No movement on Texas’s part as of when I hit the send button. My current email delivery is very slow, so by the time this reaches you, that could change.Â
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 6, El Paso (SDG) 8 (10)
Round Rock: 9 hits, 5 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 9 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 13-13, 6.5 GB, 47-54 overall
SP Michael Plassmeyer: 2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 3 SO, 61 P / 34 S, 4.97 ERA
3B Cody Freeman: 3-5, .326/.374/.535
1B Blaine Crim: 1-4, HR (18), .284/.373/.515
Cody Freeman singled three times, giving him nine hits in his last three games. He also badly misthrew a routine grounder in the 10th with runners at 2nd and 3rd and two out, permitting two runs to score. 
AA: Frisco 4, San Antonio (SDG) 7
Frisco: 7 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 10-19, 7.5 GB, 48-49 overall
SP Josh Trentadue: 4 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 3 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 53 P / 37 S, 6.75 ERA
RP Josh Stephan: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 5.11 ERA
SS Cam Cauley: 2-4, 3B, .256/.323/.415
1B Abi Ortiz: 2-3, HR (15), 245/.345/.440
San Antonio’s first batter lined a single to left, and the second barreled a slider into the stands. Welcome to AA, Josh Trentadue. Making his Frisco debut, the 23-year-old quickly discovered that hitters aren’t friendly here, but he recovered to retire nine straight after a 2nd-inning run. Trentadue isn’t complicated — fastball up, slider down, an occasional change — but batters have trouble picking him up. Among 50 South Atlantic League pitchers with at least 50 innings, his 33% SO rate was third highest, and his rated of missed bats ranks sixth. 
Hi-A: Hub City 9, Asheville (HOU) 1
Hub City: 10 hits, 6 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 3 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 19-13, 1 G up, 50-47 overall
SP Dylan MacLean: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 70 P / 46 S, 3.54 ERA
RP Aidan Curry: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 SO, 4.23 ERA
DH Anthony Gutierrez: 3-4, BB, 3 SB (41), .256/.325/.319
3B Gleider Figuereo: 2-5, HR (17), .207/.287/.382
C Malcolm Moore: 2-4, 2B, .198/.295/.297
Hub City took full advantage of an opposing starter with an 8.17 ERA, scoring seven in four innings. Malcolm Moore’s double hit the base of the wall on the fly. 
Lo-A: Hickory 0, at Fayetteville (HOU) 5
Hickory: 3 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 20-12, 2.5 GB, 53-44 overall
SP Enrique Segura: 4.2 IP, 5 H (1 HR), 3 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 72 P / 38 S, 4.00 ERA
RP Enyel Lopez: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, HBP, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Brock Porter: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.76 ERA
CF Yeremi Cabrera: 1-3, BB, SB (35), .244/.357/.334
Yesterday brought the full-season debut of left Enyel Lopez, a 19-year-old signed only six months ago out of the Dominican Republic. Courtesy of an alarming walk rate, Lopez’s opposing line at the complex was .280/.442/.370 with a 5.88 ERA in 26 innings at the complex, but he’s obviously very new to pro ball. He’s listed at 6’4″ and 180 and doesn’t look a pound over. The fastball speeds I heard were 95, and whether by design or fortune, he moved it around the zone effectively. Yeremi Cabrera saved a run, maybe two, tracking down a down fly to end Lopez’s inning.Â
Today’s Starters
AAA: Abbott
AA: Lopez
Hi-A: TBD
Lo-A: Fowler
Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The worst short-season team was Spokane in 2012.
Actual record: 28-48 (.368)
Run-differential record: 32-44 (.420)
Component record: 37-39 (.481)
At first glance, this team appears similar to the baby Rangers I covered yesterday: terrible record, components suggesting the team could’ve been .500 with a little luck. That’s true, but… no, I’m sorry. I remember this team, and when I came up with the idea of replacing the “five years ago” segment with these historical pieces, I knew this team would require an entry.Â
Why so memorable? The errors. Yes, errors are only one facet of defense, often overrated and much more frequent at this level, but arrrggh so many errors. 45 in the first 17 games. 17 errors in a three-game set to close June. Nine in one game! As I wrote at the time: “22 grounders hit at the Spokane defense resulted in eight outs, seven hits, and seven errors. In the 8th, Boise batters reached on four consecutive infield errors. That’s a tough way to do business.” They would finish with 128 in 76 games, easily the league’s most.Â
The defense did slowly improve and was actually decent in some aspects like turning double plays and limiting the running game. Still, they started 8-22, and ten of the losses were by at least five runs. Spokane also had the most combined wild pitches and passed balls (101), the most combined walks and hit batters (364), even the most balks (9). Connor Sadzeck led the team in innings with 62; he managed a 4.06 ERA but had terrible control. Equally busy Abel de los Santos and Jose Valdespina had ERAs in the high fives. The league average was 3.79.Â
The bats weren’t as bad, just boring. Ryan Rua, then an infielder and even an occasional shortstop, batted a solid .293/.368/.432. Joey Gallo joined for the last few weeks. On the other hand, a good many hitters wouldn’t play beyond this level.Â
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