Teodo Time
The Rangers placed reliever Chris Martin on the IL and have recalled righty Emiliano Teodo.
Jose Corniell threw 50 pitches two days ago, but Winston Santos is on four days rest. Luis Curvelo is on just one day of rest after 28 pitches, but Teodo threw 22 pitches the same day. Choices are limited and undesirable, but Teodo does read as a choice, not the only option.
Teodo’s slider is borderline unhittable. Averaging 90 MPH, it misses bats 40% of the time including 27% in the zone and 56% outside. On plate appearances that conclude with a slider, opponents have a 40% strikeout rate, and the contact isn’t much, just a ,235 average and .441 slug even when ignoring all the strikeouts.
Teodo also offers a sinker that has reached 103.3 MPH. That was on what I think was a hot gun in El Paso, but suffice to say he can sit 100, not just touch it. His miss rates are also above average, 14% on all swings vs. 11% of sinkers league-wide. When it’s on, he looks like an MLB closer.
Here’s the problem. For most of the season, Teodo has been unable to locate that sinker with any consistency. It’s catching the zone only 38% of the time (league average is 53%), and the opposing swing rate is is only 34% (league is 44%). Much of the time, opposing hitters don’t have to worry about it, creating ugly downstream effects on his slider and change. I saw this with Marc Church, I’ve seen it with Teodo, I’m seeing it with Wilian Bormie. The fastball doesn’t have to be the best pitch, it doesn’t even have to be better than average, but it has to be functional or everything breaks down. Teodo’s lovely slider is sitting out there all by itself, and that’s not enough in AAA, much less the Majors.
Below is a chart comparing Teodo to a set of MLB pitchers who have thrown at least 250 pitches this year and tend to be fastball/slider types. The fastball can be four or two-seam, and the slider can be a sweeper, but I’m looking at guys who throw substantial percentages of both general types and at least 80% in sum.
Don’t worry about correlation between fastball and slider zone rate. The point is that Teodo is on an island in terms of fastball zone rate or perhaps sharing the island with San Francisco’s Matt Gate, who has 17 walks and a 5.60 ERA in 27 innings. Most of these pitchers have a zone rate of 48% or better.
As for Teodo’s change, it’s fine in isolation, but he’s thrown only 47 of them all season, and I can’t blame him. A changeup needs a fastball for a friend, and his fastball is being a jerk. Teodo also had a stretch in which he threw some four-seamers but none since early May.
Teodo had a month-long stretch in which he put everything together, and a call-up seemed imminent, especially after back-to-back appearances on May 29-30. That period is over. Teodo has walked or hit a batter in eight consecutive outings, and his strike rate in this span is 53%. Nobody with that strike rate in MLB succeeds for long. For the season, he’s issued a walk or hit batter in 26 of 35 appearances, and his overall BB+HBP rate is 23%.
To answer the “is he ready” question, no, I think not, but can we count on Santos or Curvelo being better at this moment? Teodo might fan the side on 15 pitches. He also might hit two batters in five pitches. Who knows. With four off-days upcoming, Teodo could see little to no action before being optioned.
Draft Review?
Sorry, I’m going to be lame and delay my review of Texas’s draft picks until tomorrow. I lost my initial writeup of yesterday’s picks to a computer meltdown, and I wanted to get a report on Teodo out in timely fashion. Locations for everyone I previewed yesterday:
8. PIT – OF Derek Curiel
12. LAA — RHP/OF Jared Grindlinger
13. STL – OF Trevor Condon
16. TEX – LHP Gio Rojas
18. CIN – SS Justin Lebron
19. CLE – RHP Liam Peterson
30. KAN – RHP Taylor Rabe
35. NYY – LHP Hunter Dietz
38. COL – RHP Logan Reddeman
I don’t think “Rockies in Round 2” is what Logan Reddeman had in mind.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 2, at Reno (ARI) 8
Round Rock: 6 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 6 walks, 4 strikeouts
Record: 8-9, 4 GB, 39-53 overall
SP Spencer Adams: 4 IP, 5 H (2 HR), 4 R, 3 BB, 1 SO, 74 P / 39 S, 9.82 ERA
2B John Taylor: 2-4, 3B, .354/.446/.633
Taylor tripled to the right-center gap at 109.9 MPH, the second-hardest ball in play by an Express hitter in 2026. First is the departed Blaine Crim, who singled at 111.7. The league has 147 instances of balls hit 110 or harder, led by Zac Veen with ten. 
AA: Frisco 8, at Corpus Christi (HOU) 11
Frisco: 13 hits, 3 walks, 14 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 9 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 9-8, 2 GB, 48-37 overall
SP Dylan MacLean: 3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 59 P / 35 S, 4.69 ERA
CF Dylan Dreiling: 2-5, 2B, .274/.355/.441
1B Arturo Disla: 2-4, 3B, HR (8), BB, .278/.365/.489
C Malcolm Moore: 2-4, 2B, HBP, .236/.309/.472
RF Keith Jones II: 1-3, HR (), .227/.337/.406
Whew. Frisco trailed 3-0 early and 6-3 after seven but took an 8-6 lead to the 9th. Joey Danielson didn’t retire anyone, allowing two singles, a double, an intentional walk and walk-off grand slam. Usually I’d have some caveat about the earlier hits against Danielson being annoyingly cheap, but no, the Hooks really had him figured out last night. Danielson’s control in Frisco (12.2% BB+HBP) has been okay relative to the league and better than his time in Hub City (17.2%), but at times he’s been hittable. 
Hi-A: Hub City 3, Bowling Green (TAM) 2 (10)
Hub City: 7 hits, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 6 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 6-14, 7 GB, 40-46 overall
SP AJ Russell: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 SO, 54 P / 30 S, 2.38 ERA
LF Yeison Morrobel: 2-4, HR (14), .297/.370/.497
Hub City finally took one from the Hot Rods. To begin the 10th, manager Carlos Maldonado used speedy Chandler Pollard to pinch-run for catcher Arturo De Freitas (a recent free-agent signing). The move paid off immediately, as Pollard advanced to third on a wild pitch and was able to beat the throw home on a medium flyout to center.
AJ Russell has walked eight of 38 batters (21%) in three starts since moving to Hub City. 
Lo-A: Hickory 13, at Augusta (ATL) 4
Hickory: 9 hits, 14 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 14-5, 1 G up, 48-35 overall
SP Aidan Deakins: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, 86 P / 51 S, 2.47 ERA
LF Paulino Santana: 1-3, 2B, 3 BB, .248/.381/.402
C Sebastian Baquera: 1-3, HR (2), 2 BB, HBP, .258/.356/.387
Hickory regained the division lead and will hit the break with no worse than a share of first. The Dads had only two extra-base hits. Augusta’s six pitchers combined for 105 strikes and 112 balls and issued a balk, two wild pitches and two hit batters in addition to the 14 walks. The GreenJackets also committed five errors. Just a fun day all around.
Elsewhere
The Nationals have called up 1B Abimelec Ortiz form AAA Rochester, where he was batting .235/.332/.481 with 16 homers in 71 games. Aside from the power, it’s honestly a pretty light line. Ortiz isn’t striking out much,and his exit velocities are swell, but he’s hitting just .303 on contact and .234 on balls requiring fielders. His average on grounders is just .178 compared to the league rate of .255. Maybe he’s a little unlucky, but he’s also not the fastest runner.
Boston designated reliever Danny Coulombe for assignment. Coulombe had a not-terrible 4.50 ERA but 15 walks versus just 10 strikeouts in 22 innings. This isn’t 1950, so that ratio won’t work.
Today’s Starters
AAA: TBD
AA: TBD
Hi-A: McCarty
Lo-A: Siary
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Texas chose RHP Jack Leiter with the second pick in the draft.
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