AAA: Round Rock 6, at Oklahoma City (LAD) 5
Round Rock: 13 hits, 8 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 3 walks, 14 strikeouts
Record: 4-8, 4 GB
SP Josh Stephan: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 76 P / 53 S, 5.79 ERA
RP Emiliano Teodo: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 6.00 ERA
RP Peyton Gray: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Gavin Collyer: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 3.18 ERA
CF Tyler Wade: 3-5, BB, .289/.356/.316
2B Justin Foscue: 3-6, 2B, .319/.373/.468
LF Trevor Hauver: 2-4, BB, .289/.407/.356
DH Willie MacIver: 1-3, HR (1), 2 BB, .120/.353/.240
RF Aaron Zavala: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, .231/.344/.308
Shaky early but ultimately effective, Emiliano Teodo pounded the zone with a slider while mostly missing wide or low with a a sinker that topped at 99.7. Teodo missed on his first six pitches and needed a challenge to avoid a seventh (on a pitch that caught about three microns of the zone). After the initial walk, he threw four sliders on subsequent three-ball counts, all for strikes.
Marc Church lasted an uncommonly low 13 pitches, giving up four consecutive hits, none of them what I’d call lucky but also not especially hard.
Cam Cauley has started six games at short, two at second, two at third and once in center. Michael Helman has started three of the last four games at short after a week in center. Alejandro Osuna has mostly manned right and center, while Aaron Zavala has split between the outfield corners.
Cam Cauley is 2-for-21 with three walks and seven strikeouts in his last five games after starting .273/.407/.455. Willie MacIver is 3-for-7 with a homer and two walks after going hitless in his first six games. This is why I don’t publish slash stats and ERAs until at least ten games have been played. Long season.
AA: Frisco 6, Midland (ATH) 7
Frisco: 13 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 5 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 4-2, 1 GB
SP Winston Santos: 2.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 53 P / 35 S
RP Eric Loomis: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
RP Zack Bryant: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO
2B Frainyer Chavez: 4-5
DH Julian Brock: 2-5, HR (1)
CF Dylan Dreiling: 2-4, 2B, HR (2), BB
Dylan Dreiling homered, to the opposite field, again. He later was given permission to pull and banged a sharp fly off the right-center wall for a double. He’s at .360/.448/.640 in his first six games, not quite the best of his career over such a stretch but pretty close, and he’s doing it at a higher level.
Winston Santos made his first appearance. He’s on a limited diet after suffering a broken wrist fielding a comebacker. The runners who scored reached on fairly soft contact. He missed nine bats with his fastball/slider/change combo.
Zack Bryant? Zack Bryant! I offered an admittedly perfunctory review of the offseason righty signing over the winter; he’ll be 28 in June and had 109 less-than-enthralling AA innings on his ledger. During his 1-2-3 6th, announcers Zach Bigley and Jack Smith mostly discussed ex-Rider/current-Marlin Liam Hicks, as one does. In the 7th, Bryant didn’t allow them time to mention much at all, because he accomplished an immaculate inning (video). Fastball in the 97-98 range, slider, maybe a cutter.
Hi-A: Hub City 0, Greenville (BOS) 2
Hub City: 3 hits, 5 walks, 17 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 1-4, 2.5 GB
SP J’Briell Easley: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 18 P / 14 S
RP Joe Adametz: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 3 SO
RP Cole Stasio: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO
SS Luke Hanson: 1-2, BB, SB (1)
26-year-old LHP Joe Adametz was a 2022 14th-rounder released by Detroit in January and signed by Texas just as Spring Training began.
Bad news: That injury to OF Anthony Gutierrez in the second inning of Opening Day will cost him the season. He suffered a torn ligament in his knee per local media. Gutierrez has never played more than 89 games in a season, and even that was diminished by an arm injury that prevented him from playing in the outfield for three months.
Lo-A: Hickory 3, at Kannapolis (CHW) 0
Hickory: 7 hits, 6 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 4-2, 1 GB
SP Alejandro Chiquillo: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 45 P / 30 S
RP Jormy Nivar: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO
RP Louis Marinaro: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 2 SO
CF Marcos Torres: 2-4, 2B
Alejandro Chiquillo: 23 swings against, 11 misses
Jormy Nivar: 27 swings, 13 misses
Louis Marinaro: 8 swings, 3 misses
When I first saw the name “Louis Marinaro” I said “Jersey or Staten Island,” but in fact he was born about 30 miles north of the NJ border and north of the Bronx in Somers, NY. What a disappointment. The undrafted St. John’s lefty deals a low-slot, low-90s fastball and a tight slider that should play well at the level barring control issues.
The Crawdads have a winning record but are slugging .284 and still seeking their first homer. Among the busier players, OF Paulino Santana is leading with a .364/.440/.500 line including three of the team’s nine doubles.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Quantrill
AA: Lopez
Hi-A: Pence
Lo-A: Siary