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AAA: Round Rock 1, Sugar Land (HOU) 4
Round Rock: 6 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 15-17, 5.5 GB, 52-54 overall
SP Ryan Garcia: 6 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 2 R, 1 BB, 8 SO, 92 P / 63 S, 3.00 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2.27 ERA
3B Jonathan Ornelas: 2-3, BB, .251/.325/.343
Throwing some of everything but only four traditional breakers, Ryan Garcia pitched well in his AAA debut. Leaning heavily on a four-seamer/cutter/change trio, The 26-year-old tended to work middle and higher, and he missed 11 bats. A change at the top of the zone was hit fairly flat by Shay Whitcomb but hard enough to vault the wall in left. He peaked at 94.7 and sat 92-93 with the four-seamer and sinker. Texas drafted Garcia out of UCLA in 2019’s second round. Covid, injury, and a lengthy acclimation to AA delayed his arrival to AAA. The primary improvement in AA this season has been keeping the ball in the park. I don’t anticipate a 40 spot for him this fall, but he’s a better pitcher than a year a ago.
Round Rock lost five of six to Sugar Land, best in the league by a mile at 69-38.
AA: Frisco 4, @ San Antonio (SDP) 2
Frisco: 8 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 21-12, +1 G, 65-37 overall
SP Emiliano Teodo: 3.1 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 1 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 41 P / 27 S, 1.81 ERA
RP Andy Rodriguez: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 1.97 ERA
RP Jackson Kelley: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
2B Keyber Rodriguez: 1-4, HR (5), .258/.304/.403
3B Cody Freeman: 2-4, 2B, .277/.338/.470
RF Josh Hatcher: 1-4, HR (9), .289/.337/.434
While never placed on the IL, Emiliano Teodo missed his turn last week, and on Sunday he apparently was on a restricted diet. In any case, Teodo excelled until the end, when a Robbie Teneowicz fly landed on the berm beyond the short wall in left.
Josh Hatcher and Luis Mieses homered to break a 2-2 tie in the 9th. Frisco swept the series and improved to 13-0 in San Antonio’s home park. The Missions are 24-14 against other teams at home, and Frisco is otherwise 17-21 on the road.
Hi-A: Hickory 3, @ Asheville (HOU) 4
Hickory: 7 hits, 7 walks, 14 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 6 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 19-17, 3.5 GB, 47-55 overall
SP Ryan Lobus: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 6 SO, 77 P / 46 S, 3.83 ERA
RP Marc Church: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 6.75 ERA
SS Cam Cauley: 1-5, HR (10), .244/.293/.433
1B Arturo Disla: 2-3, 2 2B, 2 BB, SB (1), .333/.429/.667
Ryan Lobus’s strong performance included only one walk, but five other three-ball counts hastened his exit. On rehab, Marc Church worked a quick 5th with two strikeouts but was pulled after consecutive walks in the 6th. In a perfect world, Church would ramp up quickly, revert to his March form, and have management considering a late-season call-up. The skill is there, certainly.
Lo-A: Down East 4, @ Augusta (ATL) 0
Down East: 10 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
Record: 20-15, 2.5 GB, 55-45 overall
SP Jose Gonzalez: 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 68 P / 44 S, 1.94 ERA
RP Victor Simeon: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 2.10 ERA
RP Adonis Villavicencio: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.63 ERA
CF Jose De Jesus: 2-4, HBP, SB (1), .478/.520/.478
C Julian Brock: 3-4, 2B, BB, .233/.313/.342
Down East shut out the GreenJackets for a third straight day and left town with six wins and a 29-inning scoreless streak. Ignoring league and park factors, Augusta has the worst full-season minor league offense by a wide margin, scoring two or fewer runs in 49 of 99 games. Still, the Jackets hadn’t been goose-egged in three straight this season. Down East leads the league in run prevention even after adjusting for a pitcher-friendly park, allowing 17% fewer runs than the average and an 86 OPS+. NExt year, when Hickory reverts to low-A, I expect the park to play no lower than average and probably leaning toward hitter-friendly.
The week for the additions from the complex:
OF Jose De Jesus: .478/.520/.478, four strikeouts in 24 PA
OF Yeremi Cabrera: .238/.333/.333, 3 SB
1B Pablo Guerrero: .304/.333/.565, HR
Their arrivals haven’t cut into anyone else’s playing time too much. 1B Arturo Disla was promoted and OF Jojo Blackmon released before the series began. OF Tommy Specht played only once last week but had already played less frequently in previous weeks. He’s unfortunately is in the midst of a crushing slump: .098/.161/.137 with a 46% K rate in his last 16 games.
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Nashville 3B Andy Ibanez was 2-5 with his 14th homer. I wasn’t writing much about Ibanez in 2019 despite an impressive season at the plate because I didn’t foresee a call-up or even a 40 addition in the horizon, and he was 26. Ibanez passed through the offseason’s transaction events untouched but would make his MLB debut in May 2021 without having played another official minor league game.