Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 15, at El Paso (SDP) 7
Round Rock: 15 hits, 13 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 15 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 28-21, 6 GB, 59-65 overall
SP Adam Macko: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 49 P / 33 S, 5.63 ERA
2B Cameron Cauley: 2-5, HR (11), .268/.366/.431
DH Logan O’Hoppe: 2-5, 2B, HR (3), .300/.395/.571
CF John Taylor: 1-3, 3 BB, .264/.390/.427
LF Aaron Zavala: 2-5, HR (10), BB, .268/.357/.433
RF Orlando Martinez: 2-6, 3B, HR (2), .297/.365/.469
Yesterday was nominally a bullpen game, but it’s interesting that Adam Macko’s two longest outings of the season (in terms of pitches) are his two most recent. Macko was a starter until shifting to long relief last August. He relied heavily on a slider that was responsible for eight of his nine missed bats.
Logan O’Hoppe’s homer was only the 21st-hardest hit of the evening (97.5), but he lofted it high just beyond the wall in left-center. Under current rules, the minimum Texas can offer him in 2027 is $2.1 million, which would be a 20% cut from this year’s salary. O’Hoppe could and would counter with higher, of course. Texas could also conceivably non-tender and re-sign O’Hoppe for less, but that would require his approval. I expect Texas would want to see what he could do in Arlington first. Rosters expand in ten days, and Elias Diaz is hitting .176/.202/.242 since Independence Day. The word ten days ago was that Kyle Higashioka was soon to begin a throwing program.
In a perfect world, Texas has a cheap and rejuvenated O’Hoppe behind the dish in 2027. The Rangers have no internal candidates for an MLB role next year.
Cam Cauley homered off Jose Leclerc, who has twice allowed three runs in an inning this week against the Express. Coming back from a shoulder injury, Leclerc has been roughed up in AA and AAA and wouldn’t appear to be part of San Diego’s playoff stretch drive.
John Taylor played center for the third time in his career and first in nearly a month. He’s made about 15% of his AAA defensive starts in the grass. I thought he appeared a little tentative there earlier this summer, but that’s understandable.
Round Rock has averaged nearly ten runs per game against a poor staff in a hitter-friendly environment. 
AA: Frisco 1, Wichita (MIN) 4
Frisco: 4 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 7 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 24-25, 2 GB, 63-54 overall
SP Cole Stasio: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 43 P / 27 S, 4.15 ERA
RP Brock Porter: 3.2 IP, 1 H (1 HR), 4 R, 4 BB, 4 SO, 4.91 ERA
CF Dylan Dreiling: 1-3, BB, .310/.384/.531
3B Rafe Perich: 2-3, 2B, BB, .313/.393/.593
Wichita broke open a scoreless game in the 8th when Brock Porter walked three straight and surrendered a homer to Andrew Cossetti. Porter did retire the next two batters before leaving, albeit on three-ball counts. He has allowed only two hits and fanned nine in 7.1 AA innings but has walked ten. 
Hi-A: Hub City 5, at Rome (ATL) 6
Hub City: 3 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts
Record: 19-33, 7.5 GB, 53-65 overall, elimination number 8
SP Caden Scarborough: 4 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 75 P / 54 S, 5.03 ERA
RP Wily Villar: 3 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 1 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 6.75 ERA
1B Brandon Crabtree: 1-2, 3B, BB, HBP
Caden Scarborough was at 54 pitches with five runs allowed through two, the kind of night that might have ended there, but he pushed through two more flawless innings. Scarborough didn’t register a strikeout and missed only four bats out of 42 swings.
Brandon Crabtree is Texas’s 2026 16th-rounder from Catawba College, a two-hour drive from Spartanburg depending on traffic. He was listed as a third baseman by the Rangers when drafted, but he played mostly at first this season in college and exclusively there so far with Hub City.
Hub City’s plight is worse than their elimination number suggests; I can’t find a division-winning scenario without at least a 12-2 finish plus some help. 
Lo-A: Hickory 3, Delmarva (BAL) 0
Hickory: 7 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 35-16, 6.5 G up, 69-46 overall, magic number 9
SP Moises Morales: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 68 P / 52 S, 3.32 ERA
RP Jake Barbee: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
1B Kaden Carpenter: 1-2, 2 BB, SB (5), .242/.370/.470
2B Josh Owens: 1-2, BB
C Sebastian Baquera: 2-3, .282/.372/.385
Jake Barbee was up to 96 in his three scoreless innings. In limited data available from the complex, he peaked at 94.8 and sat 92. Kaden Carpenter’s ankle injury Thursday night proved insignificant.
Josh Owens and Seong-Jun Kim (0-4) played up the middle together for the first time in low-A. Yolfran Castillo had a night off and played in only four of six games last week after a stretch of 21 straight. He’s seen a modest downturn in his second-half production, still solid but with fewer balls in play tallying hits.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Supak
AA: Curry
Hi-A: TBD
Lo-A: TBD
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Reliever Nick Snyder made his MLB debut with a clean 9th in a blowout of Boston. Snyder’s pre-professional mound work consisted of 2.2 innings in juco, and he’d begun the year in high-A. He’s spent most of his career dealing with injuries, and after 2021, he would throw only 39 MLB-affiliated innings. Snyder spent 2023 with the Rangers and 2024 with the Phils but never took the mound. Mexico’s Union Laguna squad released him in May.
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