AAA: Round Rock 5, Albuquerque (COL) 6
Round Rock: 11 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 5 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 5-6, 3 GB, 39-47 overall
SP Cory Abbott: 4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 53 P / 37 S, 8.13 ERA
RP Peyton Gray: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2.27 ERA
RP Cole Winn: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
3B Josh Jung: 2-5, 2B
1B Blaine Crim: 1-4, HR (14), .292/.378/.515
DH Rowdy Tellez: 1-3, HR (1), BB
Twice delayed by weather, Josh Jung doubled high and deep to the opposite corner for a double and lined a single in his first game after being optioned. He ended the contest with a strikeout, looking at a top-of-zone curve and swinging through two difficult changes from Nick Anderson.
Rowdy Tellez homered 344′ to left-center in his organizational debut. Blaine Crim later launched a missile to the upper deck beyond the left-field berm.
OF Billy McKinney refused his outright assignment to become a free agent but immediately re-signed.
AA: Frisco 8, at Amarillo (ARI) 7 (10)
Frisco: 11 hits, 8 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 15 hits, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts
Record: 5-8, 2 GB, 43-38 overall
SP Ben Anderson: 6 IP, 9 H (2 HR), 5 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 88 P / 57 S, 4.42 ERA
SS Cam Cauley: 2-5, 2B, BB, .248/.328/.408
LF Aaron Zavala: 2-5, BB, SB (5), .257/.391/.396
C Ian Moller: 2-3, HR (3), BB, .236/.333/.340
At least for the meantime, Aaron Zavala is back to AA after collecting one hit, one walk and eight strikeouts in 17 trips to the plate in Round Rock. Zavala’s Statcast data is weirdly benign for such a poor line. I would have expected terrible strike rates (both called and swinging), but he’s at or near the league average. The problems were a very high strike rate on first pitches and a poor ratio of balls in play to fouls when he swung. The Express were also swamped with incoming players late last week: Justin Foscue, Tellez, Jung, McKinney.
The extra-inning win was aided by Gerado Gutierrez’s four-pitch walk to Sebastian Walcott, who was 0-5 until then.
Hi-A: Hub City 0, @ Rome (ATL) 4
Hub City: 5 hits, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 9-7, 1 GB, 40-41 overall
SP Leandro Lopez: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 64 P / 41 S, 2.19 ERA
DH Anthony Gutierrez: 1-3, 2B, BB, .239/.314/.309
2B Casey Cook: 2-4, .208/.284/.271
Leandro Lopez rarely dazzled but held a weak offense in check on the road. Hub City had little to say with the bats.
Lo-A: Hickory 6, at Lynchburg (CLE) 4 (10)
Hickory: 10 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 10 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 12-4, 0.5 G up, 45-36 overall
SP Ismael Agreda: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 61 P / 32 S, 2.72 ERA
RP Grant Cherry: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 4.15 ERA
C Ben Hartl: 2-4, 2B, BB, .216/.353/.269
Hickory led 4-1 entering the bottom of the 9th, but a single, hit batter and four walks forced extras. The Crawdads responded with two runs in the top of the 10th, and reliever Jesus Gamez, largely responsible for Lynchburg’s comeback, retired the side (after an opening walk).
IF Devin Fitz-Gerald, who appeared to injure his shoulder last week, finally landed on the IL.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Drake
AA: Missaki
Hi-A: Trentadue
Lo-A: Segura
Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The 12th-best position player season during 2007-2024 was by Jason Botts in 2007.
As with Edinson Volquez (my #13 rotation pitcher), I might have excluded Botts with more careful editing. He’d made his MLB debut in 2005, and by 2007 he was on the old side of 26 and had played 30 games at the top level. That’s okay, though. He was an interesting, polarizing player.
Texas had signed outfielders Sammy Sosa and Frank Catalanotto over the winter. Four days before Opening Day, Botts was optioned to Oklahoma City to play his 751st minor league games and 197th in AAA. After a lean opening month, Botts batted .365/.484/.638 with 44 extra-base hits and 67 walks over the course of 76 games. For the season, Botts finished second in average, first in OBP and fourth in slugging among the eight eastern clubs in the Pacific Coast League.
The Rangers were done out of the gate in 2007, so Botts finally received another chance at the end of July. He reached base at an acceptable rate, but most of the power stayed behind in OKC. Although that trial didn’t inspire much confidence, he entered 2008 out of options and made the 2008 Opening Day roster. He played infrequently and was designated for assignment with only 46 plate appearances. Botts bounced around several organizations and spent some time in Japan and Mexico, but he would not return to the Majors.
Botts had a hulking, top-heavy frame that tended to exaggerate his accomplishments and misfortunes. While he certainly had his supporters (me among them) who wanted him to at least get a decent chance to prove himself, the visuals of his strikeouts and occasional defensive miscues unfortunately made him easy to dismiss. (For what it’s worth, Botts had a dismal defensive reputation but actually graded out just fine statistically.)
Incidentally, I met Botts in Surprise in 2008. A few minutes prior, I’d accidentally rubbed sunscreen into my eyes, temporarily making the sun painful and blinding, so when I shook his hand, I had my head bowed and gaze down as if I were a commoner getting an audience with an Aztec ruler.