AAA: Round Rock 5, Toledo (DET) 2
Round Rock: 7 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 4 walks, 14 strikeouts
Record: 2-3, 2 GB
SP Nolan Hoffman: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 40 P / 27 S, 9.82 ERA
RP Cole Winn: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Jacob Latz: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Luis Curvelo: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 4.50 ERA
1B Blaine Crim: 3-4, 3B, HR (1), BB
Blaine Crim clubbed a walk-off homer with two out. As of this week, he’s spent more than half his professional career in AAA, batting .285/.385/.482 with 43 homers in 285 games. 2025 is his walk year. Crim bats right and throws right, his listed height is 5’10”, and he’s essentially a pure 1B/DH. Best as I can tell, the only MLB player fitting those criteria in the last 25 years is Andrew Vaughn of the White Sox, and even Chicago shoved Vaughn into the outfield in his early years. Extending to 5’11” brings in Christian Walker and Ty France, but every other 1B at least dabbles at other positions.
There’s an alternate universe in which Milwaukee picked Crim in the post-2023 Rule 5 draft instead of setting $34 million on fire (actually, they gave it to Rhys Hoskins), but he and we are in this one. Hopefully, Crim gets a shot at some point, or a paycheck overseas.
CF Evan Carter was 0-4 with two strikeouts.
Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The eight-best team offense belongs to the 2015 High Desert Mavericks.
Runs per game: 6.0, 10% above average
OPS+: 108
wRC+: 109
High Desert played at Heritage Field in Adelanto, California, an especially bleak outpost in the Mojave Desert. Adelanto and neighboring Lancaster annually vied for the nation’s most hitter-friendly stadium. OF Lewis Brinson paced the squad with a line of .337/.416/.628 in 64 games, followed by OF Ryan Cordell at .311/.376/.528. Both would advance to Frisco. Hitting the most homers of their careers were OF Royce Bollinger, OF Zach Cone, OF Joe Jackson, IF Alex Burg and IF Tripp Martin. At the other end of the spectrum were Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who you might recall didn’t go yard until his fifth pro season in 2017, and 1B Ronald Guzman, who hit only nine homers and slugged .434. Brinson, Bolinger, Burg, Cordell, Chris Garia, IKF, Kevin Torres and Evan Van Hoosier all batted at least .300. High Desert scored ten or more runs 28 times and was shut out on only three occasions.
Yes, all these performances were absurdly boosted by the conditions, but even after heavy adjustments, the team and many players graded out well. Brinson, for example, had a 161 wRC+. 78-62 overall, High Desert advanced past Lancaster to the league semifinals but lost in five to Rancho Cucamonga (Cody Bellinger scored the walk-off winning run).