Rangers Farm Report: Games of Friday 20 September
Box Scores
AA: Frisco 2, Midland (OAK) 5
Frisco loses Texas League semifinals 1-2, season over
Frisco: 7 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 8 walks, 14 strikeouts
SP Mitch Bratt: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 67 P / 42 S
RP Josh Sborz: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO
RP Emiliano Teodo: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 SO
RP Jackson Kelley: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO
RP Ryan Lobus: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 SO
RP Skylar Hales: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 SO
LF Josh Hatcher: 2-4, HR
1B Abimelec Ortiz: 2-3, HR, BB
Frisco managed to break through at critical moments on Thursday but couldn’t find a solution against Midland’s strong pitching and defense in Friday’s deciding game. Thursday hero Abimelec Ortiz opened the scoring with his second homer of the series. Josh Hatcher closed Midland’s margin to one in the 8th with a two-out solo homer. Beyond that, Frisco had two at-bats with runners in scoring position, both with two out, neither fruitful.
Mitch Bratt’s handled the first ten outs, dealing with runners every inning but managing to escape until the 4th. A single and walk to open the 2nd had the bullpen rousing, but after a sac bunt, Bratt struck out the next two to strand runners in scoring position. In the 4th, a double, single, and groundout plated Midland’s first run. Replacement Josh Sborz allowed a steal of third and RBI single before inducing an inning-ending double play. Sborz pitched all three games in the series and was making his first back-to-back appearance on rehab. Bratt tied a season-high 16 missed bats despite a modest 67 pitches.
Emiliano Teodo appeared in the 5th and contributed his usual mix of outright dominance and some wildness. Employing his changeup more than usual, Teodo struck out the side in order after an opening single, In the 6th, Teodo walked two of four batters and was removed. After a season-high 86 pitches on July 6th, Teodo would throw only 19.2 additional innings across seven outings.
Two relievers appeared on no rest for the first time in their professional careers, and neither succeeded. Jackson Kelley, who’d thrown four pitches on Thursday, replaced Teodo with two on and two out in the 4th. He walked the next two batters, bringing in a run before gaining the final out on a full-count call. In the 9th, Skylar Hales (11 pitches Thursday) entered with two out and one on in the 9th and proceeded to allow three consecutive hits for only the second time all season. Two runs scored to extend Midland’s margin to three.
Is having untested relievers pitching on consecutive days a categorically bad decision? I can’t say I oppose the idea and wasn’t bothered when Kelley took the mound. After Thursday’s game, I wrote with the expectation that both Kelley and Hales would be available. That said, I do recall 2021, when both Chase Lee and Daniel Robert faltered badly pitching on no rest at the end of Frisco’s regular season. In 2022, when the Riders won the title, they never played on consecutive days so the situation never arose. Regardless, manager Carlos Cardoza and staff had leave to make the moves they believed gave the best chance to win the series, and they did, so I can’t complain. Midland scored only ten runs and batted .214/.293/.320 in the series.
The story of the series is Frisco’s bats against Midland’s pitching and defense, not reliever management. Frisco batted .141/.196/.283 and scored six runs in three games. Two of of those runs began their existence on second base in extra innings, and the other four came on solo homers. In the preview, I’d discussed Midland’s knack for gobbling up balls in play, and Frisco managed only a .154 average (10-for-65) in that regard. The Riders never had a multi-hit inning, and on only three occasions outside of extras did they put multiple runners on base.
Frisco had the second-best record in all of AA but the misfortune of playing a team with an identical record and slightly better peripherals. Midland finished with a better second-half record, a better run differential, and 12 wins in 18 head-to-head matches. It happens. Regardless, Frisco had a fine season.
In the finals, Midland will face Arkansas, a 6-5 winner over Springfield last night.
AAA: Round Rock 4, @ Tacoma (SEA) 3 (11)
Round Rock: 10 hits, 6 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 6 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 34-38, eliminated, 71-75 overall
SP Jacob Latz: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 SO, 34 P / 13 S, 1.59 ERA
RP Robby Ahlstrom: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 3.98 ERA
RP Grant Wolfram: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.36 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2.70 ERA
3B Frainyer Chavez: 2-4, BB, SB (5), .265/.320/.325
CF Kellen Strahm: 2-3, 2B, BB, SB (13), .262/.373/.369
Gift-runner Alex De Goti scored on an error in the 11th. Daniel Robert stranded runners in the 10th and 11th.
In his first appearance on option, Jacob Latz walked three and reached three-ball counts to two others. He usually missed high, and he and his teammates weren’t getting high calls.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Dunning listed, but no