Month: May 2026

Let’s have a quick look at how Texas’s team’s are scoring and allowing runs so far:

It brings me no pleasure to note that, like 2025, the Texas offense is not only not terrible but in fact bordering average. It feels terrible, but so far in 2026 Globe Life is playing even more hitter-unfriendly than last year, when it was the second-most pitcher-oriented park in Rangers history.Both Texas and the opposition are scoring near the league-average rate in other parks. Globe Life is the anti-Coors Field. 

It’s early, and the park factors are wonky because of their strange schedule to date, but the Express aren’t getting many runners home. As I’ve mentioned, they can reach base at an adequate rate but are seriously lacking in power. In the last 21 games, Round Rock has averaged 3.3 runs and never scored more than six. Meanwhile, Frisco and Hub City are scoring runs with abandon. Hub City is also allowing with abandon, while the Riders are more stingy if not quite average. Hickory is sitting on an average offense and better pitching. 

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 5, Sacramento (SFO) 7
Round Rock: 7 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 7 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 16-29, 10 GB

SP Austin Bergner: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO, 50 P / 28 S, 3.46 ERA
RP Luis Curvelo: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 4.50 ERA
CF Cameron Cauley: 3-4, 2B, HR (4), .242/.357/.353
1B Nick Pratto: 2-4, HR (3), .197/.239/.379

The Express led this game from minute 11 to minute 165, but they did not win. Six 9th-inning runs from the visiting RiverCats transformed an innings-long 5-1 lead into a 7-5 loss. Many of the six hits off Michel Otanez and Mason Thompson were cheap, and RF Aaron Zavala also comfortably sat underneath a short fly only for it to fall in front of him. 

Cam Cauley produced a highlight reel. The double was actually more impressive than the homer. He lined to right-center and discerned before reaching 1st that the fielders were tardy in tracking it down, and he raced into 2nd underneath a tag.

Round Rock heads to El Paso next, the first trip to one of the PC’s notoriously hitter-friendly locations. 


AA: Frisco 8, at Midland (ATH) 3
Frisco: 10 hits, 8 walks, 17 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 20-18, 1.5 GB

SP Dylan MacLean: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 76 P / 49 S, 5.01 ERA
RP Bryan Magdaleno: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 2.00 ERA
3B John Taylor: 2-4, 2B, BB, SB (3), .319/.458/.529
CF Dylan Dreiling: 1-3, 2 BB, SB (6), .299/.417/.486
DH Keith Jones II: 2-5, 2B, HR (5), .272/.379/.476
C Julian Brock: 1-3, HR (4), 2 BB, .200/.344/.387

Frisco took four of six on the road against the division leader. Dylan Dreiling was light on power last week (one double) but reached safely 12 times in five games. 2020 4th-rounder Dylan MacLean’s 5.01 ERA doesn’t look appealing but is very close to league-average in the rough and rowdy 2026 Texas League. He’s avoiding walks, strikeout out opponents at a decent rate, and living with the results of balls in play. 


Hi-A: Hub City 19, at Asheville (HOU) 12
Hub City: 19 hits, 6 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 15 hits, 8 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 21-17, 5.5 GB

SP D.J. McCarty: 4.1 IP, 8 H (1 HR), 6 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 84 P / 50 S, 6.85 ERA
RP Cole Roland: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
1B Rafe Perich: 4-6, 2B, 2 HR (7), .306/.392/.583
C Malcolm Moore: 4-6, 2B, HR (6), .318/.409/.573
LF Paxton Kling: 1-4, HR (5), 2 BB, .242/.324/.424
3B Gleider Figuereo: 3-5, 2B, HR (5), BB, HBP, SB (3), .217/.315/.411
SS Luke Hanson: 3-6, HR (6), .226/.291/.443

Even with several dangerous PCL cities, AA Amarillo and gone-and-unlamented High Desert and Lancaster of the Cal League, I’m not sure if a Texas-affiliated team has ever played a series like what transpired in Asheville last week:
The average score was 14.8 runs for the winners and 7.8 for the losers.
Hub City scored 77 runs, 12.8 per game.
Hub City hit 23 homers, 3.8 per game. 
Hub City batted .361/.455/.744 as a team last week versus .230/.331/.373 heading into the series.
Asheville scored 59 runs (third-most in high-A last week), batted .324/.439/.583, and lost five of six.

Why so many runs? Four reasons:
1) Scoring is up 20% in the Sally League versus last year,
2) Asheville is the league’s hitter-friendliest park,
3) Asheville’s pitching is terrible, maybe historically so, even accounting for items 1 and 2,
4) Hub City has been hitting well lately (not just last week) after a slow start. 

Sally League Player of the Week Malcolm Moore had a week to remember, batting .520/.571/1.160 with four homers and four doubles. Paxton Kling slugged an even 1.000 with his four homers and two doubles, and Rafe Perich batted .400/.500/.840 with three homers, two doubles and four walks. 


Lo-A: Hickory 10, at Columbia (KAN) 0
Hickory: 5 hits, 10 walks, 3 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts
Record: 20-17, 1 GB

SP Evan Siary: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 62 P / 50 S, 3.86 ERA
RP Owen Proksch: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
CF Paulino Santana: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, .279/.420/.397
1B Marcos Torres: 1-4, BB, 2 SB (15), .250/.348/.500
C Josh Springer: 0-2, BB, 2 HBP, SB (3), .254/.349/.268

Hickory thumped the Fireflies to split the series. Lefty Owen Proksch was cuffed in his one-off high-A outing but has been nearly perfect in low-A. Lefties have one hit and five strikeouts in ten trips to the plate against him. 

This week, Hickory is the nominal home team against Charleston in a series to be placed in Winston-Salem because of the fire at Hickory’s park. 

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Round Rock improved to 8-3 with a doubleheader sweep of Sugar Land. Catcher Yohel Pozo’s two-run homer ended the second contest. The other teams were off. 

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 3, Sacramento (sfo) 2
Round Rock: 5 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 17-27, 9 GB

SP Josh Stephan: 5.2 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 2 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 87 P / 57 S, 4.20 ERA
RP Chris Martin: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 16.88 ERA
CF Cameron Cauley: 3-5, 2B, 2 SB (12), .228/.348/.315
LF Trevor Hauver: 1-2, 2 BB, SB (3), .258/.399/.336

Chris Martin pitched for a second straight night and was effective, presumably signaling his readiness for return to the Rangers. He again eschewed the splitter, although maybe he didn’t didn’t have time, as the inning lasted only seven pitches. 

Josh Stephan was effective despite the longest strikeout-free outing of any pitcher in the Texas system this season. 

LHP Austin Gomber received his release. The former Colorado rotation stalwart didn’t look suited to retiring even AAA hitters early this season, much less Major Leaguers, but he rounded into form. He has ample MLB experience but hadn’t done anything on the mound to prove worthier than any number of competitors if Texas needed another starter. 


AA: Frisco 7, at Midland (ATH) 5
Frisco: 9 hits, 8 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 4 walks, 15 strikeouts
Record: 19-18, 2.5 GB

SP Leandro Lopez: 5 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 4 R, 3 BB, 2 HBP, 9 SO, 91 P / 58 S, 7.12 ERA
RP Ryan Lobus: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 5.03 ERA
DH John Taylor: 2-3, 2B, .313/.453/.522
RF Keith Jones II: 3-4, 2B, BB, .265/.378/.439
C Julian Brock: 1-4, HR (3), BB, .194/.330/.347

Lopez fanned a season-high nine. He’s only walked fewer than three batters once, and that night included two walks and a hit batter. His BB+HBP rate is 16.6% compared to last year’s 10.2% that was a major reason for why he was added to the 40-man roster. 


Hi-A: Hub City 10, at Asheville (HOU) 5
Hub City: 13 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 7 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 20-17, 6.5 GB

SP Ismael Agreda: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 6 SO, 84 P / 50 S, 5.22 ERA
RP Joey Danielson: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 0.60 ERA
C Malcolm Moore: 3-5, HR (5), .298/.397/.529
CF Paxton Kling: 1-4, HR (4), .241/.375/.397
1B Gleider Figuereo: 2-4, 2B, HR (4), HBP, .203/.308/.374
LF Quincy Scott: 2-4, HR (4), .267/.416/.467

Hub City hitters again took full advantage of the most favorable hitting environment they’ll see all season. The average score of a game in Asheville in 2026 is 11.5 -6.9, and visiting clubs are slugging .628. Malcolm Moore has three homers and three singles in four games. 

For pitchers, the game is called survival, and four Burgers kept the ball in the park. 


Lo-A: Hickory 7, at Columbia (KAN) 8 (11)
Hickory: 12 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 8 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 19-17, 2 GB

SP AJ Russell: 2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 53 P / 35 S, 5.56 ERA
RP Wily Villar: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 3.45 ERA
RF Hector Osorio: 2-5, BB, .298/.426/.550
SS Yolfran Castillo: 3-5, 2B, .310/.399/.437
CF Marcos Torres: 2-6, 2B, .250/.346/.508

Russell didn’t surpass his previous high of three innings, but he did stretch out to a high of 53 pitches. JD McReynolds’s rough patch reached seven games with runs and/or multiple baserunners. Jhosmmel Zue’s two-out, two-strike double in the 1th plate the tying and winning runs for Columbia. 

Today’s Starters
AAA: Bergner
AA: MacLean
Hi-A: McCarty
Lo-A: Siary

Five Years Ago Yesterday
I studied changes in minor league ball versus 2019:
Unintentional Walks + HBP: Up 28% (up 35% in Low-A)
Strikeouts: Up 19% (23% in Low-A)
“Mistakes” (errors, wild pitches, passed balls, balks, HBP): up 28% (34% in low-A)
Batting average: down .017 (-.010 in low-A)

My conclusion: “The game is changing, and some of this is permanent, I think, but hopefully we’ll see at least partial regression to prior levels as players fully acclimate to live action. I’m not one of those “baseball was better back in [era corresponding to your childhood]” types, but some of these early games haven’t been attractive.”

Five years later, that holds true. No minor league season during 2021-2026 has resulted in fewer walks, fewer strikeouts or a higher batting average than during 2019. 

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. 

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 1, Sacramento (SFO) 12
Round Rock: 7 hits, 5 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 16-26, 9 GB

SP Jose Corniell: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 63 P / 43 S, 2.16 ERA
RP Ryan Brasier: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.86 ERA
RP Emiliano Teodo: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 6.11 ERA

A soft single and hard-lined double-single-SF sequence put two quick runs on the board for Sactown, after which Jose Corniell didn’t allow any hard airborne balls in play. He missed 12 bats including seven with a heavily employed four-seamer averaging 94.7 MPH. 

Michel Otanez walked four of five batters. I’m wondering if he can staple an extension to the third-base side of the rubber and pitch from there so we don’t have a repeat of this:


Meanwhile, Emiliano Teodo hit the zone on an unprecedented nine of ten pitches. He didn’t miss any bats, but I don’t care. I wouldn’t even care if Victor Bericoto’s flyout to right-center had cleared the fence. Just reestablishing basic control from which to build would be great. 

David Davalillo will make his AAA debut tonight, 11 months after reaching AA. He’s had a quirky five starts with Frisco, posting a 3.86 ERA with a typically strong walk rate and more swinging strikes and strikeouts than ever, yet his opposing line is a rather frightening .320/.389/.474. His opposing average on contact is a goofy .501 with a .754 slugging percentage. Obviously, he’s dealing with some bad luck on BABIP; last year’s .134 hit rate on grounders has ballooned to .429. He’s also dealing with a league-wide increase in hitting. That’s not the whole story though, as a good number of last year’s grounders have become salty liners. All those extra opposing hits could actually be beneficial in a sense, perhaps building up some resiliency for the deeply unfavorable PCL climate. 


AA: Frisco 3, at Midland (ATH) 4
Frisco: 6 hits, 7 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 17-18, 4.5 GB

SP Dalton Pence: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 71 P / 42 S, 3.60 ERA
DH Arturo Disla: 1-4, BB
SS John Taylor: 1-3, 3B, 2 BB, .294/.431/.468

Dalton Pence reached AA after just 12 genuine professional starts. I’d characterize the 11 earlier starts at the A levels as “opening long relief,” as he never surpassed three innings and 53 pitches. His upper-level debut was a little lighter on strikeouts and whiffs than usual, but he handled tougher opposition capably. He fanned one batter on what I’d eyeball as a cutter, another on a splitter, which is telling. As a reliever in college,  Pence’s money pitch was a fastball with ordinary velocity but massive rise. In a professional starting role, he’s having to emphasize his secondaries, and so far, results have been promising. 


Hi-A: Hub City 18, at Asheville (HOU) 4
Hub City: 19 hits, 9 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 7 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 19-16, 5.5 GB

SP J’Briell Easley: 3 IP, 3 H (2 HR), 4 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 46 P / 27 S, 5.17 ERA
RP Brock Porter: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, 1.89 ERA
RP Cole Roland: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
LF Maxton Martin: 3-6, BB, .256/.336/.453
1B Rafe Perich: 2-5, BB, .284/.378/.516
C Malcolm Moore: 2-5, 2 2B, BB, .274/.373/.463
CF Paxton Kling: 1-3, HR (2), 2 BB, .234/.376/.336
DH Yeison Morrobel: 3-5, BB, .305/.365/.476
2B Chandler Pollard: 4-5, 2B, HBP, .253/.349/.413
SS Luke Hanson: 3-6, 2B, 2 HR (5), .204/.278/.417

Have I mentioned exploding offense below AAA? And the favorable hitting climate in Asheville? And the Tourists’ poor pitching? Well, good for me. Hub City has 37 runs and 11 homers in the first three games of the series. 

Luke Hanson hit ten homers in 128 college games with Virginia. He hit none in his first 43 pro games. Suddenly, he has five homers in his last 12 games. Hanson ranks tenth on the team in OPS among regulars but leads with 27 RBI after collecting nine last night. 

Asheville used a position player to toss the final inning, during which Hanson hit his second homer and Malcolm Moore his second double, a sky-high wind-whipped oppo semi-bloop that none could corral. 

The unlikely pitching hero was Brock Porter, whose wild but very hard-to-hit style suits well to the surroundings. Porter allowed only two airborne balls out of the infield. 


Lo-A: Hickory 7, at Columbia (KAN) 2
Hickory: 9 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 18-16, 2 GB

SP Aidan Deakins: 5.2 IP, 7 H (1 HR), 2 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 89 P / 58 S, 1.24 ERA
RP Frank Martinez: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 5.02 ERA
SS Yolfran Castillo: 2-5, HR (1), SB (14), .303/.395/.432
CF Hector Osorio: 1-5, HR (7), .290/.411/.532
1B Deward Tovar: 2-4, HBP, .218/.307/.460

Yolfran Castillo clubbed his first homer in full-season ball on a generously flat 0-2 offering from Shane Van Dam. The 19-year-old’s swing is oriented more to liners than flies, but he can put some sting on the ball, and he’s roughly doubled his isolated power from 2025 levels. 

Rookie
Cody Freeman went 0-2 as a DH on rehab assignment. Seong-Jun Kim homered as his replacement in the 8th. Enyel Lopez was tagged for six runs on seven hits and three walks in 2.1 innings. The skinny 20-year-old has promise but has been extremely walk-prone, issuing a combined 40 walks and hit batters in 32 innings. 

Elsewhere
Gavin Fien (wrist) returned to action on Wednesday for Washington’s low-A club, collecting a single and walk in three trips to the plate. He didn’t play yesterday.. The Nats promoted OF Yeremi Cabrera to high-A Wilmington. Both Hickory and Hub City are done with Washington’s A-level clubs for the season, barring a postseason matchup. 

Today’s Starters
AAA: Davalillo
AA: Santos
Hi-A: Adametz
Lo-A: Perry

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Frisco’s Yerry Rodriguez fanned five in three scoreless, hitless innings. OF Steele Walker hit his first homer. The parent club lost a fourth straight; after an 18-18 start (that I’d forgotten), the Rangers would play .333 ball the rest of the way and lose 100 games for the first time since 1973 (I remember that part). 

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 6, Sacramento (SFO) 5
Round Rock: 9 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 16-25, 9 GB

SP Trey Supak: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 3 SO, 79 P / 59 S, 4.25 ERA
PH Aaron Zavala: 0-1, 2B, 3B, .284/.368/.422
SS Michael Helman: 1-4, HR (5), .202/.291/.361
1B Nick Pratto: 2-4, HR (2), .157/.200/.333

Aaron Zavala’s pinch-hit double drove in the tying and winning runs in the 9th. (The video lists Gilberto Celestino as the hitter, but Zavala had replaced him.) Michael Helman maintains employment with defensive versatility and hard, pulled flies; last night he played short and launched a moonshot to left. 

Notwithstanding last night’s homer, Nick Pratto has yet to reclaim what once made him a top-100 prospect. 41 is his unlucky number. Entering the week, 41% of pitches have resulted in a called or swinging strike, 41% of pitches taken have resulted in called strikes, and 41% of his swings have resulted in a whiff. All figures are at or near league-worsts. Teammate Jonah Bride also takes a huge number of pitches for strikes, but he compensates with exceptional contact ability (83%). 


AA: Frisco 3, at Midland (ATH) 0
Frisco: 9 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 17-17, 3.5 GB

SP Blake Townsend: 7.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 97 P / 61 S, 4.94 ERA
RP Wilian Bormie: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO, 1.50 ERA
CF Dylan Dreiling: 1-3, BB, .302/.405/.510
DH Arturo Disla: 2-3, BB
RF Keith Jones II: 2-3, 2B, BB, .233/.349/.411

Arturo Disla announced his presence with authority, singling in his first AA at-bat and singling again to drive home a run in the 3rd.

Blake Townsend became the second Texas minor leaguer to reach 90 pitches, the other being veteran Austin Gomber on four different occasions. Per the Riders, Townsend is only the second Rider since 2018 to record an out in the 8th inning. 


Hi-A: Hub City 6, at Asheville (HOU) 4
Hub City: 9 hits, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 8 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 18-16, 5.5 GB

SP Enrique Segura: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 71 P / 40 S, 5.75 ERA
RP Anthony Susac: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 3.38 ERA
RP Joey Danielson: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 0 SO, 0.66 ERA
2B Antonis Macias: 1-5, HR (2), .176/.279/.270
RF Yeison Morrobel: 1-3, HR (4), BB, .290/.349/.470
CF Quincy Scott: 1-3, HR (3), BB, .250/.409/.423
LF Chandler Pollard: 2-3, 2B, HR (2), BB, .214/.313/.371

What I neglected to mention in yesterday’s account of hitter-friendly conditions in Asheville is that, even accounting for the park and the MiLB-wide increase in offense, Asheville’s pitching has been terrible. The Tourists are worst in runs (8.3 per game, including 10.1 at home), hits, homers, walks, strikeouts and wild pitches. (And they’re a Houston affiliate, so maybe that will cheer you up a little.)  Eight different Burgers have homered in the first two games of the series (yesterday: Figuereo, Hanson, Moore, Perich). 

Absent other moves, Rafe Perich is likely the dominant 1B with Disla gone; he was already time-sharing with Disla and averaging barely over one game per week at the hot corner. It’s not uncommon for catchers to moonlight at first to get extra plate appearances, but so far, Malcolm Moore has never played there (nor did he in college). Moore has DH’ed a couple of times but otherwise caught a steady four games per week. 


Lo-A: Hickory 2, at Columbia (KAN) 8
Hickory: 7 hits, 5 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 17-16, 3 GB

SP Jesus Lafalaise: 3 IP, 5 H (2 HR), 7 R, 4 BB, 5 SO, 72 P / 41 S, 5.40 ERA
RP Owen Proksch: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
LF Paulino Santana: 3-5, 2B, 3B, .275/.424/.400

The fire at L.P. Frans Stadium last weekend will force next week’s homestand 75 miles northeast to Winston-Salem, the high-A affiliate of the White Sox. The next scheduled home game is June 2. Owen Proksch settled back into low-A comfortably after a two-inning, three-run outing subbing in Hub City last week. 

Rookie
Ben Abeldt fanned six in 2.2 innings yesterday, allowing a run on two hits and two walks. Jay McQueen was 3-4 with a walk and is an early standout with a line of .444/.600/.611. The team OPS leader is 18-year-old Daniel (not to be confused iwth Elorky) Rodriguez at .500/.636/1.000 including a triple and two homers. On Tuesday, Jacob Johnson tossed four innigns with four hits and two in runs, walks and strikeouts. Two-way player Josh Owens pitched two scoreless with no walks and three strikeouts. He’s batting .200/.294/.400 as a 2B/SS/DH. 

Today’s Starters
AAA: TBD
AA: TBD
Hi-A: Easley
Lo-A: Deakins

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Formerly a pure fastball/curve pitcher, Joe Barlow was showing a cutter, slider and occasional change early in 2021. (This was based purely on my observations and probably a conversation with someone in the organization, as Statcast wasn’t available yet.) The slider would become his dominant pitch, but he never threw a change in the Majors. Cole Winn fanned eight in five scoreless innings for Frisco. 

Five Years Ago The Day Before Yesterday
I forgot yesterday’s feature. I haven’t redeveloped the muscle memory after no games in 2020 and a missing April in 2021. In a doubleheader, Frisco righty Tyler Phillips struck out seven versus one walk and allowed one run in five innings. Unfortunately, as far as this timeline is concerned, this is the last news on Phillips that won’t be bad and/or weird. Other starter Jacob Latz held Corpus Christi scoreless and struck out six in five innings. Texas released right Mike Matuella, who emerged from the lost covid year missing several tics from his fastball. I’d had my worries after he didn’t receive an assignment following some appearances in “alt-site” games in April. Dealing with multiple injuries on draft day, Matuella was a high-risk pick that looked like it might pay off for a while. In March 2018, I witnessed what was probably his performance peak, when he offered a fastball that would touch 100 backed with a low-90s change and low-80s curve. 

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 2, Sacramento (sfo) 9
Round Rock: 2 hits, 11 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 5 walks, 4 strikeouts
Record: 15-25, 9 GB

SP Austin Gomber: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 3 SO, 91 P / 56 S, 7.75 ERA
RP Chris Martin: 0.2 IP, 4 H (2 HR), 4 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 54.00 ERA
CF Cameron Cauley: 0-0, 4 BB, SB (10), .237/.365/.328
DH Jonah Bride: 1-3, 2 BB, .264/.391/.408

I’d intended to see at least part of yesterday’s noon special in person, but what I thought would be a ten-minute phone call at 11 became an hour and ten minutes. Oh, well. Here’s the rehabbing Chris Martin’s location map:



Honestly looks great. Lots of paint, nothing in the heart, yet Sacramento took both lower-left splitters deep. Martin’s splitter has been his least successful pitch so far in 2026 after serving as his best last year and typically near the league average in prior years. 

Round Rock needs to borrow some of Frisco’s offense. The Express scored twice without a hit in the 6th but didn’t erase the no-hitter until Jonah Bride’s soft tapper to short in the 7th. They’re a patient bunch, not prone to chase or miss, but they rank at the bottom of the league in all the ball-in-play metrics. 


AA: Frisco 7, at Midland (ATH) 9
Frisco: 7 hits, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 16-17, 4.5 GB

SP Josh Trentadue: 1.2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 4 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 43 P / 26 S, 8.18 ERA
CF Dylan Dreiling: 1-3, 2B, BB, .301/.402/.516
2B Corey Joyce: 1-4, HR (7), .329/.405/.686

Josh Trentadue had reasonable control but was chased in a 34-pitch 2nd that included one swinging strike and 11 fouls. 

Over the past month, the Riders have averaged a whopping 7.1 runs per game, but they’ve allowed an identical amount. The league average is 5.3, maybe around 5.5 adjusted for park. 

The first Hub City batter to reach Frisco is 1B Arturo Disla. After a disappointing 2025, Disla has roared to a .314/.434/.559 start with six homers in 30 games. I remembered being impressed with his eye at the plate in Surprise in 2024, yet until this season he’s never walked at a league-average rate. He’s cut his swing rate from the 51-56% range to 45%, the results being more walks, the same whiff rate but fewer total misses, no change in strikeout rate but vastly better results on balls in play. 


Hi-A: Hub City 13, at Asheville (HOU) 11
Hub City: 15 hits, 6 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 14 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 17-16, 5.5 GB

SP Aidan Curry: 4 IP, 5 H (1 HR), 4 R, 2 BB, 7 SO, 76 P / 47 S, 4.32 ERA
RP Cole Roland: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
LF Maxton Martin: 3-6, 2B, .243/.319/.449
1B Rafe Perich: 1-3, HR (5), 2 BB, .279/.370/.535
C Malcolm Moore: 2-5, 2B, HR (3), .267/.365/.444
3B Gleider Figuereo: 1-4, HR (), BB, .196/.293/.346
SS Luke Hanson: 2-4, HR (3), BB, .194/.276/.355

For those unfamiliar, Asheville is the Amarillo of the South Atlantic League or the Mountain Time Zone of the PCL. Asheville’s elevation is 2,100′, not stratospheric but well above any other town in the league, and the distance to right is a softball-esque 297 feet. 

Righty Cole Roland made his first MLB-affiliated pro debut at the not-so-tender age of 27. Roland was semi-famous as a reliever at Wake Forest in 2023-2024 for his manic  mound display (video). He wasn’t quite so animated last night but still stands out. Undrafted after 2024, Roland spent the rest of that year and all of 2025 at various indy teams, most notably Quebec of the Frontier Leauger, where he posted an 0.7 ERA with 13 walks and 58 strikeouts in 41.1 innings. Roland dealt a zillion curves (or maybe high-depth sliders, or maybe both), some changes and only one fastball that I saw. 


Lo-A: Hickory 6, at Columbia (KAN) 10
Hickory: 9 hits, 6 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 17-16, 3 GB

SP Moises Morales: 6 IP, 5 H (1 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 81 P / 50 S, 4.60 ERA
CF Hector Osorio: 2-4, BB, .293/.415/.526
SS Yolfran Castillo: 2-4, BB, .303/.401/.418

All the Crawdads called up to play in Spartanburg following last weekend’s stadium fire have returned. 2025 10th-round righty JD McReynolds was an early highlight, nearly unhittable and earning saves in three of his first four outings, but his last five outings have totaled 5.2 innings, 14 runners, 3 homers and 6 runs. 

Today’s Starters
AAA: TBD
AA: Townsend
Hi-A: Segura
Lo-A: Lafalaise

On Saturday, I provided a quick look at why Texas wasn’t scoring many runs despite the second-best hard-hit rate in MLB. Baseball Prospectus took a deeper look ($ link), mentioning 1) “failing to reach the top gear of the exit velo spectrum often enough,” which corresponds to my analysis about the lack of top-end velocity on homer-oriented launch angles, 2) a surplus of hard grounders, 3) a deficit of “soft” hits, balls unintentionally hit at a slow enough speed to become hit more frequently than those in a medium-velocity range, and 4) the dreaded “luck.”

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 3, at Durham (TAM) 2
Round Rock: 8 hits, 5 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 3 walks, 18 strikeouts
Record: 15-24, 8 GB

SP Josh Stephan: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 SO, 86 P / 52 S, 4.37 ERA
RP Emiliano Teodo: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 6.61 ERA
RP Michel Otañez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.77 ERA
RF Aaron Zavala: 2-5, .288/.370/.423
2B Michael Helman: 2-4, HR (4), BB, SB (5), .205/.288/.348
LF Trevor Hauver: 2-4, BB, SB (2), .265/.473/.345

Round Rock won the final two games after losing the first four. Emiliano Teodo enjoyed his best 2026 outing by far. The sinker still missed the zone too often, but he gained five calls plus two misses on three swings. Likewise, Durham chased and missed three changes. Josh Stephan maintained his strong 2026 form. His swinging strike rate actually isn’t much higher than last year — 12.1% in 2026 vs. 11.2% in ’25 — but his strikeout rate has rocketed from 19% to 32%. 

OF Aaron Zavala reach safely 13 times in 28 trips to the plate on the trip (.464). Round Rock hosts 20-17 Sacramento this week. 


AA: wet / cancelled

The game against NW Arkansas won’t be rescheduled. Frisco visits division-leading Midland this week. The Hounds took four of six in Frisco the first full week of the season. 


Hi-A: Hub City 3, Wilmington (WAS) 9
Hub City: 7 hits, 9 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 3 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 16-16, 5.5 GB

SP Dylan MacLean: 6 IP, 3 H (2 HR), 2 R, 0 BB, 7 SO, 69 P / 52 S, 6.00 ERA
1B Rafe Perich: 2-4, HR (4), BB, .277/.358/.506
LF Maxton Martin: 1-3, 2 BB, .228/.310/.436
SS Yolfran Castillo: 2-5

Hub City was outscored by ten runs during the series but managed a split. Yesterday, AJ Russell pitched for Hub City because Hickory’s Saturday and Sunday games were cancelled by a clubhouse fire. Yesterday, he was joined by LHP Owen Proksch, IF Yolfran Castillo and OF Hector Osorio. Osorio was 0-for-5, while Proksch gave up three runs and six runners in two innings. I can make a case for Osorio staying, as he’s hitting .286/.409/.527 for Hickory after spending the entirety of 2025 at the same level. The others are likely headed back. Both clubs have conveniently nearby road trips this week: Hub City to Asheville and Hickory to Columbia. 

Bowling Green unsurprisingly leads the division at 22-11. The Tampa-affiliated Hot Rods have five winning records and three league titles in the post-covid reconfigured Sally League. 


Lo-A: cancelled

Hickory is on the road this week, so hopefully the stadium will be functional by next Tuesday when Charleston visits. 

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Only Round Rock played. In 2021, the AAA level had Wednesdays off while the other levels skipped Mondays. Brock Burke (1.1 IP, 5 R) pitched for the first time since 2019 because of shoulder surgery. Curtis Terry hit his fourth homer in five games. 

Yesterday morning, I saw a social media post showing Texas with the second-best hard-hit rate in all of baseball. Again, second best.

I quote-posted it combined with my own research that the Rangers were 28th in batting average on these hard hits (.432, 44 points below average) and 27th in slugging (.814, 107 points below average). I received some feedback, some helpful, some less so. A good point is that hard-hit rate is overrated, subject to misinterpretation and certainly not a catch-all for determining hitting quality. At a team level, hard-hit rate actually correlates poorly to production so far in 2026. My instant thoughts were the direction of Texas’s contact, the spread of velocity and park factors. 

After a little more research, I posted “The Rangers lean less airborne than grounded on hard hits but are close to the median, not a huge issue. They’re 27th in average and slugging on hard hits above 10 degrees [i.e., airborne]. My first thought was weak top-end velo, but they’re 12th in EV90 [90th-percentile exit velocity]. Not excessively pop-prone either. Need more study. GLF, maybe [Globe Life]?”

Then, Austin received an unexpectedly heavy rain shower that delayed my yardwork, so I kept digging. After a little more research: “The basic answer to Texas being a hard-hit low-result team is Globe Life. Yes, the Rangers are worse on hard hits than their opponents at home, but the park is massively pitcher-friendly. Texas’s road numbers are right at the league average.”



That still felt off, though. Yes, Globe Life suppresses hitting, but why the large difference in slugging between the Rangers and their opponents? I then narrowed the focus to hard hits at an angle of 20-44 degrees, where nearly all homers occur.

These results defy belief. Using only hard balls in play with homer-oriented angles, the Rangers are slugging over 700 points lower than the league average and over 400 worse the than 29th-ranked team. Worse still, opponents aren’t having any trouble getting results on these types of hits in Globe Life. I discovered this through both my own analysis of the raw data and by finessing Statcast’s search function, so I believe the stats are correct.  What in the world is going on.

A partial answer: Texas’s overall top-end exit velocity is solid, but in this subset, it’s lacking. In this angle range, the average team hits 42% of hard balls in play at 95-99 MPH. Such balls do surprisingly poorly; only 10% have reached the seats in 2026. Unfortunately, Texas leads in this category at 61%. Texas’s average velocity on these balls is only 99. The opposition’s average is 103. That’s a huge difference. 

Entering Saturday, Texas had only 23 balls in play at a 20-44 angle range and over 100 MPH off the bat. The average team had 37. Given that 47% of balls in play in this group become homers, that’s a lot of missed production. 
That’s only part of the issue. On balls hit at 20-44 degrees and over 100 MPH, Texas also has the worst percentage of homers, just 22% vs. the league average of 47%. As to why so few of Texas’s genuinely hardest hits are leaving… I don’t know. I haven’t gotten that far yet. Possibly dumb luck.My joking response was for Texas to just hit the ball harder. Last night, Josh Jung and Justin Foscue hit balls over 100 MPH in the angle range of 20-44. You’ll never guess what happened. 

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 5, at Durham (TAM) 3 
Round Rock: 5 hits, 1 walks, 9strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 5 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 14-24, 8 GB

SP Ben Anderson: 1.2 IP, 3 H (2 HR), 3 R, 2 BB, 1 SO, 49 P / 29 S, 9.00 ERA
RP Austin Bergner: IP, H, R, BB, SO, 0.00 ERA
RF Aaron Zavala: 1-3, HR (2), BB, .283/.368/.424

Bergner, Aidan Anderson, Robby Ahlstrom, Dane Acker and Mason Thompson combined for 7.1 scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts. 


AA: Frisco 7, NW Arkansas (KAN) 8 (10)
Frisco: 10 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 16-16, 4 GB

SP Dylan MacLean: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 76 P / 50 S, 5.27 ERA
CF Dylan Dreiling: 2-5, 2 HR (6), .300/.398/.511
1B Max Wagner: 3-4, 2B, .259/.333/.741

Dylan Dreiling homered not once, but twice, both the opposite way, bringing his total that direction to four of his six total. He’s already halfway to last year’s 12, but he’s hit only one double. 

I mentioned Jorge Alfaro’s unusual presence in AA yesterday. Last night, he powered a three-run homer in the 10th for Northwest Arkansas. Frisco would score twice in the bottom half and place the tying run on second but could go no further. 


Hi-A: Hub City 4, Wilmington (WAS) 2
Hub City: 6 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 1 walk, 13 strikeouts
Record: 16-15, 4 GB

SP Ismael Agreda: 5 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 2 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 79 P / 49 S, 5.33 ERA
RP AJ Russell: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Joey Danielson: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.75 ERA
C Malcolm Moore: 2-4, .259/.364/.400
1B Maxton Martin: 2-4, 2B, .224/.296/.439

Texas promoted AJ Russell to high-A, probably a one-off to keep him on his regular schedule since nearby Hickory’s weekend was cancelled, but he made a quick case for staying. Russell threw three perfect innings and fanned four. Oft-wild Ismael Agreda was on firmer ground, and Joey Danielson produced his tenth scoreless outing of 11 total. 

Devin Fitz-Gerald led off the game with a homer.


Lo-A: cancelled

Hickory is off until Tuesday.Arizona
2B Josh Owens homered. DH Seong-Jun Kim was 2-3 with a double and three batted in. 

Today’s Starters
AAA: Stephan
AA: Davalillo
Hi-A: McCarty
Lo-A: cancelled

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Lo-A OF Evan Carter was 3-4 with a walk, double and HBP. Mason Englert fanned five and allowed one run in three innings as Down East swept a six-game series at Kannapolis, which would turn out to be the worst team in a Texas-affiliated minor league during 2007-2025. 

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 3, at Durham (TAM) 4
Round Rock: 8 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 11 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 13-24, 9 GB

SP Jose Corniell: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, 62 P / 42 S, 0.00 ERA
2B Cameron Cauley: 2-5, .248/.362/.344
SS Michael Helman: 2-3, 2B, HBP, .192/.276/.317

Jose Corniell threw in a real game for the first time since the final pitch of the 2025 season.* He was solid if a little walk-happy**, missing 14 bats with a fastball (avg. 95), cutter (91), change (86) and sweeper (83). Assuming no health issues or wayward results, I’d say a ramped-up Corniell is Texas’s best option for a replacement starter. Technically, Corniell is on his final option, although given his circumstances, he might be eligible for a fourth. 

I’m not here to tell you the Express are good, but I will point out they’re 2-14 (!) in one-run games, including four losses of that variety this week. 

* Incidentally, in that Corniell 2025 outing, opposing Cleveland’s relievers that day were former Rangers Matt Festa, Kolby Allard and Zak Kent.

** Maybe not. The plate ump squeezed pitchers on just three occasions all night, but two were on ball-three pitches from Corniell. 


AA: Frisco 5, NW Arkansas (KAN) 6
Frisco: 5 hits, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 16-15, 4 GB

SP Leandro Lopez: 3.2 IP, 10 H (2 HR), 6 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, 89 P / 59 S, 7.11 ERA
RP Jonathan Brand: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 4.60 ERA
3B Frainyer Chavez: 2-4, 2B, HBP, .274/.396/.444
LF Marcus Lee Sang: 2-4, HR (6), .316/.391/.541

Lopez has usually struggled with his control over the years, but 2026 is the first time he’s been hittable. Until last week, he’d never allowed more than seven hits in an outing; now, he has consecutive ten-hit affairs. Some of that is being stretched out more than in the past, and some is the MiLB-wide increase in offense this season, but not all. So far, 2026 is decidedly not a continuation of what got him a 40-man spot last fall. 


Hi-A: Hub City 3, Wilmington (WAS) 6
Hub City: 5 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 14 hits, 5 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 15-15, 4 GB

SP J’Briell Easley: 3 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 1 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 44 P / 25 S, 3.55 ERA
C Malcolm Moore: 2-4, 2B, .247/.358/.395

Malcolm Moore nabbed one of three runners in addition to his plate prowess. OF 20 Sally League catchers facing at least 20 steal attempts, his 33% caught-rate is third best. 


Lo-A: Hickory 2, Myrtle Beach (CHC) 6 (10)
Hickory: 4 hits, 1 walk, 15 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 17-14, 3 GB

SP Evan Siary: 4 IP, 6 H (2 HR), 2 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 80 P / 48 S, 4.73 ERA
RP Luimy Munoz: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 3.86 ERA
CF Hector Osorio: 3-5, HR (6), .286/.409/.527

Texas named 22-year-old lefty Michael Trausch Texas’s minor league reliever of the month, and he promptly went out and suffered his worst outing of the season by far, allowing four 10th-inning runs. The 9th was better, featuring strikeouts on a fastball at 93 and a change. He also deals a slider. Over three seasons, Trausch has gained 3-4 ticks on the fastball while improving his control from scary to reasonable. He’s fanned 28 and walked nine in 18 innings with a 1.50 ERA.

Other award winners were 1B Arturo Disla (player), LHP Dalton Pence (SP) and IF Frainyer Chavez (defender). 

The series is over. A fire in the opposing clubhouse has forced cancellation of the concluding two games. 

Today’s Starters
AAA: Anderson
AA: MacLean
Hi-A: Agreda
Lo-A: cancelled

Five Years Ago Yesterday
1B Curtis Terry homered in his first two at-bats for AAA Round Rock. Lefty Joe Palumbo allowed six runners and four runs in 2.1 IP. He emerged from the covid year a different pitcher, often hurt and rarely effective. He spent pieces of 2024 and 2025 with indy Hagerstown and Long Island but hasn’t appeared in the stats in 2026. 






Elsewhere
OF Dustin Harris elected free agency after being outrighted by Houston. 

I’d mentioned catcher Jorge Alfaro signing with the Royals back in February, but I hadn’t thought about him since. He’s in AA at the tender age of 32, facing Frisco this week. 

RHP Carl Edwards Jr. signed a minor deal with Detroit after leaving the Mets.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 1, at Durham (TAM) 2
Round Rock: 6 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 13-23, 8 GB

SP Trey Supak: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 SO, 80 P / 54 S, 4.46 ERA
RF Aaron Zavala: 4-4, 2B, SB (3), .286/.365/.407

Round Rock has lost three straight to the team that had the worst record in the International League, and now the Express own the worst record in all of AAA. Best as I can tell, Texas’s AAA squad is ten games below .500 for the first time since 2019. The offense is actually eighth of 30 teams in walks and 12th in singles but dead last in extra bases on hits. My immediate joking idea (well, half-joking) was to bring credentialed basher Matt Davidson out of retirement, but he’s still active and successful in Korea. Davidson hit 33 homers for Texas’s AAA squad in 2019.

Emiliano Teodo had a night that looked like any other (1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO), but he did throw 14 of 19 pitches for strikes. I’ll need to delve more deeply into the data to confirm, but Teodo appears to be throwing a standard four-seamer in addition to his usual sinker, likely in an attempt to get more strikes. His sinker, fast though it is, has been painfully ineffective: only 44% for strikes, only 5 swinging strikes all season heading into last night. 


AA: Frisco 10, NW Arkansas (KAN) 9
Frisco: 13 hits, 8 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 16-14, 4 GB

SP Winston Santos: 3.2 IP, 6 H (2 HR), 5 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 5 SO, 73 P / 42 S, 11.20 ERA
RP Bryan Magdaleno: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 3 SO, 1.88 ERA
RP Wilian Bormie: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 1.65 ERA
CF Dylan Dreiling: 2-3, HR (4), 3 BB, SB (4), .296/.398/.457
DH John Taylor: 2-4, BB, HBP, .341/.470/.527
2B Corey Joyce: 3-4, HBP, SB (3), .361/.443/.721

Winston Santos tallied a season-high 16 swinging strikes, most since the end of 2024 when he was certifiably On Fire, but he spent much of the night dealing with baserunners. 

Wilian Bormie has a 35% strikeout rate, pretty much a given, but he also has a sub-10% walk rate. We’re dealing with something here. 

Frisco’s strong offense always had a response to deficits of 1-0 early, 5-2 at the halfway point, 8-4 at the stretch and 9-8 in the 10th. 

Wichita hit ten homers in a 19-7 thrashing at Amarillo. Impressive, I suppose, but it reminds me of June 28, 2009, when Lake Elsinore of the high-A California League defeated High Desert 33-18. That’s some hitting, baby. The Rangers would, with deep reluctance, affiliate with High Desert in 2015-2016. 


Hi-A: Hub City 7, Wilmington (WAS) 5 (7)
Hub City: 9 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 7 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 14-14,

SP Dalton Pence: 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, HBP, 5 SO, 75 P / 49 S, 2.59 ERA
RP Joey Danielson: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0.82 ERA
DH Arturo Disla: 1-4, HR (6), .344/.457/.613
1B Rafe Perich: 2-2, HR (3), BB
3B Gleider Figuereo: 2-2, BB, .202/.292/.319
RF Yeison Morrobel: 2-3, .292/.344/.461

Dalton Pence was effective if wilder than usual. Four of his combined eight walks and HBPs this season occurred in a span of three innings. Down 5-4 in the 6th, Hub City regained the lead with a Yeison Morrobel single and two-run double from infielder Carter Garate, an undrafted 22-year-olf from Oregon signed last July but only recently activated. 

Hi-A: Hub City 5, Wilmington (WAS) 4 (8)
Hub City: 4 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 15-14, 4 GB

SP Enrique Segura: 3 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 4 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, 59 P / 34 S, 6.75 ERA
RP Cole Stasio: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1.17 ERA
3B Rafe Perich: 1-2, 2 BB, .280/.360/.493
SS Luke Hanson: 1-2, BB, .188/.267/.313

A split seemed imminent as the Burgers entered the bottom of the 6th down four and lacking a single hit. Luke Hanson’s one-out single eliminated Wilmington’s chance at a little bit of history. With two out, righty Adam Boucher replaced the starter and surrendered a single and two walks. Boucher has such poor control that Wilmington apparently had a replacement warming before he threw his first real pitch, because he was pulled after only three batters. The move didn’t help, as a full-count bases-loaded walk from Gleider Figuereo and two-run single from Yeison Morrobel created a tie. Rafe Perich’s extra-inning grounder plated Chandler Pollard for the victory. 

Rafe Perich is batting .356/.435/.627 in 16 games since an 0-for-17 start. In next year’s Daily Primer, he will be the example of how not to fret too much about early short-term results. I’d actually written a rather gloomy paragraph about him just a week ago, but that was more in the context of what appeared to be diminished playing time both in general and at third base. Since then, he played five games of a six-game series for the first time, and he’s started all three games this week. 


Lo-A: Hickory 7, Myrtle Beach (CHC) 9
Hickory: 10 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 8 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 17-13, 2 GB

SP Kamdyn Perry: 4 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 1 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 52 P / 34 S, 2.70 ERA
SS Yolfran Castillo: 3-5, 2B, 2 SB (12), .296/.391/.417

Hickory can’t help but lose in weird fashion lately. Down 7-3 and with two out and none on in the 8th, Myrtle Beach scored six on one single, six walks, an error and a wild pitch. Victimized the most was 23-year-old righty Keiber Armas, who walked three and retired none in his stateside debut. Armas jumped straight from the Dominican Summer League, where he actually had good control last year (10 walks in 30 innings). 

Today’s Starters
AAA: TBD
AA: Lopez
Hi-A: Easley
Lo-A: Siary

Five Years Ago Yesterday
2020 third-rounder TK Roby had a successful pro debut for low-A Down East. He’s been star-crossed since the Montgomery trade in 2023, throwing only 116 innings and likely to miss all of 2026 following last year’s late-July elbow surgery. Justin Foscue knocked his first pro homer for high-A Hickory. Cole Winn allowed four runs but fanned six in the 4.2 innings of his first AA start.