AAA: Round Rock 4, Toledo (DET) 7 (12)
Round Rock: 8 hits, 6 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 2-4, 3 GB
SP Caleb Boushley: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 67 P / 44 S, 2.08 ERA
RP Joe Barlow: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 16.20 ERA
RP Dane Acker: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
2B Justin Foscue: 1-4, 2B, BB
RF Sam Haggerty: 2-6, SB (1)
A frustrating loss. Round Rock led 3-0 entering the 7th and held a one-run lead with two outs, two strikes and none on in the 9th. SS Alan Trejo threw a grounder into the dugout to put a Eliezer Alfonzo on second, and another errant throw by 3B Alex De Goti brought Alfonzo home. The teams traded runs in the 11th, but in the 12th, an error by 3B Cody Freeman (who had replaced De Goti) open the gates for three runs.
CF Dustin Harris (1-5) stole two bases.
Evan Carter had the night off.
Opening Day Part Two. The real Opening Day. After a week of nothing but AAA, all four teams play tonight. AA Frisco hosts Corpus Christi, and Winston Santos gets the ball. After various injuries, role changes and transactions in the system this spring, Santos is Texas’s best healthy MiLB rotation prospect.
David Davalillo will start the inaugural game for the Hub City Spartanburgers at Baltimore-affiliated Aberdeen. Jose Gonzalez and DJ McCarty will follow.
Caden Scarborough draws the assignment at White Sox-affiliated Kannapolis. Lefties Mason Molina and Angel Anazco fill out the weekend.
Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The eighth-best pitching team is the 2010 low-A Hickory Crawdads. A glance at the league statistical home page might have you wondering about my methodology: Hickory sits a mundane 6th place of 14 teams in runs allowed and 5th in ERA. But adjust for park factors (among them, 1.06 for runs, 1.10 for homers) and voila:
Runs: 4.4 per game, 8% better than average
ERA-: 89
FIP-: 87
OPS+: 90
wRC+: 88
The staff was average at keeping the ball in the park but ranked first in both BB/HBP rate (8%) and strikeouts (23%). Check these guys out:
Neil Ramirez: 140 IP IP, 3.8 K/BB ratio
Matt Thompson: 129 IP, 5.7 ratio
Robbie Erlin: 114 IP, 7.4 ratio
Joe Wieland: 89 IP, 4.7 ratio
Robbie Ross: 94 IP, 3.1 ratio
Jake Brigham: 83 IP, 2.8 ratio
Chad Bell: 60 IP, 2.8 ratio
Joe Ortiz: 42 IP, 11.8 ratio
All posted K/BB ratios superior to the league average, and all would reach the Majors but Thompson (who sadly succumbed to yip-like loss of control and would be out of baseball in two years). They were so amazing that infielder Matt West converted to relief and made the Majors as well. Despite sub-par offense and defense, Hickory finished 74-65, made the playoffs and took a superior Lakewood squad to a maximum three games in the league semifinals. The Crawdads scored only two runs (both on groundouts) and nearly had more errors (7) than hits (8) in the two losses.