AAA: Round Rock 7, Sacramento (SFO) 2
Round Rock: 9 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 32-35, eliminated, 69-72 overall
SP Steven Jennings: 2.2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 1 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 43 P / 32 S, 5.33 ERA
RP Robby Ahlstrom: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 3.50 ERA
RP Marc Church: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 2.33 ERA
1B Blaine Crim: 1-3, 2B, BB, .277/.372/.468
LF Trevor Hauver: 3-4, 2 2B, HR (10), .237/.352/.408
3B Frainyer Chavez: 2-4, 2B, .213/.279/.277
The Express named Blaine Crim the team MVP in a ceremony before the game. Prizes included a commemorative plaque, a pair of boots, and a hug from dad.
I’ve been grumpily frustrated about Marc Church for over a year. Back in March, he drew some attention and had a chance at the Opening Day active roster, but most of his AAA outings just haven’t quite looked the part. Last night, he was in fine form, striking out three in two scoreless innings and generating seven misses on nine swings at the slider. Just promoted San Francisco prospect Bryce Eldridge waved through two of them. The slider has nearly always been an absolute beast, but the fastball has been erratic, both in terms of basic control and what happens on contact. Church’s strikeout rate in AAA since returning from injury is 22%, ordinary for a reliever nowadays, but his control has improved dramatically, and he’s largely avoided noisy contact. On the season, Church has a 41% whiff rate with the slider (league rate 28%) and 15% on the fastball (league rate 25%). Nothing he throws moves much horizontally. He relies on impressive vertical break for the fastball, and the slider acts like a fastball until the batter commits. Most of his 2024 has been spent on the shelf, but he still has a shot at being a worthy MLB reliever.
Trevor Hauver has reached safely in 22 consecutive games and is batting .380/.500/.722 with 12 doubles and five homers. Up until that stretch, he carried a line of .193/.303/.311 in 77 games.
Reno won as well, so Round Rock is eliminated from postseason contention.
AA: Frisco 18, @ Amarillo (ARI) 1
Frisco: 21 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 39-29, first-half champ, 83-54 overall
SP Bryan Chi: 3 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 1 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 51 P / 34 S, 4.66 ERA
RP Ryan Lobus: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 3.00 ERA
RP Bryan Magdaleno: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Emiliano Teodo: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 1.98 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 2.10 ERA
RP Dane Acker: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 3.05 ERA
RF Alejandro Osuna: 4-6, 2B, HR (8), .307/.378/.515
LF Josh Hatcher: 3-4, 2B, HR (12), .300/.350/.448
1B Abi Ortiz: 5-6, 2 HR (18), .243/.326/.433
SS Sebastian Walcott: 2-6, HR (1), .348/.375/.609
DH Aaron Zavala: 2-4, HR (5), .223/.333/.306
Once again, Frisco took full advantage of the friendly hitting conditions and a pitching staff that is poor even accounting for those conditions. The Riders connected on seven homers including the first from Sebastian Walcott at this level. Walcott’s dinger left the bat at 107 MPH. Abi Ortiz had a five-hit night with two homers. In his last two months, Ortiz is hitting .293/.385/.581 with 13 homers in 43 games. This is the Ortiz of 2023 and gives the front office something to think about on 40-man deadline day.
Frisco employed a covey of relievers to place them in line for Tuesday’s playoff opener at Midland. Emiliano Teodo hadn’t pitched in three weeks and has thrown no more than 68 pitches since July, so I’m assuming he’s a reliever (or starter on a short leash) in the playoffs.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Dunning
AA: B. Anderson