Best as I can tell, at 18 years and 180 days as of yesterday, Sebastian Walcott is Texas’s youngest AA position player ever. He was 11 days younger than Roy Howell, who made his AA and professional debut for the Pittsfield Rangers on June 26, 1972. Howell had been drafted out of high school fourth-overall 20 days prior.
Youngest AA Position Player Debuts in Rangers History:
Sebastian Walcott, 2024, 18 years / 180 days
Roy Howell, 1972, 18 / 191
Jurickson Profar, 2012, 19 / 45
Nomar Mazara, 2014, 19 / 101
Ivan Rodriguez, 1991, 19 /128*
Juan Gonzalez, 1989, 19 / 168*
Rougned Odor, 2013, 19 / 179
Ruben Sierra, 1985, 19 / 180*
Elvis Andrus, 2008**, 19 / 221
Donnie Scott, 1981, 19 / 229*
* Estimated based on assumption of a first game in early April. I don’t have schedules prior to 2005. To whatever extent I’m off, I shouldn’t be off on the low side by more than a few days. I found Roy Howell’s exact debut date in a story about a fog-shortened no-hitter.
** When I published a Frisco-only version of this list, I had Andrus’s debut year as 2009 instead of 2008, but his age was correct.
Elsewhere, the Cardinals promoted IF Thomas Saggese, who started at short and went 0-4 in his MLB debut. He’d taken some time acclimating to AAA but had batted .291/.351/.524 with 12 homers in 55 games since July 1st. The Ranger traded Saggese and pitcher TK Roby to St. Louis for Jordan Montgomery last summer.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 6, Sacramento (SFO) 11 (11)
Round Rock: 8 hits, 8 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 29-34, 7 GB, 66-71 overall, elimination number 5
SP Dane Dunning: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 69 P / 48 S, 1.38 ERA
RP Josh Sborz: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 6.23 ERA
RP Jacob Latz: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 6.75 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 1.2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 3.13 ERA
1B Blaine Crim: 2-5, 2B, BB, .282/.376/.475
Two rehabbing and two optioned pitchers accounted for most of the innings. Dunning pitched well overall and the runs were unearned, although he was not blameless in Sacramento’s two-run first. Given the upcoming activation of Jake deGrom and Kumar Rocker’s MLB debut, plus the presumed return of Josh Sborz, if not Jacob Latz, Dunning may not see Arlington again in 2024 no matter how he performs.
The sides traded threes in the 10th, but Round Rock could not answer Sacramento’s five runs off Aidan Anderson in the 11th.
The Express are in last among eight teams contending for the second-half title, but I think they can still succeed with as few as eight wins in the last 11 games. For example (ignoring first-half winner Sugar Land and bottom-dwelling El Paso):
Round Rock: 37-37
ABQ, OKC, Sacto, Salt Lake, Tacoma: 37-38
Las Vegas, Reno: 36-38
AA: Frisco 1, @ Amarillo (ARI) 5
Frisco: 7 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 7 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 36-28, first-half champion, 80-53 overall
SP Nick Krauth: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 58 P / 37 S, 5.78 ERA
SS Sebastian Walcott: 1-4, 2B
C Cooper Johnson: 3-4, 2B, HR (13), .233/.351/.471
Walcott’s mound opponent was Stephen Giesting, who brought a 5.25 ERA into the game but generates more misses than you’d expect from someone with a fastball in the 88-91 range. Giesting would in fact tie a career-high 19 swinging strikes and deliver seven innings of one-run ball with seven Ks. Walcott swung through a fastball in his first plate appearance but stung another heater down the left field line for a double. He would strike out against Giesting again, then ground out to second to end the game. In the field, he handled five plays without incident.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Sampson
AA: Santos
Five Years Ago The Day Before Yesterday
Low-A Hickory lost the first game of the South Atlantic League finals 6-4 to the KC-affiliated Lexington Legends. Starter Ronny Henriquez pitched well, but a couple of mid-game defensive miscues, reliever Kelvin Gonzalez’s worst outing all season, and lack of timely hitting doomed the Crawdads.
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Hickory lost again, 7-0. Early success by Cole Winn ended for naught with a three-run 5th that put the Crawdads down 4-0. A later three-run homer off Daniel Robert sealed the defeat. Hickory batters not named Kole Enright or Pedro Gonzalez were 5-for-52 with a double and three walks so far in the series. Hickory would head to Lexington needing three straight wins for a title.