Rangers Farm Report: Games of Sunday 20 April
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 9, at Reno (ARI) 8 (11)
Round Rock: 12 hits, 8 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 19 hits, 7 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 11-10, 3 GB
SP David Buchanan: 3.1 IP, 11 H (1 HR), 5 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 76 P / 53 S, 3.96 ERA
RP Joe Barlow: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 4 SO, 7.88 ERA
CF Evan Carter: 1-4, 2 BB, .167/.352/.262
1B Justin Foscue: 2-5, 2B, BB, .354/.426/.549
DH Blaine Crim: 2-5, HR (5), BB, .329/.387/.600
Such is Reno that Blaine Crim’s homer at 96.4 MPH off the bat was only the 29th-hardest ball off the bat on the day.
LF and bonus-runner Alex De Goti was thrown out at the plate by Reno RF AJ Vukovich in the top of the 11th. In the bottom half, De Goti threw out bonus-runner Vukovich at the plate.
Congratulations to Dustin Harris on his first start in center, a position I’ll confess to never expecting him to start at this level. Nothing against him, certainly, as he’s put in a ton of work since early 2022 when he wandered tentatively amongst the grass in left field at AA Frisco, but the thing about guys who “can play a little center (or shortstop)” is that they’re probably never better than third-best on the roster at that position, so whence the opportunity? And indeed, Texas had Taveras, Pillar and Langford on the active roster yesterday, except Langford had just been activated off the IL and has only played left so far, Pillar won’t start against a righty, and Taveras isn’t hitting.
Some hitting data (big orange dot is the league average):
AA: Frisco 8, Amarillo (ARI) 6
Frisco: 12 hits, 6 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 10-5, 1 G up
SP Trey Supak: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 70 P / 51 S, 1.80 ERA
RP Gavin Collyer: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 2 SO, 1.23 ERA
DH Aaron Zavala: 2-4, 2B, BB, .152/.412/.273
SS Sebastian Walcott: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, SB (2), .264/.394/.434
1B Abi Ortiz: 1-4, HR (2), BB, .231/.322/.404
RF Josh Hatcher: 2-4, 2B, .423/.418/.673
C Cooper Johnson: 3-4, 2B, .333/.450/.697
Among Texas League hitters with at least ten games, Sebastian Walcott’s .394 OBP ranks only 20th, but still, .394! Walcott’s 11 walks are tied for third in the system below AAA (which has played an addition six games).
Josh Hatcher has one walk and two sac flies, thus the weird slash line with a higher average than OBP.
Trey Supak is 28, old enough to have pitched for the San Antonio Missions in their lone year as a Triple A team, but for now he’s a high-performance inning-eater in AA.
Hi-A: Hub City 4, Bowling Green (TAM) 6
Hub City: 7 hits, 0 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 8-7, tied for 1st
SP Dylan MacLean: 4 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 2 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 54 P / 38 S, 7.20 ERA
1B Arturo Disla: 1-4, HR (2), .275/.362/.471
DH Casey Cook: 1-4, HR (1), .160/.246/.220
2024 3rd-rounder Casey Cook hit hit first professional homer. His tepid line isn’t due to strikeouts. In fact, his 11% K rate is the lowest in the system. Half of his balls in play have been grounders with a .136 average.
Lo-A: Hickory 7, at Charleston (TAM) 5
Hickory: 5 hits, 8 walks, 3 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 8 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 8-7, 1 GB
SP Angel Anazco: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 SO, 45 P / 24 S, 9.00 ERA
RP Michael Valverde: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 4.05 ERA
DH Rafe Perich: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, .212/.295/.365
3B Luis Marquez: 1-2, 2 BB, SB (3), .222/.400/.333
Again with the near no-hitters! Hickory didn’t collect a hit until two out in the 7th when RF Wady Mendez tripled in C Jesus Lopez, who had walked. In the 8th, seven consecutive Crawdads reached, four via hits, to take the lead for good.
Strikeouts have leveled off in low-A. Walks and hit batters, not so much:
