The minor league season is never really over, just less active during portions of the year, but with Round Rock’s season coming to an end, today is the last of my daily reports. I expect to publish intermittent updates throughout the offseason per usual, maybe some thoughts at the conclusion of Texas’s regular season (which will be a pause, not an end, hopefully). Thank y’all for subscribing and reading, and thanks to all who’ve donated this season. I’ve provided donation links at the bottom in case anyone else gets the urge.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 2, Tacoma (SEA) 3
Round Rock: 8 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts
Record: 73-77 overall, fifth place in ten-team league
First half: 31-44, 14 GB, last place
Second half: 42-33, 6 GB, 3rd place
SP Trey Supak: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 45 P / 30 S, 5.90 ERA
RP Robby Ahlstrom: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 2.67 ERA
RP Wilian Bormie: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 2.79 ERA
RP Ben Peoples: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 6.23 ERA
LF Cameron Cauley: 1-4, HR (16), .276/.366/.470
SS Sebastian Walcott: 1-4
DH Kyle Higashioka: 2-4, .261/.346/.435
1B Jonah Bride: 2-4, .279/.406/.410
Playing shortstop in his second AAA game, Sebastian Walcott scorched a couple of pitches, one for a groundout and another into right for a single. He took two bottom-of zone pitches for strikeouts. He also ran into an unusual out. On a run-and-hit, Walcott slid into second on Kyle Higashioka’s soft liner in front of LF Nolan Jones, but Walcott might have been fooled by Jones raising his glove in the air as if to catch it on the fly, or perhaps Walcott saw nothing and was simply unsure. In any case, he relinquished the base to run back to first, came to a halt when he realized his mistake and was tagged out.
Cam Cauley homered to center and missed another to the same spot by about five feet. He hit 16 homers between Round Rock and Texas after knocking 15 each of the previous two years.
In the 9th, a bad-hop grounder evaded 3B Keyber Rodriguez to plate the go-ahead runner from second. In the bottom half, Tacoma RF Connor Joe snared a tailing Jonah Bride liner for the final out of 2027; had it skipped past, pinch-runner Aaron Zavala would have scored from first.
Five Years Ago, The Rest
Low-A Down East would go on to lose the “Low A East” Championship in five games to Charleston. IF Thomas Saggese batted .333/.364/.619 with a double, triple and homer. Three of the five starting pitchers — Owen White, Mason Englert and Gavin Collyer — would eventually reach the Majors.
Round Rock split the final two games and then went 6-4 over the additional ten-game Final Stretch, a convoluted extra tier of competition that for practical purposes was just another ten games tacked the schedule. Texas promoted RHP Cole Winn, C Sam Huff and IF Davis Wendzel for these games. After a 4-for-5 performance from Josh Jung, I wrote: “I get him for five more home games in my backyard, and then you can watch him in Arlington in 2022. Opening Day, I’d wager.” Instead, Jung underwent shoulder surgery late in the offseason, didn’t return to Round Rock until August, and made his MLB debut in Texas’s 137th game.
Texas’s minor league players of the year were:
Tom Grieve Player: CIF Dustin Harris
Nolan Ryan Pitcher: RHP Cole Winn
Defender:MIF Luisangel Acuna
Reliever: RHP Nick Snyder
True Ranger: OF Bubba Thompson and IF Keyber Rodriguez
Texas protected IF Ezequiel Duran and pitchers Ronny Henriquez and Ricky Vanasco on the 40-man roster but exposed lefties Cole Ragans and Jacob Latz plus OF Bubba Thompson. I’d expected all to be selected, probably my worst success rate in all my years. I at least had the unselected players as the “bottom three” on my list. Because of a freeze on transactions, the MLB portion of the Rule 5 draft would be postponed and eventually cancelled the next March. We might face a similar situation this winter.
The Rangers were 55-95, needing eight wins in the final 12 to avoid their first 100-loss season since 1973. They did not succeed. They signed Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Jon Gray early in the offseason ahead of a shutdown. Manager Chris Woodward was extended trough 2023 with a 2024 option.
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