We knew the day would come when Texas would need bullpen reinforcements, so I’ve made that a focus of my early reports. The Express are 5-11 but not because of the relievers, who have an aggregate 3.70 ERA, .218/.308/.258 opposing line and 37% K rate. Problem is, management can’t call down to Round Rock and say “send us one bullpen unit, please… actually make it two.” They have to make specific and complicated choices.
Alexis Diaz, Josh Sborz, Michael Otanez, Gavin Collyer and Peyton Gray pitched in yesterday’s noon game in Round Rock. The Rangers obviously wouldn’t have chosen that quintet had they known what would transpire late that evening. I’m mostly going to ignore this usage while running down the options because I want to offer my opinions on them even if they couldn’t pitch tonight, but it’s worth keeping it in mind.The three relievers already on the 40 are Otanez, Marc Church and Emiliano Teodo. I suppose one could suffice in a pinch, but I don’t trust any of them right now. They’re generating strikeouts but are deeply worrying in other ways, usually control. I think Schumaker would have to be getting a potential replacement loose before any of them finished their jog to the mound, unless they were entering a blowout.
Among non-40 candidates, the obvious choice is Josh Sborz. He’d be comfortable with the logistics of two nights in two cities two time-zones apart. He also has a deadline of today for addition to the roster or letting him go if another club showed interest. (He could also simply agree to stay, I believe.) His basic line is solid if walk-heavy. He’s been effective, if not electric. On the downside, Sborz isn’t throwing a great percentage of strikes including on opening pitches. Opposing contact has leaned solid, pulled and airborne. I don’t want to come across as overly critical. He’s been fine, just not in such a way that I think sets himself above all his peers or insists on a call-up under ordinary circumstances.
Sborz did pitch Tuesday, and I wonder about the effect on his already slightly attenuated velocity if he had to pitch tonight. Per local reports, the idea is for him to get that back-to-back outing tonight in Round Rock. Another problem, the same problem since 2023, is that he can’t be optioned. If he’s brought to the Rangers and doesn’t perform well, that might end his relationship with Texas. But then, it might be time. We’ll always have late 2023.
Ryan Brasier has settled down after a shaky spring, although his most recent outing wasn’t pretty. Like Sborz, zipping out to Sacto on short notice wouldn’t be an issue, plus he’s rested. If the Rangers bring him up and he has to be outrighted two weeks later and then leaves, it’s almost certainly not an event that would lead to long-term regret.
Alexis Diaz has been better lately and threw only two pitches yesterday in something akin to a Spring Training just-in-case role, replacing starer Trey Supak with runners aboard and two out in the 4th. Better, yes, but with some of the same worries as the trio on the 40. He’s regained some of his velocity and has a monstrous 80% whiff rate on sliders, but his overall strike rate is still quite poor thanks to an inability to catch the zone much, and his results could decay against batters with better plate discipline.
Gavin Collyer has looked best to me, and assuming he maintains this recent performance, he’ll see the bigs before too long. In addition to the usual upper-90s fastball, cutter and sweeper, he’s vastly improved the poor control that kept him off the 40 over the winter. His overall strike rate is 75% including a comical 85% on first pitches. Collyer has a 42% call-strike rate with his cutter, of all things, compared to the league rate of 16. None of that will persist AAA, much less in the Majors, but it doesn’t need to. The point is the change from previous times when he couldn’t throw strikes with any consistency (and batters weren’t chasing at all).
Gray is pitching like the guy who caught your attention during March, but he wouldn’t be my first choice right now, and he threw two innings Tuesday.
I also had a crazy idea, and as I typed it out I became convinced it was stupid, but here it is anyway. Cody Bradford hasn’t pitched since April 2. Per a local report five days ago, his next rehab outing has been delayed because he didn’t feel quite right afterwards. Is he better now, and scheduled to pitch soon? If so, why not let him do it in Sacramento, and then option him to AAA for the rest of his rehab. He has two options, so burning one isn’t a big deal, and it wouldn’t even count if he’s in AAA fewer than 20 days. The problems are 1) the stress of pitching in MLB versus AAA, where results are essentially irrelevant, 2) the difference between the stable, regimented warmup preceding a Triple A start versus a situation-dependent and potentially hasty warmup in MLB.
The better idea for Bradford might be transfer to the 60-day IL, given his outlook. I’d also be curious to know more of Cody Freeman’s situation. I’m assuming Texas won’t know enough of Curvelo’s or Martin’s prognoses to make an immediate 60-day decision. As for casualties if a 40 spot is needed in the traditional manner, Otanez might top the list.
Incidentally, my Statcast tables for Round Rock are up and running. Pitchers are here, hitters here. As with the Spring Training tables, my idea was to condense as much useful info as possible onto a single page. They includes some color gradients for quality in various statistics, but basically they’re just big tables. Please don’t look at them on your phone. It will explode.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 6, El Paso (SDP) 4
Round Rock: 10 hits, 7 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 3 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 5-11, 5.5 GB
SP Trey Supak: 3.2 IP, 6 H (2 HR), 4 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 83 P / 53 S, 6.91 ERA
RP Alexis Diaz: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Josh Sborz: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 1.13 ERA
RP Michel Otañez: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 8.44 ERA
RP Gavin Collyer: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 2.70 ERA
RP Peyton Gray: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
1B Justin Foscue: 3-5, 2B, HR (2), .343/.389/.537
DH Alejandro Osuna: 1-2, 2 BB, SB (3), .294/.362/.412
LF Trevor Hauver: 2-4, 2B, BB, .293/.397/.379
SS Cameron Cauley: 1-3, 2 BB, .189/.323/.264
I more-or-less covered the game in my bullpen writeup. Foscue pulled a first-pitch outer-half slider from Misael Tamarez into the seats. He was at the plate and had seen four Tamarez offerings when Tyler Wade was picked off first for the final out of the previous inning. 
AA: Frisco 15, at Amarillo (ARI) 11
Frisco: 20 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 16 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 6-4, 2 GB
SP Josh Trentadue: 2.2 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 5 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 5 SO, 71 P / 42 S, 7.04 ERA
RP Eric Loomis: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
SS Keyber Rodriguez: 3-6, 2B, 3B, .375/.390/.525
RF Orlando Martinez: 5-6, 2B, 2 HR (2), .333/.429/.528
LF Marcus Lee Sang: 4-6, 3 2B, SB (3), .278/.297/.361
Amarillo is the Texas League’s equivalent of the PCL’s ABQ, El Paso, Reno or Salt Lake, and in that environment, Frisco transformed a three-run deficit into a four-run lead in the 9th. Keith Jones drew three walks, and 3B Frainyer Chavez, catcher Ian Moller, 1B John Taylor and 2B Theo Hardy had two hits apiece. 
Hi-A: Hub City 6, at Wilmington (WAS) 4
Hub City: 8 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 4-5, 2.5 GB
SP Aidan Curry: 5 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 1 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 71 P / 47 S, 1.00 ERA
CF Paxton Kling: 3-4, 2 SB (6), .333/.471/.481
C Malcolm Moore: 1-4, HR (1), .115/.207/.269
DH Chandler Pollard: 2-4, SB (1), .235/.235/.235
Aidan Curry stretched out to five innings and has 13 strikeouts and a lone walk in nine innings. We’ve got ourselves a story here.
Malcolm Moore hit hit first homer to provide a boost to a slow start. Moore is making contact at a solid rate despite an aggressive approach, but the contact is foul-heavy and not adding to much so far. Like last year, the contact in play is mostly airborne (good) but leaning toward the opposite field (no, unless everyone’s pitching him away all the time, which I doubt).
Wilmington leadoff hitter and shortstop Devin Fitz-Gerald was 1-for-5 with a double. He’s hitting a salty .314/.415/.486 eight games into an aggressive high-A assignment.
The opposing homer off Curry was by Elijah Green, whom you might recall as the putative top pick in the ’22 draft even before that start of his senior season in high school. Green would eventually fall to fifth and quite frankly been a complete bust, batting .204/.299/.328 with a 43% strikeout rate in 252 games at the A levels. Texas picked Kumar Rocker third overall. I’ve mentioned this before: Rocker was a shocking pick at the time, and his ultimate evaluation is pending, but nearly everyone else connected to the Rangers in that draft hasn’t panned out.
Wilmington LF Cristhian Vaquero came up the loser in an ugly collision with Hub City 1B Arturo Disla on a grounder. Vaquero is listed at 6’3″ and 180 pounds, while Disla is 6’2″ and charitably listed at 240. Vaquero did walk away under his own power, but to the dugout, while Disla stayed in. 
Lo-A: Hickory 7, Salem (BOS) 5
Hickory: 9 hits, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 8-2, 2 G up
SP Frank Martinez: 4 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 4 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 58 P / 38 S, 8.22 ERA
RP Aneudis Mejia: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 14.40 ERA
RP JD McReynolds: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
DH Deward Tovar: 1-4, HR (2), .250/.341/.528
SS Yolfran Castillo: 2-4, .243/.349/.324
2B Daniel Flames: 3-3, BB
Hickory was down 5-2 at the midpoint but took the lead in the 7th. Luke Savage is Texas’s recent low-A save leader with six in 2024 and 2025. JD McReynolds and Louis Marinaro both have three after just ten team games.
Salem still affiliates with Boston but is no longer team-owned and changed the mascot from the long-standing Red Sox to RidgeYaks. Your first guess at who bought Salem will be correct.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Stephan
AA: Townsend
Hi-A: Segura
Lo-A: Deakins
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