Texas purchased the contract of Caleb Boushley, who had a nice spring and was among the later camp cuts. In two outings with Round Rock, Boushley offered a heavy dose of 90ish fastballs and 92 sinkers followed by a sweeper averaging 83 (and not especially sweepy), an 85 change and a handful of curves. Contra his spring, he’s not much of a bat-misser in real games but will throw strikes and live with the consequences. His selection indicates the status of experienced 40 options Cole Winn, Jacob Latz and Daniel Robert, although that’s probably unfair to Robert as he isn’t a long type. I’d thought the Rangers might recall Winn, who hasn’t been great but isn’t slumping either and could probably run through an order without ruinous damage. Latz is missing bats but also missing the plate, walking the bases loaded but escaping unharmed in his last appearance.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 3, Oklahoma City (LAD) 16
Round Rock: 10 hits, 5 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 17 hits, 10 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 5-5, 2 GB
SP Nolan Hoffman: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 46 P / 25 S, 7.50 ERA
RP Cody Heuer: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Emiliano Teodo: 1.2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 4.05 ERA
1B Blaine Crim: 3-5, 2B, HR (2), .476/.532/.810
3B Cody Freeman: 3-4, 2B, .343/.375/.571
Squaring to bunt in the 8th, CF Evan Carter took a pitch off his finger(s) and eventually removed himself. Carter was clearly in immediate pain but seemed to shake it off quickly, and the trainer barely examined him as he argued with the umpire that he was pulling back and should have been awarded first (the ump ruled he was offering, and the pitch was a foul). However, as Carter took his stance and gripped the bat for the next pitch, he called for time and walked to the dugout. Previously, Carter walked, grounded hard to short, and hit a pop and shallow fly.
I expressed cautious optimism about his condition at the time, and per the beats, he did avoid serious injury. That’s good news, but I personally wouldn’t consider him a viable replacement for Wyatt Langford if needed. Carter is seeing fewer in-zone pitches than anyone on the team and usually not taking the bait. His exit velocities are actually respectable (albeit tilted toward RHPs) in contrast to his .091 batting average. On the downside, he’s whiffing far more often than average, popping up frequently, and he just doesn’t look comfortable at the plate.
As for other possibilities, OF Dustin Harris is unfortunately hitting softy. Justin Foscue is much more swing-happy so far but producing as well as ever in AAA (.316/.381/.447). He doesn’t play outfield, of course, and Texas would have an ungainly outfield depth chart of Pillar, Taveras and Garcia plus Pederson and Smith if Foscue replaced Langford. Sam Haggerty is on the IL. The best hitter at present, by far, is…
Blaine Crim didn’t quite get a full-bore swing at a Nick Frasso slider in the 1st but nevertheless gapped it for a double. Next, the contact on his 3rd-inning fly sounded slightly flat to me, and I thought “ooh, almost.” A few seconds later, the ball bounded off the warehouse roof beyond center, 431 feet from home. So much for my sound wave expertise. He also singled.
Emiliano Teodo breezed through the 6th with two strikeouts including one on only his second changeup of the season. The 7th was another matter, as Ryan Ward began by knocking a fly over the fence at a modest 94 MPH. Two outs, a walk, and two medium-hard hits finished Teodo’s day. His sinker regained its 100+ velocity nearly half the time.
As for the game in general: hoo boy. Round Rock threw 219 pitches, of which 101 were balls. Three pitchers failed to complete requisite innings. Catcher Konnor Piotto collected the final two outs after surrendering a homer. OKC stole six bases, only one of which was contested with a throw to second. Round Rock loaded the bases with none out in consecutive innings and went 0-3 with two strikeouts after both. Might as well get it all out of the system at once.
AA: Frisco 3, at NW Arkansas (KAN) 7
Frisco: 6 hits, 6 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 6 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 2-2, 1 GB
SP Kohl Drake: 3 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 4 R, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 3 SO, 70 P / 43 S, 12.00 ERA
CF Alejandro Osuna: 1-4, BB
1B Josh Hatcher: 1-4, HR (1)
DH Abi Ortiz: 2-4, 2B
Last summer, the unexpectedly terrific control from Kohl Drake backed up some upon promotion to Frisco, and yesterday was a continuation of that. (Drake’s control wasn’t bad before, just not a highlight.)
Hi-A: Hub City 6, at Wilmington (WAS) 1
Hub City: 10 hits, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 5 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 3-1, tied for 1st
SP Leandro Lopez: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, 58 P / 31 S, 2.70 ERA
RP Josh Mollerus: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Joey Danielson: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
DH Malcolm Moore: 1-3, 2 BB
CF Anthony Gutierrez: 2-4, BB
3B Gleider Figuereo: 2-3
Leandro Lopez had a Leandro Lopez start. For his career, his combined walks and hit batters (90) exceeds his hits allowed (84). Joey Danielson is showing that I didn’t just catch him on an good day in Surprise. He’s up to four scoreless innings.
Over the winter, I contemplated writing up a dozen or so guys who’s upcoming seasons were especially important, but I decided save that material as context for the game summaries. Gleider Figureo was on that list. Still just 20, Figuereo will be Rule 5-eligible if unprotected, and while being added isn’t absolutely necessary for his career progression, I’d like him to make the front office think hard about it. He showed game power last year in repeating low-A (12 homers in 63 games) but is still adapting to high-A, batting .207/.263/.364 in 54 games after a promotion.
Lo-A: Hickory 6, Augusta (ATL) 0
Hickory: 9 hits, 6 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 0 hits, 1 walk, 12 strikeouts
Record: 3-1, tied for 1st
SP Kamdyn Perry: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 60 P / 42 S, 0.00 ERA
RP William Privette: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP J’Briell Easley: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 0.00 ERA
CF Yeremi Cabrera: 1-3, 2 BB
LF Maxton Martin: 3-5
2B Antonis Macias: 1-3, 2B, BB
RF Marcos Torres: 1-3, BB, SB (1)
Three pitchers combined for the first no-hitter by the franchise since April 2009 (Martin Perez’s first low-A start). 19-year-old starter Kamdyn Perry (2023, 17th round) was making his third low-A appearance and second start. Privette (23, 2023 13th-rounder) was pitching for only the fourth time professionally, and the undrafted Jayhawk J’Briell Easley had an unforgettable pro debut.
1B Pablo Guerrero gets the gold star defensively. He made a diving snares to his right of a grounder in the 2nd and liner in the 7th, and in the 9th he came off the bag to grab an errant throw and tag the batter. Perry fanned his last two batters, Easley his first two, so the game’s midsection consisted of seven consecutive strikeouts. The outfield participated in only four outs.
Here’s highlights of Perry, Privette and Easley including the final out.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Buchanan
AA: Steohan
Hi-A: Trentadue
Lo-A: Fowler
Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The 19th-best rotation season and ninth-best relief season were by the same pitcher:
As I mentioned Monday, Phillips couldn’t build on his outstanding low-A season of 2007, and in 2009 he would return to high-A Bakersfield in relief. There, he was nearly impossible to hit, holding opponents to a .125/.180/.181 line in a league that averaged 5.2 runs per team per game. Several of his outings exceeded two innings, and Texas would actually throw him back into the rotation for his final three games with the Blaze. Moving from Bakersfield to Frisco (the minor league equivalent of salvation), Phillips resumed relief, and although his control sometimes faltered, he was no easier to hit.