AAA: Round Rock 3, Las Vegas (OAK) 6
Round Rock: 8 hits, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 21-17, 3.5 GB
SP Peter Solomon: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 82 P / 52 S, 3.00 ERA
RP Grant Wolfram: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 7.50 ERA
1B Blaine Crim: 1-2, 2 BB, .240/.357/.411
Peter Solomon is the sixth pitcher to appear for the Express and the fourth to start who wasn’t in the organization on Opening Day (45 days ago) . The 27-year-old had been with indy High Point. Originally drafted in 2017’s fourth round out of Notre Dame by the Astros, Solomon reached the Majors briefly with them and Arizona but had serious strike-throwing issues.
Best as I can tell, the number of pitchers named to the Opening Day roster who have been on the squad without injury or call-up all season is two: Adrian Sampson and Jesus Tinoco. Five others have spent some time with the Rangers (Anderson, Leiter, Pruitt, White, Winn), six have been or are injured (Brennan, Church, Greene, Kelly, Robert, Taylor), and two have been released (Duffy, Shreve). A decent rule of thumb is that whatever personnel chaos is occurring on the Major league roster is visited doubly upon AAA.
Despite the turnover, the Express have allowed 12% fewer runs per game than the park-adjusted league average by my count. Indeed, Round Rock is 13-5 after an 8-12 start. Strong defense has aided that cause. (Worst by a mile is Albuquerque, 8.9 runs per game allowed, 36% more than average.)
AA: wet
Makeup TBD.
Hi-A: Hickory 3, @ Greenville (BOS) 4
Hickory: 8 hits, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 12-20, 5.5 GB
SP Aidan Curry: 5 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 1 R, 3 BB, 7 SO, 84 P / 48 S, 9.00 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 6.17 ERA
C Ian Moller: 2-2, 2 BB, SB (4), .182/.308/.227
In seven previous high-A starts (dating back to last year), Aidan Curry had allowed fewer runs than innings pitched only once, and even that was a close call. Yesterday, he produced the kind of outing that seemed routine in low-A. Curry is still missing bats aplenty (30% K rate) and not walking too many (12% BB/HBP), but when hitters put it in play, they’re slugging .854. Hopefully Sunday is something to build on.
Hickory’s offense has a 71 OPS+ and has scored 33% fewer runs than the park-adjusted league average, easily the lowest marks in the league and among the lowest in the entire minors.
Lo-A: Down East 6, Lynchburg (CLE) 5 (10)
Down East: 12 hits, 1 walk, 14 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 15-17, 7.5 GB
SP Josh Trentadue: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 71 P / 47 S, 5.24 ERA
3B Gleider Figuereo: 1-5, HR (8), .209/.336/.482
C Jesus Lopez: 2-5, .322/.386/.433
DH Julian Brock: 2-5, 3B, .218/.267/.264
1B Arturo Disla: 1-5, HR (1), .245/.366/.351
CF Marcos Torres: 2-4, 2B, .172/.263/.264
Lynchburg hit a two-out homer off Kolton Curtis in the 9th to tie the game, and Down East couldn’t convert a no-out bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom half. Down a run in the 10th, Julian Brock singled in Jesus Lopez and reached third on a throwing error by catcher Robert Lopez. He then scored the winning on a missed catch by Lopez.
Down East isn’t in Hickory’s shape offensively but is about 8% below the league-average scoring rate, mostly because of few walks. Gleider Figuereo has a dazzling 21 free passes in 137 trips to the plate. Tommy Specht, Chandler Pollard, Erick Alvarez, Echedry Vargas, Danyer Cueva, and Jojo Blackmon have a combined 20 in 414 appearances. Figuereo and catcher Jesus Lopez have been the most encouraging performers followed by Arturo Disla, who isn’t showing the power I’ve hoped but is reaching base at a terrific rate.
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Down East swept a doubleheader at Winston-Salem to improve to 27-10. John King and Demarcus Evans had strong outings, and CF Leody Taveras and SS Anderson Tejeda were both 3-7 with a homer.