Trade 1
Texas acquired catcher Carson Kelly from the Tigers for catcher Liam Hicks and RHP Tyler Owens.
I assume Kelly will replace Andrew Knizer and perhaps have a more active role behind Jonah Heim, who’s having a down year in the midst of being one of baseball’s busiest catchers the past two years. Even if Kelly backslides some, he’ll be a better hitter than Knizer and rates better defensively as well. He could be worth an extra win above replacement to the Rangers, meaningful in the context of continuing the fight for the division. Kelly is a free agent this fall.
Texas acquired Owens for OF JP Martinez last winter. Owens’ K rate of 25% was very close to the average for a Texas League reliever, and he excelled at keeping runners off the bases and was handling Frisco’s high-leverage situations. I’d half-expected him to be in Round Rock by now. That said, I wasn’t optimistic that he’d gain a 40 spot this fall.
Hicks was Texas’s 9th-rounder out of Arkansas State in 2021. With good contact and a tremendous batting eye, Hicks posted a .403 overall OBP at various levels including .385 at AA Frisco. He drew some attention in 2023’s Arizona Fall League for a .449/.553/.522 line. Any power is incidental. Like Owens, I was lukewarm about his 40 chances this fall, but Hicks has a legitimate shot at the Majors, most likely as a third catcher or just-in-case type.
Trade 2
Texas acquired LHP Walter Pennington for RHP Michael Lorenzen.
I’m going to type this and see whether I’m struck by lightning: The Rangers had a surplus of starting pitchers.
Still here. Even with Jon Gray potentially on the shelf, Texas has Eovaldi, Heaney, Scherzer, Dunning, Mahle on the way, Bradford on the way, deGrom on the way eventually.
KC signed Pennington as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and purchased his contract earlier this month for a two-batter MLB debut. In AAA Omaha, Pennington had a 2.26 ERA in 59.2 innings (no Texas minor league reliever has more the 50) with a 9% walk rate and 33% strikeout rate. Opponents are hitting .181/.255/.282.
His repertoire:
Slider (51%): average 83 MPH, 81-85 range, not the sweepy type, misses on 27% of all pitches (!) and 48% of swings (!!), the finishing pitch to 58 of his 79 strikeouts;
Cutter (26%): average 88.1 MPH, 86-90 range, below-average miss rate but hitters aren’t doing much against it;
Sinker (21%): average 91.1 MPH, range 89-93, average 13″ of horizontal movement, not much of a bat-misser and can be hit hard but very difficult to elevate.
Pennington also has a small number of pitches classified as four-seamers and changes. He’s improved his control in 2024, bringing his walk/HBP rate down and getting ahead in the count much better than the league average. He’s traditionally handled lefties much better, although this year is an exception. He was assigned to AAA Round Rock.
Released
RHP Austin Pruitt — His rehab assignment had concluded. He was on the 60-day IL, so his dismissal doesn’t open a 40 spot.
OF Geisel Cepeda — Signed out of Cuba last year. .205/.293/.286 as a 26-year-old in AAA.
RHP Michael Brewer — The 2019 32nd-rounder had struggled at Frisco last year. On the shelf early and then at the complex for a month, the reliever posted a walk-heavy 4.86 ERA at Hickory.
IF/OF Jayce Easley — Easley was Texas’s 2018 fifth-rounder. He played everywhere but catcher with a plurality at second. Easley led Down East’s record-setting base-swiping squad of 2021 with 70 steals. In four full seasons, he has always finished with more combined walks and HBPs than hits, and he managed a .372 OBP despite a .226 average. He would have become a free agent after the season.
IF Ben Blackwell — Undrafted out of Clemson last summer, Blackwell played all over the infield mostly at high-A Hickory, hitting .213/.293/.274 in 87 games.
OF Jojo Blackmon — Blackmon signed for an above-slot $250k as Texas’s 11th-round pick in 2021. He was fun to watch, for a while an interesting combination of speed and progressing power. He could take a pitch but struck out nearly 40% of the time, swamping whatever he accomplished wen putting the ball in play. He spent part of 2024 at the complex wasn’t making headway toward high-A.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 7, @ Albuquerque (COL) 11
Round Rock: 12 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 14-12, 3.5 GB, 51-49 overall
SP Adrian Sampson: 3.1 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 6 R, 4 BB, 7 SO, 80 P / 47 S, 5.91 ERA
CF Dustin Harris: 2-5, HR (7), .287/.370/.405
SS Ezequiel Duran: 3-5, 3B, HR (2), .277/.302/.554
1B Blaine Crim: 1-2, 2 BB, .264/.374/.414
2B Jax Biggers: 2-4, 2 2B, .262/.390/.382
Ezequiel Duran’s five homers this week:
99 MPH / 23 degrees
99 / 28
101 / 21
101 / 23
111 / 20
Yesterday, I implied these would be homers in any PCL park, but I was going on general observation. As it turns out, some of these velo/angle combinations don’t leave the park as often as I suggested, but only for having slightly low angles, not for lack of velocity. Regardless, Duran had the type of week (.480/.500/1.700) that can’t simply be attributed to a friendly park.
AA: Frisco 4, Tulsa (LAD) 14
Frisco: 8 hits, 6 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 20 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 16-11, 2 GB, 60-36 overall
SP Winston Santos: 2.2 IP, 6 H (2 HR), 6 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 67 P / 40 S, 8.16 ERA
3B Josh Jung: 2-3, 2B, HBP
1B Abi Ortiz: 3-5, 2B, HR (8), .217/.290/.367
DH Aaron Zavala: 2-4, BB, .215/.329/.299
Abimelec Ortiz is on a tear: .391/.451/.674 in his last 12 games, three of his season’s eight homers.
Not on a tear: Winston Santos. All but one of his four AA starts has been beset by homers, walks, HBPs, combinations therein. We’ve been here before and have to be patient.
Incidentally, a little over five years after reaching AA, Tyler Phillips threw a shutout for the Phils. He truly spent most of those five years looking nothing like what got him to AA in the first place. The control-over-command repertoire led to a bevy of extra-base hits in AA. His control evaporated in 2021 along with his 40-man spot. 2022 was on the shelf, and 2023 and early 2024 gave the appearance of AAA depth at best.
Hi-A: Hickory 6, Greenville (BOS) 5
Hickory: 8 hits, 0 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 15-15, 4.5 GB, 43-53 overall
SP Joseph Montalvo: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 49 P / 31 S, 2.44 ERA
RP Ryan Lobus: 4.2 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 3 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 3.96 ERA
DH Cam Cauley: 3-4, HR (7), .246/.297/.410
CF Anthony Gutierrez: 2-4, HR (1), .249/.302/.333
Anthony Gutierrez hit his first homer since last August. Although never placed on the IL, Cam Cauley hasn’t played much the last three weeks and only at DH. Nevertheless, two homers give him a .269/.321/.500 line in that limited span.
Lo-A: Down East 2, Fayetteville (HOU) 5
Down East: 4 hits, 5 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 14-15, 5.5 GB, 49-46 overall
SP Jose Gonzalez: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 55 P / 40 S, 2.08 ERA
1B Arturo Disla: 2-4, HR (11), .281/.359/.438
RF Wady Mendez: 1-2, BB, 2 SB (18), .220/.330/.277
Arturo Disla has four homers in nine games since the All-Star break.
The top three in the organization in strikeouts are Kohl Drake (108), Jose Gonzalez (100), and Alejandro Rosario (99), just as I predicted in March. But seriously, if I’d offered a guess back then, I’d probably have said Leiter, Teodo, and Santos, who occupy the 4th through 6th spots. It’s probably not coincidence that the three leaders are 22-23 and did most or all of their damage in a low-level, pitcher-friendly league, but regardless, all have had fine seasons also unmarred by excessive walks.
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Texas acquired Ian Gibault from Tampa Bay. Nashville’s final game at New Orleans was rained out and wouldn’t be rescheduled. The Baby Cakes (né Zephrys) would relocate to a new park in Wichita in 2020, ostensibly as a member of the PCL.