AAA: Round Rock 9, Salt Lake (LAA) 4
Round Rock: 12 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 12-13, 5 GB
SP Adrian Sampson: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 6 SO, 91 P / 56 S, 5.61 ERA
RP Yerry Rodriguez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 6.00 ERA
CF Derek Hill: 3-5, 2B, SB (4), .343/.395/.557
3B Dustin Harris: 2-4, BB, .274/.337/.429
1B Blaine Crim: 3-5, 2B, 2 HR (5), .231/.358/.474
RBI Alert! Blaine Crim drove in seven yesterday. About a week ago, I mentioned Crim had a weak line despite hitting really hard. Since then: .379/.526/.793 with three homers and three doubles. He’s seventh on the team in OPS among regulars but has the best combination of contact rate (78%) and 90th-percentile exit velo (106.6). As to what this portends for his immediate future, probably nothing. Crim was available in the last two Rule 5 drafts but had no suitors. I thought perhaps Milwaukee might take a chance because first base was a black hole for them last year, but on the other hand, teams contending for the postseason aren’t typically looking to the Rule 5 draft for everyday hitters. The Brewers gave $36 million to Rhys Hopkins instead.
Amazingly, Crim can’t become a minor league free agent until after 2025. He was a $5,000 senior signing in 2019. It’s absurd that clubs retain the rights of players like this for seven years, but the rules treat 16-year-olds and 22-year-olds equally in that regard.
AA: Frisco 3, Amarillo (ARI) 2
Frisco: 9 hits, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 2 walks, 14 strikeouts
Record: 11-8, 2 GB
SP Dane Acker: 5 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 2 R, 1 BB, 8 SO, 87 P / 61 S, 1.47 ERA
RP Robby Ahlstrom: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 2.00 ERA
RP Steven Jennings: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 5.40 ERA
C Liam Hicks: 2-4, .250/.317/.306
1B Abi Ortiz: 2-4, .266/.351/.438
RF Josh Hatcher: 2-4, HR (2), .362/.400/.553
Liam Hicks had batted .079/.122/.105 in the nine games between two-hit games, albeit with only four strikeouts.
Like Blaine Crim, Josh Hatcher was a cheap senior sign, a 5th-year senior, in fact, whether due to injury or covid I’m not sure. Although drafted in 2022, he’s been in AA since last summer. Hatcher doesn’t walk much but has periods of terrific production, and the start of 2024 is one of those.
Hi-A: Hickory 4, Ashville (HOU) 5
Hickory: 7 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 6 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 7-11, 3 GB
SP Joseph Montalvo: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 69 P / 43 S, 5.23 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 7.45 ERA
LF Yeison Morrobel: 1-3, 2B, BB, .182/.308/.255
SS Sebastian Walcott: 1-4, HR (1), .186/.262/.305
RF Anthony Gutierrez: 3-4, SB (9), .276/.300/.362
Sebastian Walcott hit his first high-A homer.
Skylar Hales has a 9% walk rate and 36% strikeout rate but a 7.45 ERA because all the baserunners have come in bunches.
Yeison Morrobel has a 27% K rate, not good but what passes for league-average nowadays. He hits the ball in the air reasonably well. He’s got some muscle. And somehow he’s got an isolated power of .073, actually up from last year’s .040. There has to be more in there.
Lo-A: Down East 1, @ Fayetteville (HOU) 3
Down East: 5 hits, 0 walks, 15 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 9 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 9-9, 4.5 GB
SP Kyle Larsen: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 4 SO, 58 P / 30 S, 4.66 ERA
RF Wady Mendez: 2-4, 2B, .167/.310/.208
C Jesus Lopez: 2-4, .259/.333/.426
It’s the 1960 World Series writ small: Down East has outscored Fayetteville 20-18 but lost three of four. (The Yankees outscored Pittsburgh 55-27 but lost four games by a total of seven runs).
Today’s Starters
AAA: Wiles
AA: Teodo
Hi-A: Santos
Lo-A: TBA
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Hickory’s Sam Huff hit his 10th homer, tying him with Round Rock’s Yordan Alvarez for the minor league lead. Unfortunately, Round Rock was not a Texas affiliate at the time. In 16 games against Texas-affiliated Nashville, Alvarez batted .349/.447/.698, reaching base 34 times and hitting six homers. And then he joined the Astros.