AAA: Round Rock 2, Las Vegas (ATH) 8
Round Rock: 6 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 14-12, 4 GB
SP David Buchanan: 4 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 74 P / 44 S, 5.28 ERA
RP Robby Ahlstrom: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Cole Winn: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0.00 ERA
DH Evan Carter: 1-5, .204/3/.347/.373
CF Kellen Strahm: 1-3, HR (3), BB, .262/.368/.462
Evan Carter played three consecutive games for the first time this season. Yesterday was his first at DH.
Kellen Strahm has a three-homer month for the first time since 2022. Around long enough to have played for Spokane, the now-28-year-old has 35 professional homers along with 74 steals versus only six caught, plus a career .376 OBP that he has maintained at the top minor league level.
David Buchanan’s incoming ERA of 3.96 flattered to deceive, I’m afraid, so Las Vegas decided to raise it to align with his peripherals.
Cole Winn is up to 17.2 nearly scoreless innings. Earlier this month, he allowed an unearned run on two walks and his own throwing error. He’s yet to permit an extra-base hit and has fanned 18.
Texas traded AAA infielder Alan Trejo to Colorado for cash. Trejo spent last year with AAA Oklahoma City (Dodgers) but was drafted by the Rox in 2017 and spent seven years in their system, so hopefully he left on decent terms.
AA: Frisco 1, at Corpus Christi (HOU) 5
Frisco: 5 hits, 3 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 13-7, 2 G ahead
SP Mitch Bratt: 6 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 2 R, 2 BB, 9 SO, 85 P / 59 S, 2.61 ERA
CF Alejandro Osuna: 1-3, BB, .263/.351/.388
SS Sebastian Walcott: 1-3, BB, .282/.409/.451
Frisco was shut out for five innings by rehabbing Lance McCullers Jr., who missed much of 2022 and all of 2023-2024 with arm injuries. Mitch Bratt wasn’t quite his equal but left with just a one-run deficit after six. Sebastian Walcott has reached safely in 18 of 19 games.
Hi-A: Hub City 16, Greenville (BOS) 8
Hub City: 11 hits, 12 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 3 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 12-8, tied for first
SP DJ McCarty: 2.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 5 SO, 61 P / 37 S, 9.69 ERA
RP Larson Kindreich: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
LF Dylan Dreiling: 1-2, HR (2), 3 BB, SB (4), .295/.405/.459
CF Anthony Gutierrez: 1-2, 4 BB, .282/.346/.310
RF Keith Jones II: 2-5, 2B, HR (2), BB, .278/.443/.444
DH Arturo Disla: 2-4, 2B, BB, .286/.363/.486
3B Gleider Figurero: 3-4, 2B, HR (1), BB, .211/.288/.298
A wild one. Hub City trailed 5-2 in the 3rd but pinned seven on the Drive on just four hits including Keith Jones’ grand slam, which was witnessed in person by his father. 15 Burgers reached on walks or by being hit. 2024 2nd-rounder Dylan Dreiling has reached 11 times in four games in the series to push his OBP over .400.
Lo-A: Hickory 6, Salem (BOS) 5
Hickory: 5 hits, 7 walks, 4 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 5 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 11-9, 2 GB
SP Dalton Pence: 2.2 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 53 P / 35 S, 4.63 ERA
RP Aneudis Mejia: 5 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 SO, 4.30 ERA
2B Antonis Macias: 2-3, BB, .200/.433/.311
SS Chandler Pollard: 2-4, 2B, SB (10), .357/.449/.381
Hickory scored two in the 9th capped with a walk-off balk. With two out, pinch-runner Jose De Jesus attempted a steal of home, and startled reliever Nicholas de la Cruz’s hasty throw home was ruled a balk. The Crawdads’ comeback transpired without a legitimate hit, as Chandler Pollard’s opening high pop landed untouched 45 feet from the plate for a “double,” Erick Alvarez walked (and was replaced by De Jesus), and the two runners advanced on a sac bunt, grounder and balk. Tandem starter Aneudis Mejia needed only 55 pitches for five innings.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Houser
AA: Supak
Hi-A: Gonzalez
Lo-A: Agreda
Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The second-worst team in a Rangers-affiliated league during 2007-2024 is the 2014 AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox, a Rockies affiliate.
Record: 53-91
Run-Differential Record: 54-90
Component Record: 52-92
The Sky Sox were a humdrum 42-51 in early July before losing 41 of their last 51. In blowouts (5+ runs), they had 12 wins and 34 losses.
But enough about that particular team. Let’s talk about the Rockies in general. I can’t imagine covering their system year after year like I do the Rangers. Not without a lot of hostility that by now would have me banned from all their stadiums and the complex in Scottsdale.
In 31 minor league seasons, Colorado’s AAA squads have eight winning records, mostly during the franchise’s earliest dozen years. They haven’t reached the postseason since 1997. Since moving to Albuquerque, the team has nine consecutive losing seasons (with a tenth on the way) and a winning percentage of .443. The fine people of New Mexico deserve better.
I have 794 full-season teams in my database. Colorado’s AAA squads occupy six of the worst 98, and all six have occurred in the last ten seasons:
2014: 2nd-worst ever of 794 full-season teams, worst of 248 PCL teams
2024: #9 overall, #2 PCL
2022: #56 overall, #16 PCL
2015: #65 overall, #19 PCl
2021: #80 overall, #26 PCL
2019: #98 overall, #33 PCL
No, winning isn’t paramount at this level, and yes, recruiting AAA-vet pitching has to be difficult, but other high-elevation teams can and do playing winning baseball. For example, El Paso and Reno tied for the league’s best record in 2022. Colorado’s recent inability to even accidentally inch over .500 is telling.