AAA: Round Rock 6, at Tacoma (SEA) 8
Round Rock: 9 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 11-11, 5.5 GB, 45-52 overall
SP Cory Abbott: 4 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 5 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 76 P / 46 S, 7.84 ERA
RP Josh Sborz: 1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
R Dustin Harris: 2-3, 2 BB, SB (24), .266/.357/.398
LF Trevor Hauver: 2-4, HR (7), BB, .272/.385/.432
A run scored against Josh Sborz on an opening walk, steal, error and sac fly. His fastball topped at 92.5 and averaged 91.8, compared to last year’s average velo of 95.1. He’s still getting plenty of rise with it and generated three misses on six swings. Sborz is two weeks into his rehab. He cannot be optioned.
After five innings, the Express have trailed by five, two, three and six runs in this series.
AA: Frisco 0, at Wichita (MIN) 3 (5)
Frisco: 3 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts
Record: 9-16, 5 GB, 47-46 overall
SP David Davalillo: 4 IP, 5 H (1 HR), 3 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 60 P / 37 S, 2.45 ERA
1B Joc Pederson: 0-3
Rain ended this early. SS Cam Cauley singled. 3B Sebastian Walcott and CF Alejandro Osuna walked.
Hi-A: Hub City 2, at Greenville (BOS) 4
Hub City: 6 hits, 2 walks, 14 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 6 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 16-12, 1 GB, 47-46 overall
SP Dalton Pence: 3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 47 P / 30 S, 1.00 ERA
1B Anthony Gutierrez: 2-4, SB (33), .238/.309/.297
CF Dylan Dreiling: 1-3, BB, .216/.311/.350
Dalton Pence has surrendered just one run in five three-inning starts for Hub City, plus one more among three single-inning outings. Pence is fly-prone but has yet to yield a homer at the level. Neighboring Greenville reached the bullpen, though, and the offense scored either two or three runs for a sixth consecutive game. Admittedly, the workloads are light, but Hub City starts have allowed one run in 16 innings this week, but the team is 1-3.Â
Lo-A: Hickory 5, Augusta (ATL) 2
Hickory: 11 hits, 5 walks, 3 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 18-10, 2.5 GB, 51-42 overall
SP Garrett Horn: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 61 P / 40 S, 2.95 ERA
RP Thomas Ireland: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 2.69 ERA
CF Yeremi Cabrera: 3-5, HR (5), SB (32), .251/.364/.336
RF Hector Osorio: 2-4, HR (4), .254/.391/.376
Hickory allowed four runners in the 1st and four more the rest of the night. In his last 41 games, Cabrera has 20 steals without being caught.
The first of the complex club to advance to Hickory is OF Braylin Morel, who grounded the first pitch he saw for a single and later walked in his full-season debut. The 19-year-old missed some time earlier and repeated the level despite a strong 2024 showing. This season, he batted .268/.302/.423 with three homers, just five walks and 40 strikeouts in 37 games.
Rookie
The baby Rangers (33-27) will play the Dodgers (42-18), not the Angels (38-22) as I originally thought, in today’s one-and-done semifinal. I assumed the Dodgers would play the wild-card Rockies (37-23) by virtue of having the best record, but instead the powers that be seeded the participants solely by record, so the fourth-seeded Rangers must face the top dog.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Drake
AA: Corniell
Hi-A: Curtis
Lo-A: Hagaman
Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The seventh-best Texas-affiliated full-season team was the 2014 high-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
Actual record:82-56 (594)
Run-differential record: 82-56 (.597)
Component Record: 75-63 (.544)
Myrtle Beach also had Texas’s third-best full-season offense in the era. They outscored the park-adjusted league average by 16%, about 0.6 runs per game, and posted a 109 OPS+. In a league lacking power, Myrtle Beach hit 111 homers versus an average of 73 for the other teams. Joey Gallo (.323/.463/.735) led with 21 in just 58 games before heading to Frisco. Nick Williams (.292/.343/.491) and catcher Jorge Alfaro (.261/.318/.440) followed with 13 and would also follow Gallo to AA. Also spending team here and reaching the Majors were OFs Lewis Brinson, Odubel Herrera and Ryan Cordell and IFs Hanser Alberto and Chris Bostick.
Run prevention was respectable (6% better than average) but depended heavily on defense. The staff peripherals were ordinary and punctuated by the league’s worst walk rate. The two busiest starters (Luis Parra and Victor Payano) were strictly inning-eaters. Worked less but more effective were Chi Chi Gonzalez, Andrew Faulker, Chad Bell and Sam Wolff. Although he wasn’t done as a would-be starter, Jose Leclerc spent 2014 in relief and saved 14 games.
In three prior seasons as the Texas affiliate, Myrtle Beach had reached the postseason but been eliminated in the opening round. In 2014, they defeated Salem in the semifinals to face Potomac, an absolutely bog-average team that finished 78-58 because of a 32-13 record in one-run games. As is so often the case in the minors, team composition in the playoffs can vary greatly from the regular season, plus luck rules all. Myrtle Beach was thinner in September because of promotions and injuries, and my preview was apprehensive. Potomac would go on to win the championship in four games.