Rangers Farm Report: Games of Sunday 11 May
Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 4, at El Paso (SDG) 8
Round Rock: 6 hits, 6 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 18-21, 8 GB
SP Cory Abbott: 4 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 5 SO, 74 P / 50 S, 6.75 ERA
RP Robby Ahlstrom: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.00 ERA
RP Cole Winn: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0.00 ERA
CF Kellen Strahm: 2-4, BB, .274/.366/.442
DH Jake Burger: 2-3, 2B, HR (2), .391/.462/.696
Hardest-hit balls in PCL:
Dominic Canzone, 115.5
Denzel Clarke, 115.2
Jake Burger, 114.2
Burger’s 90th-percentile exit velocity of 109.6 is the highest in the PCL, and his EV50 (average of top 50% of velos) is 14th of 145 with at least 20 balls in play. Now, Jake Burger did just spend a week in El Paso, and his 21 balls in play aren’t exactly a huge sample, but it’s safe to say he’s hitting the ball firmly. He’s also only struck out twice in 23 pate appearances. Here’s an updated chart of contact and 90th-percentile exit velo. The fainter circles are other PCL hitters. The big red dot is the league average.

3B Cody Freeman is interesting. He had a full-season strikeout rate of 17% entering the season, impressive, but not otherworldly. Upon reaching AAA, he’s cut that rate nearly in half to 9%. He’s making contact on 84% of swings on pitches outside the zone, which is otherworldly compared to the league rate of 54%. He’s also hitting 53 points higher than his previous best. I see some luck in that stat, but regardless, he’s having a fine season.

AA: Frisco 1, at San Antonio (SDG) 2
Frisco: 3 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 2 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 20-13, 1 G up
SP Trey Supak: 6 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 HBP, 5 SO, 84 P / 57 S, 1.71 ERA
1B Abi Ortiz: 1-3, BB, .237/.320/.377
Frisco again lost 2-1 on a late homer, this time a solo version in the 8th by Brandon Valenzuela off Gavin Collyer.

Hi-A: Hub City 1, Greensboro (PIT) 4
Hub City: 9 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 17-16, 2 GB
SP Jose Gonzalez: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 68 P / 42 S, 2.31 ERA
RP Josh Sanders: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Josh Mollerus: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2.30 ERA
RP Joey Danielson: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1.62 ERA
LF Keith Jones II: 2-3, BB, .245/.405/.372
SS Casey Cook: 2-4, .176/.267/.216
Casey Cook made his first professional start at shortstop. He was almost exclusively a corner outfielder at UNC, mostly left, and made only two appearances at second base compared his 42 so far as a pro.

Lo-A: rain
The game won’t be rescheduled. Hickory heads home for two weeks to face Kannapolis and Myrtle Beach.
Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The steal-king during 2007-2024 was… I don’t know.
Ryan Strausborger leads the organization over this period and has the two highest season totals without being caught, but he never attained more than 31 in any season. Nothing against him, certainly, but if I polled the 100 readers with the most knowledge of Texas’s minor league history over this period, how many would pick Strausborger? Probably not even ten. Jose Vallejo was more prolific and successful over his career, but at the age of 22 (his last in the system), his attempts dwindled. (He’s also hurt by my cutoff, “losing” his 24 steals at low-A Clinton in 2006.) Bubba Thompson might be the best combination of career, individual seasons, success rate and how often he ran, but a sizable portion of his career occurred during the more favorable post-2020 period.
Most steals, season (full-season only):
Jayce Easley, 70 (2021)
Fast Freddy Guzman, 56 (2007)
Elvis Andrus, 54 (2008)
Julio Borbon, 53 (2008)
Eric Jenkins, 51 (2016)
Steal success, season:
Ryan Strausborger, 100%, 25 SB (2012)
Ryan Strausborger, 100%, 22 SB (2014)
JP Martinez, 100%, 20 SB (2021)
Steal success, season (min. 30 SB):
Bubba Thompson, 94% (2022)
Jose Vallejo, 94% (2007)
Jose Vallejo, 91% (2008)
Most steals, career:
Ryan Strausborger, 142
Leury Garcia, 137
Engel Beltre, 134
Bubba Thompson, 134
Jayce Easley, 134
Steal success, career (min 50 SB):
Kellen Strahm, 92%
Jose Vallejo, 91%
Cam Cauley, 89%