AAA: Round Rock 4, Tacoma (SEA) 8
Round Rock: 7 hits, 7 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 32-30, 8.5 GB
SP Adrian Sampson: 5.2 IP, 8 H (1 HR), 3 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 91 P / 63 S, 4.41 ERA
RP Grant Wolfram: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 4.37 ERA
SS Jonathan Ornelas: 3-5, 2 2B, BB, SB (6), .263/.321/.358
LF Dustin Harris: 2-3, BB, 4 SB (18), .255/.350/.382
Tacoma scored five in the 8th off Yerry Rodriguez, who suffered his third straight multi-run game. Four were unearned courtesy of a would-be 3-6-1 or 3-6-3 GIDP that ended up an error with everyone safe, but Rodriguez was definitely not on point, walking two and committing two balks. Cole Winn hasn’t pitched since Saturday, and after last night’s mess out west, the Rangers might need an arm. No word on that as of 3pm CDT.
On Monday, I’d speculated on twitter that Justin Foscue might be headed outside Arizona, as the rookies were off Sunday but he wasn’t in Monday’s lineup. Not so, as he wasn’t reassigned and didn’t play in Surprise last night, either. We’ll see. The rookies are off again today.
Jonathan Ornelas is .318/.412/.455 in his last 11 games. A cherry-picked sample, yes, but I still contend he can be a better hitter than his all-season line of .263/.321/.358.
AA: Frisco 4, Amarillo (ARI) 1
Frisco: 6 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 38-20, 4 G up, magic number 8
SP Josh Stephan: 5 IP, 7 H (1 HR), 1 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 82 P / 50 S, 5.26 ERA
RP Andy Rodriguez: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 2.48 ERA
RP Tyler Owens: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2.75 ERA
DH Liam Hicks: 2-3, BB, .281/.391/.378
RF Josh Hatcher: 2-3, 3B, BB, .302/.344/.453
Josh Hatcher drove in all four runs. June has actually been his worst month (.250/.294/.344), but a few more days like yesterday will rectify that. Hatcher was already on the older side of 23 when signed in the 10th round as a redshirt senior out of Kennesaw State (following several years at Mississippi St with teammate Justin Foscue). He signed with Texas in 2022 for the grand sum of $1,000, less than any other pick that round. He’ll be in AAA at some point, perhaps this season.
Second-place Midland also won.
Hi-A: Hickory 5, @ Aberdeen (BAL) 2
Hickory: 8 hits, 7 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts
Record: 26-32, 6 GB
SP DJ McCarty: 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 5 SO, 66 P / 46 S, 3.71 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 4.94 ERA
LF Alejandro Osuna: 1-4, 2B, BB, .268/.333/.480
2B Cam Cauley: 1-4, 2B, BB, .211/.266/.316
RF Yeison Morrobel: 3-4, HR (6), BB, .255/.326/.383
DJ McCarty completed six in a ridiculous 65 pitches, but the next throw would carom off his ankle (or thereabouts) via the bat of Douglas Hodo III. At first seemingly ready to shake it off, he shook his head after one warmup pitch and departed. Hopefully not a serious issue. Tied at two in the 9th, Alejandro Osuna knocked an RBI double, and Sebastian Walcott (1-5) snuck a bases-loaded grounder under the third baseman’s glove after an intentional walk to Yeison Morrobel. The mighty Hickory offense rolls on.
Lo-A: Down East 5, Charleston (TAM) 0
Down East: 8 hits, 6 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 31-26, 5.5 GB
SP David Davallilo: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, 71 P / 46 S, 1.66 ERA
RP Justin Sanchez: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 6.07 ERA
3B Gleider Figuereo: 2-5, .245/.355/.474
1B Beycker Barroso: 0-1, 2 BB, HBP, SB (3), .367/.512/.667
2B Chandler Pollard: 2-3, BB, SB (22), .250/.303/.289
David Davallilo walked three but recorded five innings with a light pitch count. If 21-year-old Beycker Barroso plays semi-regularly the rest of the way, he’ll finish with nearly as many plate appearances as the previous three seasons combined. He signed as a 16-year-old in late 2019 but hasn’t played a ton because of covid, intermittent injuries, and being a catcher much of the time. In the complex league, where he’s spent at least portions of 2022-2024, catching duties might be split by three or more players, so unless you’re a standout prospect, collecting PAs can be tough.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Leiter
AA: Garcia
Hi-A: Lobus
Lo-A: Trentadue
Five Years Ago Yesterday
The 2019 Pacific Coast League was on pace to surpass the previous year’s homer total of 2,097 by mid-July. The actual date would be July 12, about 65% of the way through the season. 43 players would hit at least 20 homers including Nashville’s Matt Davidson (33), Patrick Wisdom (31), and Andy Ibanez (20).