AAA: Round Rock 3, @ Sugar Land (HOU) 5
Round Rock: 9 hits, 0 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 25-20, 4.5 GB
SP Adrian Sampson: 5 IP, 6 H (3 HR), 5 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 84 P / 57 S, 4.53 ERA
RP Grant Wolfram: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 6.14 ERA
RF Sandro Fabian: 2-4, HR (5), .329/.373/.544
Round Rock lost the opener against the division leader.
Once overcrowded with outfielders, the Express now have three, or four if you include Jonathan Ornelas, who made his first (and only) appearance in center on the 12th. Derek Hill was called up, Elier Hernandez departed for Japan, Trevor Hauver is hurt. Dustin Harris spent nearly half his games at third base through April, but he’s made 16 consecutive appearances somewhere else, usually left.
Texas signed righty Nabil Crismatt to a minor league deal and assigned him to Round Rock. The 29-year-old had thrown four solid innings against the Express last month and made five mostly respectable appearances for the Dodgers before being DFA’ed a second time and taking free agency. Previously, he’d produced a couple of worthy seasons for the Padres before suffering through a dreadful 2023. He tends to leave fortune to the BABIP gods, lacking exceptional velocity but generating plenty of grounders and avoiding walks. Not a bad signing as these things go.
AA: Frisco 3, Midland (OAK) 7
Frisco: 10 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 24-15, 1.5 GB
SP Josh Stephan: 6 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 5 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 80 P / 57 S, 6.04 ERA
3B Cody Freeman: 3-3, 2B, BB, SB (5), .303/.350/.500
2B Keyber Rodriguez: 3-4, 2B, .333/.375/.588
Frisco also lost its opener against the division leader.
IF Max Acosta has been IL’ed after suffering an injury sliding into second base on Saturday.
Hi-A: Hickory 5, Asheville (HOU) 8
Hickory: 6 hits, 5 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 14-26, 8 GB
SP DJ McCarty: 5 IP, 7 H (1 HR), 2 R, 1 BB, 8 SO, 93 P / 61 S, 4.03 ERA
RP Jacob Maton: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 1.72 ERA
DH Yeison Morrobel: 2-3, 2 BB, .250/.333/.382
3B Sebastian Walcott: 1-2, HR (3), 2 BB, .192/.322/.325
CF Alejandro Osuna: 1-4, HR (2), .246/.310/.369
Sebastian Walcott cranked his third homer and walked twice. Subtracting his first eight games improves the line to .228/.377/.380, not otherworldly but darned impressive for an 18-year-old in high-A. Once seemingly incapable of making contact, Walcott’s swinging strike rate has declined to 12.3%, precisely middle-of-the-pack among league batters with at least 100 trips to the plate. After that gruesome start, he appears to be rewarding the aggressive assignment.
The game itself was painful. Bestowed some unusually strong offense, Yohanse Morel couldn’t find the plate, and Skylar Hales found too much of it, eventually reversing a three-run lead. Hales has been strong in eight of 11 outings, but the other three are responsible for 12 of his 15 hits and all of the runs. He sports a 6.00 ERA despite a not-bad line of .259/.302/.362.
Lo-A: Down East 3, @ Charleston (TAM) 6
Down East: 4 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 20-19, 4.5 GB
SP David Davallilo: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 6 SO, 63 P / 45 S, 2.22 ERA
SS Echedry Vargas: 1-3, 2B, BB, .234/.299/.377
C Jesus Lopez: 2-4, 2B, .303/.358/.413
David Davallilo has walked or hit only eight batters all season, and six of those occurred in one start.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Leiter
AA: Garcia
Hi-A: Lobus
Lo-A: TBA
Five Years Ago Yesterday
How much did the switch to the livelier MLB ball affect the Pacific Coast League in 2019? Very, very much.
The season-ending figures would be even higher: 5.85 runs per game and a 3.8% homer rate. So far in 2024, the PCL has averaged 5.8 runs and a 2.9% homer rate despite the reconfiguration that placed several pitcher-friendly locations in the International League. Homers are down but runs haven’t budged because the combined BB/HBP rate has jumped from 10.8% to 12.9%.