Rangers Farm Report: Games of Wednesday 4 September

Rangers Farm Report: Games of Wednesday 4 September
Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 2, @ Las Vegas (OAK) 6
Round Rock: 3 hits, 6 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 27-31, 6 GB, 64-68 overall

SP Dane Dunning: 4 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 2 R, 2 BB, 8 SO, 72 P / 46 S, 2.57 ERA

Excluding rehab appearances, Dane Dunning hadn’t started a minor league game since 2018, and never on optional assignment. He’d been added to the White Sox 40 at the end of 2019 while recovering from elbow surgery, and his next appearance would be in the Majors the following August. He handled the atmospheric conditions better than most and missed 12 bats, although he would throw only two pitches of 90 MPH or better. Fellow 40 members Daniel Robert (1 IP, 3 runners, 3 runs) and Owen White (1 IP, 3 runners, 1 run) combined for a four-run 7th.

OF Dustin Harris walked twice and stole his 32nd base. He remains with Round Rock along with fellow 40 member Sam Huff while OF Sandro Fabian finds himself wearing number 40 as a member of the Texas Rangers. I wasn’t expecting this, although I’d seen fit to keep mentioning his better days in the report unlike a good number of free-agent signs. Also, at this point, viable replacement options are limited: him, Harris, Huff, non-40 1B Blaine Crim, maybe veteran IF Matt Duffy (who I haven’t mentioned because he’s not hitting well at all and is 33).

Fabian is hitting .270/.343/.462 with 33 2B/3B an 17 homers in 116 games. He’s graded out slightly above average in contact and power, slightly below in OBP, and a 104 OPS+ overall. Somewhat surprisingly for his power-oriented swing, Fabian whiffs as little as anyone on the Express save Foscue. His exit velocities are vanilla near the median, and his hard-hit rate of 33% is slightly below the league average, but his top-end velo improves relative to his peers, creating ample power. He’s hitting .370/.441/.693 against lefties, .231/.305/.371 vs. righties. Fabian has spotted in center but is best suited to right, where his able arm can vanquish greedy runners.

Fabian could be sent back to AAA in short order in favor of someone else, so I don’t yet want to suggest what this transaction says (if anything) about Harris. But I’ve written about Harris and his issues at length during the season. At this moment, Fabian is more likely to do some damage, especially against lefties. (The left-handed Harris is actually hitting lefties quite well, but the batted-ball data strongly favors Fabian.) Maybe he’ll get some hacks against Angels LHP Samuel Aldegheri on Friday. Like I said, I wasn’t expecting this, but Fabian isn’t undeserving. The 28-man roster limit prevents clubs from doling out multiple cups of coffee, but perhaps the Rangers can hand out some of those little  paper cups.

AA: Frisco 2, Wichita (MIN) 1
Frisco: 6 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 1 walk, 14 strikeouts
Record: 34-25, first-half champ, 78-50 overall

SP Winston Santos: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 SO, 81 P / 59 S, 5.27 ERA
RP Jacob Latz: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 23.14 ERA
RP Jackson Kelley: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.30 ERA
RP Ryan Lobus: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
RF Alejandro Osuna: 2-3, HR (6), HBP, SB (7), .302/.381/.503
2B Max Acosta: 1-3, 2B, BB, .277/.343/.408

Winston Santos struck out his most batters in AA, having stuck on seven in four previous starts.

Alejandro Osuna didn’t hit a double or triple last night, but I noticed his 19 combined doubles and triples in 45 games at Frisco exceed any previous full season. His 15 homers between high-A and AA are already a career-best by six. International signings often present difficult 40 decisions because of their young age and level. In Osuna’s case, starting in low-A as an 18-year-old after signing in late 2020 and hitting well enough to advance in timely fashion (despite persistent injuries) should give the Rangers an easier decision, which isn’t required until after 2025.

Six wins in the final ten games will give the Riders a record of 84-54 (.608), which would be the best AA regular season ever by a Texas affiliate. The 2007 squad was 85-55 (.607).

Hi-A: Hickory 3, Rome (ATL) 9
Hickory: 10 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 8 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 32-30, eliminated, 60-68 overall

SP Paul Bonzagni: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 81 P / 51 S, 3.55 ERA
C Malcolm Moore: 2-4, 2B, .187/.291/.347
1B Arturo Disla: 3-4, 2B, .264/.328/.536
RF Yeison Morrobel: 2-4, 2 2B, .210/.289/.317

The Crawdads were fortunate to avoid a worse margin. Rome had 22 baserunners and four steals, and Hickory added two runner-advancing errors, three wild pitches, and a balk. Starter Paul Bonzagni escaped before the flood, concluding his solid season with his fewest runs allowed in five high-A starts. Bonzagni was more prone to extra-base hits at Hickory (nearly everyone is) but showed slight improvements in his walk and strikeout rates compared to Down East.

Just-promoted Victor Simeon walked a season-high four and allowed three runs in the 9th.

Lo-A: Down East 4, Augusta (ATL) 3 (10)
Down East: 5 hits, 2 walks, 14 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 4 walks, 14 strikeouts
Record: 29-30, eliminated, 64-60 overall

SP Josh Trentadue: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 43 P / 23 S, 4.57 ERA
RP Kai Wynward: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 2.85 ERA
RP Alberto Mota: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 2.48 ERA
RP Anthony Susac: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
1B Ben Hartl: 2-4, 2B, .346/.525/.500

Echedry Vargas (1-5) singled in the winner in the 10th. Assuming he advances to high-A next year, he’ll never have a claw on his cap, as Hickory resumes its former place as Texas’s low-A affiliate.

A 29-pitch 2nd for Josh Trentadue resulted in an outing short enough that he could pitch on Sunday if needed. As it stands, the 22-year-old drafted in last year’s 14th round out of Southern Idaho posted a 28% strikeout rate and 10% BB/HBP rate in 69 innings. 2024 8th-rounder Anthony Susac probably has one more outing to extend his professional scoreless streak.

Down East secured a non-losing record with the victory.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Garcia
AA: Bratt
Hi-A: Gonzalez
Lo-A: TBA (Larsen)

Five Years Ago Yesterday
The playoffs began. High-A Down East (87-52) split a hurricane-prompted doubleheader with Houston-affiliated Fayetteville (72-67) by duplicate scores of 3-0. Sal Mendez (6.1 IP) and Joe Kuzia (0.2) three-hit the Woodpeckers in the opener. CF JP Martinez, DH Yohel Pozo, and RF Yanio Perez contributed two hits apiece. Fayetteville’s Miguelangel Sierra memorably turned a homer into an out when he failed to touch the plate. In the second game, starter Scott Engler surrendered a two-run homer to Jeremy Pena.

Low-A Hickory (83-52) defeated Baltimore-affiliated Delmarva (90-48) 4-3 in the opener of the best-of-three semifinals. Ricky Vanasco allowed two runs in the 1st but no more in five subsequent innings, backed up by Nick Snyder and high-leverage specialist Kelvin Gonzalez. Delmarva’s Grayson Rodriguez (6 IP, 4 R) surrendered three 1st-inning runs via doubles from Jax Biggers, Josh Jung, and Miguel Aparicio, and Tyreque Reed’s later homer provided the margin. Rodriguez’s battery mate was Adley Rutschman (1-4, double).

Short-season Spokane (45-31) lost 4-3 in 12th to Pads-affiliated Tri City (38-38). The Dust Devils quickly scored three off Jeifry Nunez, who walked four in three innings after not having walked more than two in any previous outing. Spokane would recover in part by a two-run homer from Heriberto Hernandez, a virtual newcomer to the level, but stranded would-be game-winning runs later on.