AAA: Round Rock 8, Oklahoma City (LAD) 9
Round Rock: 12 hits, 6 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 5-6, 4 GB
SP Adrian Houser: 6 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 2 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 71 P / 45 S, 3.38 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
1B Justin Foscue: 2-4, BB, .304/.373/.413
3B Cody Freeman: 2-4, 2B, BB, .349/.388/.558
CF Evan Carter: 1-1, HR (1), .115/.324/.231
Evan Carter replaced CF Kellen Strahm in the 9th and homered to right off a cookie of a 1-2 change from righty Jack Little. So far, probably the most encouraging sign from Carter is quality exit velocities against righties, including a median of 92.1 (league avg. 90.5) and 90th percentile of 107.1 (avg. 106.5). The record against lefties is worse, but he also has only four balls in play (and four strikeouts). OKC hasn’t listed a starter beyond tonight, but I don’t expect any lefties except in relief this weekend.
Whether a sample issue or pitchers attempting bad chases, Carter is seeing fewer in-zone pitches than anyone on the team. To his credit, he also has the team’s lowest swing rate on those, but his miss rate when he does swing is 67% compared to a league average of 47%.
Even though I’ve mentioned some bad luck on balls in play, visually he does give more the appearance of someone with a .115/.324/.231 line, mixing some healthy cuts with some ugly misses not typically seen in AAA. I doubt any of us harbored strong hopes that Carter’s issues would magically disappear with a week in the minors, but at this point, we’re clearly facing a process. Last night’s homer and Wednesday’s stolen base are encouraging signs, though.
AA: Frisco 4, at NW Arkansas (KAN) 9
Frisco: 13 hits, 4 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 7 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 4-2, 1 GB
SP Ben Anderson: 4 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 5 SO, 76 P / 43 S, 5.87 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Bryan Magdaleno: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
1B Abi Ortiz: 2-4, 2B, HBP
CF Cam Cauley: 2-3, 2B, BB
C Cooper Johnson: 3-5, HR (2)
Five Riders combined to hold top-100 prospects Carter Jensen and Jac Caglione reasonably in check: a combined 2-for-9 with no runs or RBI. Cam Cauley made his first professional start in the outfield, playing center as the much more experienced Alejandro Osuna manned left. Cauley certainly has the wheels for center and defends the middle infield capably, so I imagine he can adapt to the outfield quickly.
Hi-A: Hub City 3, at Wilmington (WAS) 4 (11)
Hub City: 4 hits, 6 walks, 16 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 4-2, 1 G up
SP Paul Bonzagni: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 7 SO, 75 P / 46 S, 2.08 ERA
RP Anthony Susac: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
CF Anthony Gutierrez: 3-5, 2B, 2 SB (4)
Paul Bonzagni has a respectable walk rates in the pros but never when I’m watching, like at the Spring Breakout game and his first appearance last week. Last night while my eyes were focused elsewhere (my daughter’s science homework, probably), he reeled off five innings marred only by a hit batter.
Hub City tied the game in the 9th on a double-play grounder and plated runs on a wild pitch and error in the extras, but three straight hits and two runs off Mailon Felix gave Wilmington the victory.
Lo-A: Hickory 2, Augusta (ATL) 4
Hickory: 3 hits, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 5 walks, 14 strikeouts
Record: 4-2, tied for first
SP Caden Scarborough: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 SO, 62 P / 38 S, 4.05 ERA
RP Jake Jekielek: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
LF Maxton Martin: 2-4, 3B
Augusta singled on the game’s third pitch, dashing the chance at a third straight threat of a no-hitter. Nevertheless, Caden Scarborough cruised through the first three innings on 37 pitches. The 4th saw a couple of walks and a two-run single that ended his night just shy of four innings. Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes tendered a favorable review yesterday ($ link), noting his quirky fastball (a four-seamer that acts like a two) and potentially strong sweeper. I will say he’s always looked pretty green to me, and in the short and probably intermediate run we’re going to see some chaotic results (both good and bad).
Today’s Starters
AAA: TBD
AA: Bratt
Hi-A: Davalillo
Lo-A: Molina
Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The 18th-best position player season during 2007-2024 belongs to Joey Gallo.
This won’t be Gallo’s only appearance, so I’ll skip most of the historical summary. In June 2015, Gallo made his MLB debut at third in place of an injured Adrian Beltre, going 3-4 with a double and homer. After a month he returned to AAA, where pitchers exploited him with high fastballs, not a previous area of concern to my recollection, probably because pitchers at lower levels were too scared to try. Gallo batted .195/.289/.450 with a 39% K rate before being recalled again, and he was left off the postseason roster.
Returning to Round Rock and spending most of the year there, Gallo never had a month as shaky as his last two AAA months of 2015. While he didn’t match the 40-homer output of some earlier seasons, he still led Texas minor leaguers with 25 homers and corrected (relatively speaking) his propensity to swing under high heat, turning some of those strikeouts into additional walks and singles. On Labor Day 2016, Round Rock’s final game of the season would also be his last as a minor leaguer (except for rehab). He was Texas’s Opening Day 3B in 2017, as Beltre was again injured and wouldn’t return until the end of May.