AAA: Round Rock 2, Albuquerque (COL) 3 (10)
Round Rock: 7 hits, 1 walk, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 6-7, 3 GB, 40-48 overall
SP Ty Blach: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 25 P / 18 S, 3.88 ERA
RP Joe Barlow: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 5.27 ERA
3B Josh Jung: 1-4, .262/.863/.357
1B Blaine Crim: 2-4, 2B, .294/.380/.514
The bad guys scored the tying run off Robby Ahlstrom in the 9th. If you checked the box and saw a “Gray,” know that there’s a Peyton in addition to the rehabbing Jon, and the former is who threw the 10th last night. Josh Jung (1-4) lined a single to left. An effort an an oppo homer fell short.
AA: Frisco 12, at Amarillo (ARI) 13 (11)
Frisco: 11 hits, 6 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 14 hits, 7 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 5-10, 4 GB, 43-40 overall
SP Josh Stephan: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 73 P / 50 S, 5.69 ERA
RP Ryan Lobus: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.65 ERA
CF Cam Cauley: 3-5, SB (24), .254/.330/.419
SS Sebastian Walcott: 1-6, HR (9), .238/.338/.381
C Ian Moller: 1-5, HR (4), .235/.329/.356
Walcott’s dinger broke streaks of 32 games without a homer(.220/.338/.246) and 23 games without any extra-base hits (.209/.317/.209). He did at least reach base at a reasonable rate in this time. Josh Stephan pitched well and in fact has two of his better starts of the season in the league’s least hospitable park.
Oh, about that score. Frisco led 11-2 in the 8th, only for Amarillo to plate five that inning and four in the 9th. With the score tied, the bases loaded and two out, reliever Gavin Collyer went 3-0 to Tommy Troy and on the next pitch barely nabbed the border to avoid a walk-off. He then induced a flyout to force extras, but after a trade of runs in the 10th, Amarillo singled in the gift-runner in the 11th.
Hi-A: Hub City 6, @ Rome (ATL) 1
Hub City: 11 hits, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 11-7, , 42-41 overall
SP Kolton Curtis: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 27 P / 20 S, 5.77 ERA
RP Dylan MacLean: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 3.86 ERA
DH Anthony Gutierrez: 3-5, 3 SB (30), .248/.325/.315
1B Arturo Disla: 2-4, 2 2B, BB, .228/.300/.359
Anthony Gutierrez stole three bases after the previous night’s four. Employing his speed has never been an issue.
Kolton Curtis avoided a walk for the first time this season.
Lo-A: Hickory 3, at Lynchburg (CLE) 2
Hickory: 7 hits, 5 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 5 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 13-4, tied for 1st, 46-36 overall
SP Enrique Segura: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 5 SO, 72 P / 48 S, 3.53 ERA
RP Brock Porter: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, 3.56 ERA
RP Luke Savage: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 1.38 ERA
2B Antonis Macias: 2-4, 2B, BB, .275/.416/.344
C Ben Hartl: 1-4, HR (1), .216/.351/.287
1B Pablo Guerrero: 1-2, 2 BB, .198/.279/.306
Enrique Segura settled down after a messy, two-run, 26-pitch 1st. He retired his final 14 opponents in order. Porter’s outing never evolved beyond “messy,” but he and following reliever William Privette managed to escape unharmed.
Pablo Guerrero essentially disappeared just before Memorial Day. Since then, he’s fanned in just under a third of his plate appearance and is somehow hitting under .200 when he makes contact. Guerrero won’t turn 19 until the end of this month.
Hickory has three more wins than any other team in the division and the best run differential in the league (+60).
Today’s Starters
AAA: Garcia
AA: Davalillo
Hi-A: Pence
Lo-A: Horn / TBA
Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The 12th-best rotation season belongs to Luke Jackson in 2013.
Jackson was picked 45th-overall in 2010. Both during his climb to the Majors and thereafter, he’s had a strange career, sometimes amazingly dominant, sometimes giving the impression he’ll be out of pro ball within weeks. Even during 2013, I wouldn’t have bet on him still being around in 12 years. His stuff was electric but erratic, while his control was almost always a problem.
After a couple of seasons that offered promise but not much on the stat sheet, Jackson returned to high-A Myrtle Beach and stepped forward. More and better strikes reduced both his walk and hit rates. While he never produced a double-digit strikeout performance, he consistently missed bats and allowed zero runs in one-third of his starts. Promoted to AA, Jackson was indomitable in a much tougher environment, striking out nearly 30% of his opponents and posting an 0.67 ERA.
Jackson never reduced his reliever risk substantially. He always had a solid fastball but needed time to build the secondaries and tighten his delivery. His curve eventually transformed to a slider after years of teasing. In 2015 the Rangers switched him to the role he occupies today. He was all over the place in AAA and the Majors, and at the end of 2016, with his value at an ebb, he was traded for a modest return to Atlanta. Through multiple injuries he’s maintained employment, even becoming Atlanta’s and Texas’s closer for a while, but for the most part he’s been a middle or setup reliever with varying levels of trustworthiness.
Coming in at #11 on the list is Justin Grimm in 2012.
Grimm was selected in 2010’s fifth round out of Georgia. In a way, he was a predecessor to Alejandro Rosario (note: results pending), weak statistically in college but viewed as having potential that a professional development staff could tap. He didn’t pitch in the pros during his draft year but reached AA by the start of his second full season. In 13 starts, he posted a 1.87 ERA with an opposing line of .228/.267/.316. At that point, two years and a week after his draft date, the Rangers called him up for his MLB debut. Grimm tossed six innings of three-run ball against the Astros and earned the win. After a lesser start and relief appearance, he returned to Frisco but jumped to AAA Round Rock the next week. Results weren’t as forthcoming there, but he would make two more MLB relief appearances in late September. (For what it’s worth, MLB results have no bearing on my rankings.)
2013 was a tough year, but he still was viewed positively and was part of the package for Matt Garza at the trade deadline. Justin Grimm ended up with an 80 ERA+ and replacement level WAR across nine MLB seasons, but some of those seasons were worthy, and I’d argue his quick ascent and contributory value to that trade (even though Garza didn’t pan out) count as an organizational success.