Low-A Hickory has claimed the second-half title of the Carolina League’s South Division.Per local reports, Jack Leiter suffered from biceps soreness during his rehab outing in Round Rock Wednesday and will be shut down at least a week. I was calling that game with Rylan Kobre and didn’t notice anything untoward in the moment (beyond the results of course).His velocity was fine.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 3, Albuquerque (COL) 5
Round Rock: 5 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 7 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 31-24, 3 GB, 62-68 overall
SP Blake Townsend: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 SO, 87 P / 55 S, 3.18 ERA
CF Cameron Cauley: 1-3, HR (14), BB, .273/.367/.460
Blake Townsend made a surprise appearance for Round Rock, replacing the scheduled Trey Supak. He has very limited experience at the level and has a fastball topping at 89 but was up to the task. Albuquerque swung through 13 pitches including seven sweepers.
Cam Cauley improved to .340/.396/.787 with six homers in 11 games since being optioned. I noticed he grades out surprisingly poorly defensively in the Majors. Most of that is outfield play, and most of that comes down to a couple of flies in right that were very catchable per Statcast, but Cauley reacted very tentatively and couldn’t close the gap. That is something to keep an eye on, but in general, I’d still expect much of his value going forward to be defensive.
Round Rock, OKC and Sacramento are all 31-24 and three games behind Sugar Land. (Las Vegas is also 31-24 but won the first-half title.) The Express host OKC next week. 
AA: Frisco 3, at NW Arkansas (KAN) 5
Frisco: 9 hits, 6 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 27-28, 4 GB, 66-57 overall
SP Bryan Magdaleno: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 1 SO, 31 P / 14 S, 3.22 ERA
RP Wilian Bormie: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1.59 ERA
RP Joey Danielson: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 6.08 ERA
DH Sebastian Walcott: 2-5, HR (4), SB (7), .295/.378/.524
1B Max Wagner: 2-2, 2 BB, .250/.341/.533
Sebastian Walcott homered 110 off the bat, 426′ to left. That is big-boy power. As I type this, I’ve only just barely skimmed Jamey Newberg’s post from this morning, but with the title “The Lure Of The Drastic Measure,” I knew the subject before reading a word. I offered my thoughts nine days ago, and at the time, my primary conclusion was that if Walcott in the Majors in 2026 was a genuine option, he needed to be in AAA and in the field as quickly as possible. That obviously hasn’t happened, so in that regard, I’m less inclined to take this drastic measure (to steal Jamey’s line). I would also reiterate my belated realization that this club is not underperforming and isn’t just needing a little boost in the form of Walcott or anyone else. They’ve suffered a bunch of injuries, but they’re not alone. Maybe a healthier squad would be in first, but in general, the 2026 Rangers are who they are. And that may yet include postseason baseball, truly!
I assume Townsend’s promotion was temporary but we’ll see. Frisco’s rotation has felt cobbled together of late, and LHP Dylan MacLean was IL’ed two days ago. Every few years, I joke about pitching for an understaffed squad. If the Rangers are going to call on me, now’s the time. I’m in my late 50s already, and if the Rangers wait until I’m in my 60s, people are going to think this is some type of gimmick. 
Hi-A: Hub City 5, at Greensboro (PIT) 4
Hub City: 6 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 23-35, eliminated, 57-67 overall
SP Ben DeTaeye: 4.2 IP, 6 H (3 HR), 4 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 69 P / 45 S, 7.77 ERA
RP J’Briell Easley: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO, 5.06 ERA
CF Paxton Kling: 1-3, 2 BB, SB (32), .232/.369/.362
DH Maxton Martin: 2-4, 2B, .237/.299/.451
The Burgers have the division’s worst second-half record but are 13-11 in their last 24 playing mostly on the road against some of the league’s best teams. In the midst of a playoff fight, Greensboro decided to play like a rookie club. Hub City was hitless with runners in scoring position and collected only two RBI, while the Hoppers committed four errors (all by 1B Tony Blanco!) and unleashed two wild pitches. 
Lo-A: Hickory 9, at Wilson (MIL) 5 (7)
Hickory: 7 hits, 5 walks, 3 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
SP Evan Siary: 5.1 IP, 7 H (2 HR), 5 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 79 P / 62 S, 3.36 ERA
RP JD McReynolds: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 3.64 ERA
1B Kaden Carpenter: 2-3, 2B, BB, SB (7), .226/.383/.440
DH Deward Tovar: 4-4, 2B, 2 HR (18), .245/.328/.464
Lo-A: Hickory 11, at Wilson (MIL) 1 (7)
Hickory: 11 hits, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 41-17, DIVISION CHAMPION, 75-47 overall
SP Moises Morales: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 6 SO, 78 P / 54 S, 3.21 ERA
RP Michael Trausch: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 2.80 ERA
SS Yolfran Castillo: 2-4, 2B, HR (8), .285/.385/.414
CF Paulino Santana: 1-4, HR (15), SB (24), .263/.384/.437
1B Brandon Crabtree: 0-1, 3 BB, .273/.358/.367
Everything came up Milhouse for the Crawdads last night. They swept their doubleheader while Kannapolis lost, clinching the second-half division title with eight games remaining. Hickory has won eight straight and hold the minors’ best second-half record as well as the best run differential by a margin of 40. The playoff opponent will be Tampa-affiliated Charleston (68-56), who are essentially a .500 club augmented with a first-half-clinching 12-game win streak late in the first half.
Yolfran Castillo and Dustin Mayorquin recreated the “Cody Bellinger vs. Luke Jackson” homer from the 2021 playoffs. A very high pitch, if you’ll recall.
Evan Siary suffered his worst start of the second half, But Hickory scored five in the 4th and never trailed thanks to a grand slam by Deward Tovar.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Veneziano
AA: Curry
Hi-A: Scarborough
Lo-A: Johnson
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Luisangel Acuna hit his ninth homer, and I mentioned he was about to join Dylan Moore (2016) and Jose Vallejo (2008) in the 10 HR / 40 SB club. Since then, Rangers to accomplish that feat are Marcos Torres (this season, 12 HR / 43 SB), Dustin Harris (2023, 14/41), JP Martinez (also 2023 and 14/41), Bubba Thompson (2022, 13/49, Daniel Mateo (2022, 12/43), and Acuna again (2022, 11/40).
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