 64-57 overall

SP Brock Porter: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 55 P / 37 S, 2.47 ERA
CF Jojo Blackmon: 1-3, BB, SB (28), .210/.322/.366

Brock Porter reached four innings with only one walk or HBP for the second time this season. Porter needed 30 pitches to work through the 3rd but only allowed a run. His other three innings required only 25 pitches.

Today’s Starters
AA: TBA

Five Years Ago Yesterday
The seasons for the four full-season squads concluded with an aggregate record of 320-367, worst since 2006 and the first time since then that no team reached the postseason. Let us not speak of those days again.

Texas would add RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx, LHP C.D. Pelham, RHP Adrian Sampson, IF Hanser Alberto and OF Willie Calhoun to the active roster. Other recent additions were LHP Yohander Mendez, LHP Zac Curtis, and RHP Connor Sadzeck.

We’re not quite done yet with 2018 because short-season Spokane did make the playoffs.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 4, at Oklahoma City (LAD) 2
Round Rock: 11 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 35-20, 1.5 G up, 79-50 overall

SP Marc Church: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 41 P / 20 S, 3.06 ERA
RP Fernery Ozuna: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.60 ERA
RP Jake Latz: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 4.30 ERA
2B Justin Foscue: 2-4, 2B, BB, .264/.392/.442
SS Jonathan Ornelas: 3-4, 2B, .253/.365/.359

Last night, Corey Seager homered at 114.4 MPH, his hardest-hit ball of the season. Soon after, someone with the Express hit a ball the exact velocity. Care to guess? Not Sam Huff; he was called up yesterday.

Jonathan Ornelas, who now has the highest exit velo reading of any fair ball hit in an Express game this season. Ornelas’s hard-hit rate of 33% is slightly below average, but the top side of his range is strong. His 90th-percentile velo is 104.3, higher than anyone on the team except Sam Huff and Blaine Crim. Ornelas is hitting .633 and slugging .967 on the top 10% of his exit velocities, which sounds impressive but actually isn’t. The respective figures for all hitters in Round Rock’s games are .688 and 1.452. Ornelas is easily the most grounder-oriented on the team, so a good number of those scorchers end up singles or outs. Fly-ball master Davis Wendzel is batting .862 and slugging 2.138 on his hardest-hit balls.

AA: Frisco 2, Corpus Christi (HOU) 3 (9)
Frisco: 3 hits, 4 walks, 16 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 2 walks, 17 strikeouts
Record: 28-27, 3 GB, 59-64 overall

SP Ryan Garcia: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 SO, 77 P / 53 S, 7.11 ERA
RP Grant Wolfram: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 2.02 ERA
RP Antoine Kelly: 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 1.95 ERA

The game was shortened to seven innings because of a lengthy delay but lasted nine anyway. Neither team scored during the regular frames. Frisco committed three errors in the two extra innings, although two of Corpus’s three runs would have scored regardless. Ryan Garcia had a heartening outing after lasting a combined 2.1 innings in his previous two starts.  

Hi-A: Hickory 10, at Greensboro (PIT) 8
Hickory: 11 hits, 5 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 37-20, 4 G up, 64-54 overall

SP Mitch Bratt: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 38 P / 21 S, 3.72 ERA
SS Max Acosta: 1-4, HR (11), BB, .251/.302/.384
LF Wyatt Langford: 3-4, 2B, BB, SB (7), .346/.474/.641
1B Abi Ortiz: 3-5, HR (24), .298/.356/.629
RF Yosy Galan: 1-4, HR (5), .236/.290/.438

Wyatt Langford returned after a couple of games off. In addition to the usual batting heroics, Langford saved a possible walk-off by tracking down a liner to the gap. It’s early and I’m only going off MiLB.tv video, but my impression is that Langford is taking advantage of his speed as a professional. The complaint at Florida is that his solid speed didn’t produce the expected benefit in the field or on the bases. On a combination of speed and smarts, Langford also legged out a double on an ordinary medium-hard fly to left-center.

Mitch Bratt returned from a lat injury and pitched well in an intentionally short outing.

Abimelec Ortiz: most homers in high-A, third most in the minors.

Lo-A: Down East 3, at Carolina (MIL) 4 (11)
Down East: 7 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts

SP Joseph Montalvo: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 HBP, 4 SO, 53 P / 33 S, 2.75 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 2.84 ERA
DH Anthony Gutierrez: 1-1, BB, .259/.326/.338
CF Jojo Blackmon: 1-3, BB
LF Tommy Specht: 2-3, BB, .232/.335/.300

Lo-A: Down East 4, at Carolina (MIL) 0 (7)
Down East: 9 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts
Record: 27-31, 7 GB, 64-55 overall

SP Leandro Lopez: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 SO, 46 P / 28 S, 3.11 ERA
RP Eury Rosado: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 1.86 ERA
CF Jojo Blackmon: 2-3, 2B, 3B, BB, .208/.321/.368
C Ian Moller: 2-3, 2B, .190/.328/.300

Low-A hitters are in trouble against an in-control Leandro Lopez. In his last four starts, Lopez has walked two versus 20 strikeouts in 14 innings, and the ERA is 1.93. For the rest of the season, Lopez has a 19% BB/HBP rate.

DH Anthony Gutierrez exited after sliding into second halfway through the opener. Echedry Vargas is on the IL one day after pulling his left hand off the bat early into his swing on Thursday.

4th-rounder Skylar Hales has three increasingly long scoreless appearances in a row after allowing runs in each of his first three pro outings.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Dugger
AA: Krauth
Hi-A: Gessner
Lo-A: TBA (Porter day)

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Spokane won 6-0 behind 5.2 scoreless from Jake Latz and a homer and single from JP Martinez. Spokane had gained three games in the standings in three days and needed to win just one of the next two to claim a playoff spot.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 2, at Oklahoma City (LAD) 4
Round Rock: 7 hits, 2 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 10 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 24-20, 1 G up, 68-50 overall

SP Matt Bush: 2 IP, 1 H (1 HR), 1 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 30 P / 22 S, 4.50 ERA
RP Jonathan Hernandez: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 SO, 1.24 ERA
RP Ian Kennedy: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 SO, 3.65 ERA
RP Alex Speas: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 1 SO, 3.65 ERA
Kyle Cody: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 5.64 ERA
CF Evan Carter: 2-4, BB, SB (2)

I listed every pitcher to give an idea of who might (not) be called up today as rosters expand. Listed starters for the weekend are Marc Church, Robert Dugger, and Owen White.

Good news: Hitters swung at seven Alex Speas pitches and missed five. Bad news: Hitters took 21 Alex Speas pitches and drew 18 balls.

Evan Carter is 7-14 with a double and walk through three AAA games. All the statcast info is glowing.

AA: Frisco 11, Corpus Christi (HOU) 10
Frisco: 13 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 8 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 28-26, 2 GB, 59-63 overall

SP Seth Nordlin: 5 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 3 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 89 P / 57 S, 5.43 ERA
LF Aaron Zavala: 1-3, BB, HBP, .201/.360/.296
1B Trevor Hauver: 2-4, 2B, HR (12), HBP, .263/.379/.432
C Liam Hicks: 2-5, 2B, SB (4), .278/.402/.395

Frisco built enough of a lead to survive Corpus’s five-run 9th. In his second AA outing, Andy Rodriguez walked three for the first time as a professional and was replaced by Aidan Anderson for the final out. Rodriguez had a sub-10% walk rate at Hickory. The Riders pinned eight runs on starter Blair Henley (hook ’em).

Frisco pulled up to two games out of first, closest in nearly three weeks. The Riders close the season at division-leading Amarillo. Hopefully, the games have meaning beyond incremental prospect development.

Hi-A: Hickory 7, at Greensboro (PIT) 4
Hickory: 8 hits, 6 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 9 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 36-20, 4 G up, 63-54 overall, magic number 6

SP Aidan Curry: 3 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 3 R, 4 BB, 2 SO, 70 P / 39 S, 9.00 ERA
RP Jackson Leath: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Seth Clark: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 2.70 ERA
2B Cam Cauley: 3-5, .274/.339/.443
1B Abi Ortiz: 1-3, 2 BB, .292/.352/.618

Hickory never trailed and didn’t have to ward off an angry comeback. Max Acosta hit a three-run double before Greensboro recorded an out.

Texas promoted Aidan Curry from Down East, and last night’s tougher high-A environment included 2022 4th-overall pick Termarr Johnson. Curry twice walked Johnson, who has 102 combined walks and HBPs in 98 games. Johnson is 19, a young 19 at that. The 21-year-old undrafted Curry posted a 2.30 ERA in 82 low-A innings with 29 walks and 99 strikeouts.

Trailing Bowling Green split a make-up doubleheader.

Lo-A: Down East 4, at Carolina (MIL) 7
Down East: 6 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts
Record: 26-30, 7 GB, 63-54 overall

SP DJ McCarty: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 7 SO, 63 P / 43 S, 3.23 ERA
3B Miguel Villarroel: 3-4, 2 2B, SB (15), .239/.284/.352
RF Jojo Blackmon: 1-4, HR (8), .203/.312/.355

Echedry Vargas’s full-season debut was brief. After lining a single in the 1st, Vargas took an awkward, one-handed swing leading off the 3rd, walked to the trainer, and exited the game. Replacement Danyer Cueva struck out, attributed to Vargas.

DJ McCarty had one of his best outings of the season, while Thomas Ireland (3 IP, 8 H, 6 R) has found the transition to low-A difficult.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Church
AA: Garcia
Hi-A: Teodo
Lo-A: TBA x 2

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Spokane won 4-3 to keeps its postseason hopes alive. Sherten Apostel clubbed a three-run homer. Emmanuel Clase threw two scoreless innings and hadn’t allowed a run in two months.