Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 4, Sacramento (SFO) 8
Round Rock: 7 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 9 walks, 4 strikeouts
Record: 16-27, 9 GB
SP David Davalillo: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 5 BB, 4 HBP, 3 SO, 77 P / 40 S, 12.46 ERA
RP Chris Martin: 1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 27.00 ERA
RP Luis Curvelo: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 SO, 4.91 ERA
DH Aaron Zavala: 1-4, HR (3), .274/.353/.427
David Davalillo had a career performance, just not the desired kind. In his AAA debut, he walked five and hit four; the combined nine beat his previous high by three. Davalillo his the second batter of the night, but that didn’t set a tone. The 1st inning was promising, ending with a whiff on an angry sweeper. Even the 2nd that began with a walk didn’t seem out of sorts. From the 3rd onward, though, strikes were a 50/50 proposition, and he would walk or plunk seven of 15 batters. He just didn’t have it, and his frustration was palpable.
Davalillo threw, in descending order of frequency, a cutter* (avg. 88.9 MPH), sinker (93.3), sweeper (80.6), splitter (82.4), four-seamer (93.9) and curve (78.2)**. Last night, the sweeper was the only pitch on which he had a firm handle. It averaged 16″ of horizontal movement. The splitter is supposed be an out pitch, but against lefties he often pushed them too far outside or dumped them at their feet. He had trouble not yanking the cutter glove-side, and the sinker (which he tends to run low, like sinkers in the old days) often ran outside and/or low like the splitter. The fastballs are placement pitches, not particularly special on their own, and if he’s not placing them, they’re of no help. The curve, which has impressed me before, resulted in two called strikes and two hit batters.
Sorry to offer such a lengthy description of a guy having a bad night, but I hadn’t seen him from behind the plate since his AA debut last June in San Antonio, and I wanted to give an idea of what he was trying to accomplish. Davalillo has among the best control in the system, and I’ve no reason to regard this as anything but a fluke.
Rehabbing Chris Martin was so-so. His velocity was fine, but he failed to convert any of four two-strike scenarios during the 7th into a strikeout. (Also, a strikeout would have rewarded fans with dollar hot dogs, so they were grumpy.) I’d posted on social media that he threw only one splitter (last year’s go-to pitch that has been giving him trouble in 2026), but I’m unsure of even one on further review. Statcast shows three pitches classified as a split and two sweepers with a velo/movement/spin profile that doesn’t match anything he’s thrown in the Majors this year. They looked like bullet sliders distinct from his faster cutter.
Fellow rehabber Luis Curvelo missed on 12 of 21 pitches. He’s an emotional pitcher, as you’ve seen, and appeared upset at some combination of himself, catcher Jose Herrera and the world by the end of his outing.
* Statcast calls it a slider, but the speed and movement read cutter to me.
** Statcast actually recorded zero curves, but there’s four pitches sitting out there by themselves below 80 MPH with over 55″ of drop. I’m calling them curves. 
AA: Frisco 15, at Midland (ATH) 4
Frisco: 18 hits, 8 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 4 walks, 15 strikeouts
Record: 18-18, 3.5 GB
SP Winston Santos: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 1 HBP, 6 SO, 83 P / 50 S, 10.19 ERA
CF Dylan Dreiling: 2-4, 2 BB, SB (5), .298/.409/.490
3B John Taylor: 2-3, 2B, HR (5), 2 BB, .304/.441/.509
1B Arturo Disla: 4-6, 2B, HR (1)
SS Keyber Rodriguez: 3-6, 2 2B, SB (4), .324/.349/.521
C Ian Moller: 2-5, 2 2B, .238/.340/.405
RF Keith Jones II: 2-4, BB, SB (3), .245/.360/.415
Arturo Disla wants to know why he wasn’t assigned to Frisco to start the year. He’s 7-for-13 with two walks in three games since the promotion.
The last pitcher for Midland was ex-Ranger CD Pelham. Since reaching the Majors briefly in 2018, Pelham has pitched only 20 innings above AA and none since 2022, but he’s still finding employment on an MLB-affiliated squad at the age of 31.
Hi-A: Hub City 11, at Asheville (HOU) 23
Hub City: 11 hits, 8 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 24 hits, 9 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 19-17, 6.5 GB
SP Joe Adametz: 0.1 IP, 6 H (2 HR), 6 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 33 P / 23 S, 6.29 ERA
RP Cole Stasio: 1.21 IP, 0 H (1.53 HR), 0 R, 2 BB, 0 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Theo Hardy: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0.00 ERA
C Malcolm Moore: 2-4, HR (4), 2 BB, .283/.388/.495
CF Paxton Kling: 2-5, HR (3), BB, .241/.381/.375
Lesson learned. I will no longer gloat about Hub City toying with Asheville. The Tourists led 17-1 after three innings, during which the Spartanburgers threw 118 pitches.
Malcolm Moore had a nice game, swatting his fourth homer and nabbing two would-be stealers in the 1st to prevent an even larger drubbing. 
Lo-A: Hickory 8, at Columbia (KAN) 4
Hickory: 11 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 2 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 19-16, 1 GB
SP Kamdyn Perry: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 66 P / 44 S, 2.50 ERA
RP Michael Trausch: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 1.40 ERA
CF Hector Osorio: 1-2, HR (8), 2 BB, HBP, .294/.423/.556
RF Deward Tovar: 2-5, HR (8), .225/.310/.481
The eight homers from Osorio and Tovar lead the system and the Carolina League, and Osorio is eighth in the league in OBP and third in slugging.
Rookie
Righty Caden Scarborough made his belated 2026 debut in Arizona. He’d been treated for melanoma during the offseason.
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Some rusty baseball in the early days following the lost 2020. Low-A Down East won 4-2 with just four hits but also four walks and seven hit batters. Combined walks and HBPs in Texas’s low-A league were up 30% over 2019.