AAA: Round Rock 6, Toledo (DET) 4 (10)
Round Rock: 10 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 5 walks, 16 strikeouts
Record: 4-4, 2 GB
SP Adrian Houser: 5 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 9 SO, 77 P / 53 S, 3.60 ERA
RP Luis Curvelo: 2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 2.25 ERA
CF Dustin Harris: 2-4, BB, SB (4)
C Tucker Barnhart: 2-4, HR (1)
On an annoyingly chilly and windy night in Round Rock, Tucker Barnhart sent the brave crowd home happy with a walk-off homer off ex-Ranger Chase Lee. LF Trevor Hauver (1-4, BB) preceded by doubling in the gift-runner to tie the game at four. Barnhart offered some pop in the late ’10s but had only one homer in each of the past two seasons. He’s the call-up in Heim or Higgy are injured.
Adrian Houser allowed some deafening contact (eight of 11 balls over 101) but struck out nine. Half of his 91-95 MPH sinkers resulted in a whiff or call. Luis Curvelo relied almost entirely on sliders in two not-quite-scoreless innings; the runner on second in the 10th advanced home on a deep fly and groundout.
Evan Carter missed a third straight game. Per Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports, he was away on a personal matter. He’s in today’s lineup. I don’t know that I’ll be there myself, much as I’d like to see him in person, as it’s currently 45 degrees with winds 15+ from the north, and I am a big baby.
AA: Frisco 5, Corpus Christi (HOU) 2
Frisco: 11 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 5 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 1-1, 1 GB
SP Mitch Bratt: 3.2 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 78 P / 50 S, 2.45 ERA
RP Robby Ahlstrom: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
DH Josh Jung: 1-3
SS Sebastian Walcott: 2-3, 2B, BB, SB (1)
1B Abimelec Ortiz: 2-4
RF Josh Hatcher: 2-4
2B Cam Cauley: 1-3, BB, SB (1)
Josh Jung singled in three trips to the plate as a DH. He’s expected to play the field today and rejoin the Rangers Tuesday.
Sebastian Walcott reached on a 101 MPH very opposite-field double, a lined single and a walk.
Mitch Bratt wasn’t walk-prone but definitely pitch-prone, as a lack of whiffs prolonged several plate appearances. Bratt was ultimately effective but didn’t miss a bat until the final batter of the 3rd. Still, he fanned four and has always maintained a healthy K rate.
Hi-A: Hub City 1, at Aberdeen (BAL) 3
Hub City: 4 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 1-1, tied for 1st
SP Jose Gonzalez: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 50 P / 37 S, 0.00 ERA
LF Dylan Dreiling: 2-3, BB
Now 23, Jose Gonzalez signed at 17 out of Venezuela and has been slow to develop (covid didn’t help), but at this point he’s an actual prospect, if not top-30 worthy. He signed prior to July 2, 2019, leading me to believe he could become a free agent after the season if not protected, but I wouldn’t swear to that.
Dylan Dreiling reached three times. Hub City loaded the bases with none out in the 9th down three, but Julian Brock’s grounder scored one at the expense of two outs, and Casey Cook’s popout ended it.
Lo-A: Hickory 6, at Kannapolis (CHW) 5
Hickory: 9 hits, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 5 walks, 17 strikeouts
Record: 2-0, tied for 1st
SP Mason Molina: 4 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 2 R, 1 BB, 8 SO, 66 P / 43 S, 4.50 ERA
RP Brock Porter: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Eric Loomis: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
LF Maxton Martin: 2-4, 2B, HR (1), BB
3B Rafe Perich: 3-5, HR (1)
1B Pablo Guerrero: 2-5
SS Chandler Pollard: 2-2, 2 HBP, 2 SB (2)
Brock Porter returned to full-season action for the first time in nearly a year. In 2024, Porter had a troubling spring and was pulled from the high-A rotation after three increasingly off-kilter starts. He resumed two months later at the complex and was again removed, for good, after five outings. He had walked or hit 33 of 101 batters. (I should say his spring of 2023 was worrisome too, but not in the same way. His control was adeqaute but his velocity had declined. I witnessed fastballs dipping all the way down to 89 during what might have been a dead-arm period. His regular season was erratic but promising, ad he justifyingly held a high prospect ranking heading into 2024.)
Porter struck out the side looking. He relied mostly on the fastball, mixing in a few sliders. I think the final strikeout was a change but couldn’t say for sure (on his last two strikeouts, the feed didn’t cut to the pitch until mid-delivery). I can’t say his control was great — he started the first two batters 3-1 and 2-0, and he hit the third batter — but it was no worse than the typical A-level pitcher. A step forward.
In his first start in the organization after being acquired for reliever Grant Anderson, Mason Molina surrendered an infield single and homer to start the game but then retired 12 of 13, eight via strikeout. Molina doesn’t throw especially hard but can move his fastball around. I don’t recall seeing a curve in Surprise, but it was particularly effective Saturday.
19-year-old Maxton Martin (2023, 11th round) hit a solo homer and drew a loaded walk for Hickory’s fifth and sixth runs.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Dunning
AA: Supak
Hi-A: McCarty
Lo-A: Anazco
Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The 19th-best hitting season belongs to Curtis Terry.
I’ve hinted at this over the years but will fully come clean: In March 2018, I’d given up on Curtis Terry. Drafted in 2015’s 13th round out of high school, Terry had spent two years in rookie ball and another at short-season Spokane with middling results. His power was developing, but with seven walks and 60 strikeouts in short-A, what would become of him in full-season ball. In Surprise, I saw him strike out weakly three times in one day against breaking stuff and sighed. Terry would in fact not receive an assignment to Hickory, instead heading to Spokane again, where he unexpectedly not only thrived but dominated, hitting .293/.362/.537 with 15 homers and 32 walks in 67 games.
The next spring, I saw him punch a tricky, high/tailing two-strike fastball firmly the opposite way for a single. I saw him connect on breakers in the zone and avoid swings at off-plate two-strike versions. He was a different man. Terry finally received a full-season assignment and hit so well that he joined high-A Down East in mid-June. His .537 slugging percentage and 36 doubles led the system. After missing 2020 along with everyone else, Terry skipped AA and hit well enough in Round Rock to briefly join a bad Rangers team late in 2021. I was very happy to have been wrong about him.