Rangers Farm Report: Games of Wednesday 21 May

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 3, at Charlotte (CHW) 7
Round Rock: 7 hits, 6 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 22-25, 8.5 GB

SP Ty Blach: 4 IP, 7 H (1 HR), 3 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 73 P / 44 S, 3.52 ERA
RP Luis Curvelo: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2.04 ERA
1B Blaine Crim: 3-4, BB, .299/.364/.551
C Cooper Johnson: 1-2, 2 BB, .147/.275/.235

Round Rock scored three in the 1st courtesy of two Charlotte errors but could manage no more. I referred to yesterday’s waiver acquisition as both Michael Helman and Michael Clement yesterday. It’s Helman. I had the Baseball Reference page of Ernie Clement on the screen yesterday and decided to use his last name for some reason.

AA: Frisco 2, Midland (ATH) 1
Frisco: 8 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 23-17, 0.5 GB

SP Kohl Drake: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 82 P / 51 S, 2.48 ERA
RP Gavin Collyer: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO, 3.48 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 6.43 ERA

The organization strikeout leaders are Kohl Drake (47), Mitch Bratt (47) and David Davalillo (45). All are Rule 5-eligible if unprotected after the season. At this point, I’d say they and OF Alejandro Osuna are the top four contenders for a 40 spot, although Osuna has the best chance at beating the November deadline.

LF Aaron Zavala walked twice, SS Sebastian Walcott doubled, and 1B Josh Hatcher had two singles.

Local media report the Kumar Rocker will begin his rehab assignment Friday in Frisco.

Hi-A: Hub City 3, Rome (ATL) 2 (12)
Hub City: 9 hits, 7 walks, 16 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 4 walks, 19 strikeouts
Record: 21-20, 1 GB

SP Aidan Curry: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 SO, 78 P / 46 S, 7.06 ERA
RP Mailon Felix: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 5.00 ERA
RP Willan Bormie: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 0.82 ERA
RP Josh Mollerus: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 2.61 ERA
CF Dylan Dreiling: 2-5, 2B, BB, .226/.335/.365
3B Gleider Figuereo: 1-3, HR (5), 2 BB, .208/.279/.344

Dylan Dreiling’s opposite-field liner brought home speedy Anthony Gutierrez in the 12th. Gutierrez began the inning at second after his would-be sac fly in the 1th resulted in Julian Brock being thrown out at the plate.

Lo-A: Hickory 7, Myrtle Beach (CHC) 10 (10)
Hickory: 10 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 6 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 19-21, 3.5 GB

SP Kamdyn Perry: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 8 SO, 74 P / 52 S, 6.75 ERA
RP Brock Porter: 2 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 2 R, 2 BB, 3 HBP, 2 SO, 3.75 ERA
DH Maxton Martin: 1-5, HR (4), .273/.321/.453
1B Pablo Guerrero: 3-4, 2B, HR (4), .254/.310/.408

Brock Porter’s run of respectable control ran into a brick wall, as he walked two and hit three out of 13 batters faced. Opponents are now hitting .184/.336/.368 with a 19% BB/HBP rate and 29% SO rate.

Down 10-6 in the 10th but with the bases loaded and none out, Hickory lost a runner on a 2-1-4-2-6-3 play. Pelican pitcher Jackson Kirkpatrick threw a very wild pitch that rebounded off a metal grate above the padding directly back to the catcher, who quickly threw to Kirkpatrick covering the plate. Beycker Barroso (on third) and Rafe Perich (on first) realized the situation in time to retreat, but Pablo Guerrero (on second) was 15 feet from third before the interrobang appeared over his head. A complicated rundown ensured, and eventually Barroso, not Guerrero, was tagged out.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Dugger
AA: Stephan
Hi-A: Trentadue
Lo-A: Easley

Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
Today’s entry concerns a team within everyone’s favorite organization, the St. Louis Cardinals. Okay, maybe not so much, but the 2017 Memphis Redbirds were the fifth-best team from a Texas-affiliated league and best Pacific Coast League team during 2007-2024.

Record: 91-50
Run-differential record: 85-56
Component record: 89-52

Memphis actually started a drab 10-11 but would then roll off 11 straight victories and win roughly two of three the rest of the way including a 35-10 stretch beginning in late June. In the postseason, Memphis eliminated Colorado Springs 3-2 in the semifinals (with scores of 15-16, 11-8 and 13-10 in Colorado) and held off El Paso in the championship series three games to two.

Seven hitters would play at least 37 games with the Birds and go on to play at least 450 MLB games:
C Carson Kelly
1B Luke Voit
3B Patrick Wisdom
SS Paul DeJong
OF Harrison Bader
OF Adolis Garcia
OF Tyler O’Neill

Five pitchers would face at least 160 batters and eventually face 1,100 or more in MLB:
Jack Flaherty
Marco Gonzales
Dakota Hudson
Mike Mayers
Luke Weaver

Memphis’s offense was strong if not brilliant, leading the more pitcher-friendly eastern half of the league with 5.1 runs per game (about 8% above the park-adjusted league average). Luke Voit was the best regular (.327/.407/.565, 13 homers in 74 games), while DeJong matched Voit’s homers in only 48 games, and Patrick Wisdom led the squad with 31. On the other side, the pitching staff allowed half a run per game fewer than any other team. Mayers Gant, Flaherty, Weaver and Gonzales were all outstanding, combining for a 3.11 ERA in 444 innings with a 7% walk rate and 37% K rate.