Three bullpens combined for 17 innings of one-run ball and 20 strikeouts.
Box Scores
AAA: wet
Two today.
AA: Frisco 4, Corpus Christi (HOU) 3
Frisco: 5 hits, 5 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 6 walks, 15 strikeouts
Record: 3-1, 1 GB
SP Ryan Garcia: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 69 P / 39 S, 9.00 ERA
RP Aidan Anderson: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Grant Wolfram: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
C Liam Hicks: 2-4
1B Abimelec Ortiz: 1-3, HR (1), BB
The bullpen walked the bases loaded in the 6th but escaped unharmed. Otherwise, it didn’t allow a single runner in lengthy relief of Ryan Garcia.
Abi Ortiz hit his first homer. Take a look!
Hi-A: Hickory 1, Jersey Shore (PHI) 8
Hickory: 5 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 1 walk, 11 strikeouts
Record: 0-4, 3.5 GB
SP Mitch Bratt: 3 IP, 8 H (1 HR), 7 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 70 P / 48 S, 21.00 ERA
RP Bryan Chi: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Adrian Rodriguez: 2 IP, 1 H (1 HR), 1 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 4.50 ERA
RP Yohanse Morel: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 6.00 ERA
SS Cam Cauley: 3-4, 2B
CF Anthony Gutierrez: 2-4, 2B
Whew. The good news is a Hickory home game was televised for the first time. The bad news is the same thing. Of 120 minor league teams, Hickory ranks last in scoring (0.5 runs/game) and slugging (.172) and 119th in average (.148) and OBP (.198). Back in 2021, both Hickory and Down East ranked among the minors’ worst offenses in the opening month but finished mid-pack in their respective leagues, so don’t fret yet.
Cam Cauley doubled deep to right-center and singled twice. Sebastian Walcott was 0-4 with three strikeouts. Since I’m the one who harps on over-analyzing short-term trends, I’m going to wait before saying more about him.
Mitch Bratt has a sub-.300 OBP in each of three previous pro seasons, but he’s going to have to climb down from .643 after last night. Three others combined for six innings of one-run ball.
Lo-A: Down East 4, @ Carolina (MIL) 1
Down East: 9 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 4-0, tied for first
SP Kohl Drake: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 55 P / 40 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Ryan Lobus: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Luke Savage: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 6.00 ERA
2B Echedry Vargas: 1-5, HR (1)
3B Gleider Figuereo: 1-3, 3B, BB
C Julian Brock: 2-4
SS Danyer Cueva, 2-4, 2B, SB (2)
Down East grabbed a permanent lead in the 1st when Gleider Figuereo tripled, Julian Brock singled, and Danyer Cueva doubled with two out.
2B Echedry Vargas hit his first full-season homer. More should be forthcoming, as he knocked a league-high 11 last year in the complex league in 52 games.
The Mudcats squandered their best chance in the 8th. 2023 10th-rounder Case Matter walked four of five batters, leaving undrafted TCU alum Luke Savage a two-run lead but three on board. CF Marcos Torres tracked down a short liner, and groundout ended the inning without further damage.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Lorenzen / Brennan
AA: B. Anderson
Hi-A: Ramirez
Lo-A: TBA
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Visiting Round Rock for the first time since an affiliation change. Nashville defeated the Express 3-1 behind effective if walk-heavy outings from Taylor Hearn and Brett Martin. My takeaway from Hearn’s outing was that he looked promising overall but probably wouldn’t have escaped without serious damage had he pitched similarly at the Major League level, and when he was called up soon after for an emergency start, he didn’t. Unfortunately, Hearn’s problem in his MLB debut wasn’t just control but elbow tightness.
Pitching for Astros-affiliated Round Rock was Forrest Whitley, who has thrown only 268 pro innings since being drafted in 2016, and whose transaction list includes nine instances of “injured list.”