Yerry Rodriguez’s designation has been a long time coming, at least to my eyes. For about a year, whenever the Rangers had an impending 40-man decision that didn’t involve an obvious choice like Shaun Anderson or Derek Hill, I wondered whether his time was at hand. I understand why Texas resisted, as his stuff is MLB-grade, but in June 2024 he’s past the point where immediate results have primacy. Since the most recent option, he’d averaged an untenable two walks, a single, and an extra-base hit each time through the order. Given his option status, I wouldn’t be surprised at a claim.
Derek Hill had batted .406/.500/.469 since rejoining the Express, but I don’t have any reason to expect much more of him than even a slumping Ezequiel Duran. Hopefully, Duran’s time in AAA will be fruitful. He hasn’t played at that level since September 2022.
A shame about Winn. I know those who know nothing beyond his MLB output understandably aren’t going to miss him, but to reach that level he overcame as lengthy and profound a stretch of ugliness as I’ve ever come across. He’d pitched very well before his latest recall, but none of that improvement made the trip with him to Texas. Notably, the outings on the 16th and 17th were his first ever on consecutive days.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 0, El Paso (SDP) 2
Round Rock: 5 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 0-2, 37-39 overall
SP Owen White: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 93 P / 58 S, 4.90 ERA
CF Dustin Harris: 1-3, BB, .250/.343/.367
Justin Foscue was 1-4 in his first game back as a regular member of the Express. He has a strange .200/.444/.320 line in eight games featuring a minuscule 4% swinging strike rate.
AA: Frisco 3, Corpus Christi (HOU) 5
Frisco: 4 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 1-1, 45-26 overall
SP Ryan Garcia: 6 IP, 5 H (1 HR), 4 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 83 P / 53 S, 4.37 ERA
Let’s just move on, shall we?
Hi-A: Hickory 13, @ Greenville (BOS) 5
Hickory: 12 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 2-3, 30-41 overall
SP Kohl Drake: 5 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 1 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 71 P / 47 S, 1.80 ERA
RP Ryan Lobus: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 3.94 ERA
CF Alejandro Osuna: 5-5, 2B, 3B, HR (9), .272/.339/.486
3B Gleider Figuereo: 2-5, HR (1)
LF Yosy Galan: 1-3, 2 BB, .167/.281/.321
Alejandro Osuna hit for the cycle. I mentioned yesterday that none of the system promotions was a surprise, but if you want one, Osuna’s continued presence in high-A qualifies. He’s been at Hickory since August 2022, albeit with injury absences, and is having a strong season, already matching his season-best in homers in just 45 games. On the downside, his walk rate has declined by half from 2023.
Kohl Drake handled his first high-A start well. The gap between low and high-A might be smaller than from high-A to AA, but it’s a real gap. In addition to the competition, the parks tend to be slightly more hitter-friendly, and Hickory in particularly permits more than its fair share of homers.
I had not fully appreciated how far Yosy Galan’s slash line had fallen. I root for him because he’s fun to watch, but his 39% K rate makes decent overall production darn near impossible.
Lo-A: suspended
I can’t say for sure, but I believe the last pitch thrown resulted in a three-run homer for Delmarva. The wind from the Incoming storm blew CF Marcus Smith’s cap off his head and toward left field as he ran to the wall.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Garabito
AA: Krauth
Hi-A: TBA
Lo-A: TBA
Five Years Ago Yesterday
AAA Nashville defeated Memphis 17-11 to move out of last place. One curious but nice anecdote about the system is that Texas’s AAA squad hasn’t finished more than eight games below .500 in nearly 30 years.