Movement
New: LHP John King signed and was placed on the development list. King had been released by Miami, where he’d been blandly competent until a barrage of runs in his final six outings. With this move and the signing of Trevor Williams, Texas is telling you what they think of the short-term utility of existing 40-man relief options, not that you didn’t already know.
Up to Round Rock: Relievers Wilian Bormie and Janser Lara, IF Frainyer Chavez. Bormie had shifted back to AA for a couple of weeks after 21 AAA appearances.
Up to Frisco: Righties J’Briell Easley and Wily Villar, 1B/3B Gleider Figuereo. Easley had a 5.06 ERA in high-A, not exactly dazzling but right at the league average. The aged yet green Villar fanned 13 in nine high-A innings. Figuereo’s 124-point boost in OPS is partly indebted to the sharp rise in offense below AAA. Fine to have him up but I certainly wouldn’t want him supplanting Rafe Perich or Arturo Disla in the postseason (assuming they’re around).
Up to Hub City: Lefty Cole Fehrman and righty Frank Martinez.
In Hickory: Righties Alejandro Chiquillo and Julius Sanchez activated.
Offense
Since the end of April, I’ve occasionally pointed out the sharp and historic increase in offense at levels below AAA in 2026. Back in July, I wrote: “offense is higher than it has ever been in my 20 years on the beat, higher than any other season under the modern classification system (1990), higher than any season since at least 1970, as far back as I checked. Wild times.”Today, JJ Cooper of Baseball America mentioned that the overall MiLB run environment was the highest since the current system was created in 1963. BA has an in-depth study of rising homer rates across various levels and various types of hitters and pitchers. The good news is providing context for hitting and pitching performances has always been a core feature of what I provide within The Report. The bad is having to constantly tap if not slam the brakes on hitting performances in 2026, like with Gleider Figuereo (see above) and Dylan Dreiling (below).
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 4, Oklahoma City (LAD) 7
Round Rock: 7 hits, 2 walks, 14 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 3 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 33-25, 3 GB, 64-69 overall
SP David Davalillo: 4.2 IP, 7 H (1 HR), 4 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 79 P / 49 S, 6.31 ERA
RP Luis Curvelo: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 6.68 ERA
RP Alexis Diaz: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 2.58 ERA
David Davalillo worried me from the jump by sailing three of his first four pitches well wide of lefty James Tibbs III and imitating throwing motions after some of those pitches as if to re-sync his mechanics. I’d seen that before. Davalillo recovered to get a ball in play and completed the inning without incident. His first two innings were dominated by fastballs, perhaps as a means of maintaining basic control, and he didn’t walk anyone in that period but did allow a 110 MPH homer from Matt Gorski.
In the 3rd and 4th, I saw the version of Davalillo that could pitch in the bigs. A wide, unpredictably sequenced repertoire. Pinpoint backdoor sweepers. Curves ignored for called strikes. A two-strike cutter just off the outer edge that couldn’t risk being taken. Davalillo allowed three runners in this period, but he looked as good as I’ve seen him at this level. In the 5th, a steady stream of balls safely in play forced him out, and Ryan Lobus quickly permitted two inherited runners to score. Davalillo missed only three bats on the evening.
Luis Curvelo would still be on the 40 if he pitched like last night with more frequency.
Round Rock nearly chased starter Christian Romero in the 1st and scored four in the first three frames but produced only baserunner over the final six innings. 
AA: Frisco 5, Amarillo (ARI) 9
Frisco: 11 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 28-30, 6 GB, 67-59 overall
SP D.J. McCarty: 3.2 IP, 8 H (1 HR), 8 R, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 5 SO, 92 P / 60 S, 7.13 ERA
RP Leandro Lopez: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 6.19 ERA
DH Sebastian Walcott: 2-4, HR (6), BB, .310/.395/.575
CF Dylan Dreiling: 3-5, 2B, HR (22), SB (13), .319/.389/.538
3B Rafe Perich: 3-4, 2B, BB, .317/.398/.587
Dylan Dreiling increased his hitting streak to 22 games with his 22nd homer. He’s hitting .430/.481/.720 in that span. For the season he sports a 139 OPS+. About half of his 228-point increase in OPS compared to 2025 can be attributed to the overall change in the hitting environment, but I’d still call this a breakout.
Sebastian Walcott went deep for the third straight game. DJ McCarty had a 5.46 ERA when promoted to AA, and the Texas League hasn’t been any easier on him.
Amarillo’s magic number for the second-half title dropped to six. 
Hi-A: Hub City 3, Jersey Shore (PHI) 6 (10)
Hub City: 6 hits, 3 walks, 16 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 23-38, eliminated, 57-70 overall
SP Ismael Agreda: 5 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 3 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 80 P / 47 S, 5.49 ERA
1B Antonis Macias: 1-4, HR (8), .259/.355/.388
C Arturo De Freitas: 2-4, 2 HR (5), .233/.293/.456
Unless he pitches on shorter rest Sunday or gets a bonus start in Frisco next week, Ismael Agreda is done for the season. From July onward he’s been pretty good: a so-so 4.73 ERA with a better .253/.329/.351 line, a 10% BB+HBP rate and 25% SO rate. Like last year, I think he’s on the outside for a 40-man spot because he’d be swamped by MLB hitters, but he does have a legitimate shot at reaching the Majors, albeit mostly likely in relief. 
Lo-A: Hickory 6, Fayettevile (HOU) 2
Hickory: 6 hits, 7 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 44-17, division winner, 78-47 overall
SP Connor O’Hara: 4.1 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 2 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 71 P / 53 S, 3.60 ERA
RP Brandon Jaenke: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 2.00 ERA
RP Josh Sanders: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 3.75 ERA
RP Michael Trausch: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2.70 ERA
SS Yolfran Castillo: 1-3, BB, 2 SB (53), .284/.384/.411
LF Paulino Santana: 1-3, BB, 2 SB (28), .264/.387/.435
The Dads extended their win streak to 11 while breaking Fayetteville’s at 13. Hickory stole six bases in three innings off the duo of SP Aubrey Smith and catcher Arturo Flores.
Still no sign of OF Marco Argudin on the field, but still no sign on the IL either. Would be a shame if both he and Pablo Guerrero (IL’ed last week) missed the postseason.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Santos
AA: TBD
Hi-A: Russell
Lo-A: Kim
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Texas promoted young hurler Josh Stephan and 2021 2nd-rounder Aaron Zavala to Down East for the stretch. Stephan exhibited solid control but took some lumps, while Zavala, an OBP machine in college, predictably handled low-A better with a .302/.433/.434 line.
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tantamount to cordial