Texas quietly optioned reliever Robby Ahlstrom to AAA yesterday without a corresponding move. Thursday’s five-run outing inflated his ERA to 6.03, which is too bad because he’s been better than that, but relief ERAs can twist the truth if not outright lie.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 3, Albuquerque (COL) 11
Round Rock: 10 hits, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 8 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 31-23, 3 GB, 62-67 overall
SP Winston Santos: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 6 SO, 70 P / 44 S, 6.75 ERA
RP Ben Peoples: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 10.13 ERA
CF Cameron Cauley: 2-4, 2B, HR (13), .272/.366/.452
LF Aaron Zavala: 3-4, .275/.362/.442
I’d been daydreaming recently about Emiliano Teodo reaching his ceiling, as one does, but he snapped me out of that last night by retiring one of six batters and missing on 15 of 26 pitches. Teodo also sailed his first pitch over the head of Cody Freeman’s brother Tyler, who had already been hit twice, and the teams had previously been issued warnings. Freeman took great umbrage, got ejected and bumped the ump, so he might be looking at a vacation. He also had only recently been optioned and might be unaware of what an off-night for Teodo actually entails. In the 9th, the umps ejected Albuquerque infielder Edouard Julien (who wasn’t playing) from the dugout.
Teodo had entered with a 3-1 lead in the 8th, but he, Joe Ross and Marc Church were tagged for ten runs and 13 runners across two innings. 
AA: Frisco 7, at NW Arkansas (KAN) 0
Frisco: 11 hits, 5 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 3 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 27-27, 3 GB, 66-56 overall
SP Cole Stasio: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 49 P / 33 S, 3.72 ERA
RP Eric Loomis: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 4.91 ERA
RP Leandro Lopez: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 6.46 ERA
RP Josh Trentadue: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 5.73 ERA
DH Sebastian Walcott: 1-4, 2B, BB, SB (6), .290/.377/.490
RF Yeison Morrobel: 3-5, .333/.374/.512
2B Max Wagner: 2-5, 2B, HR (19), .244/.331/.529
Cole Stasio struck out five including former Ranger Jorge Alfaro. In the 1st, Stasio also committed an error on an appeal throw to first, allowing a runner on second to advance a base. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that, nor apparently had the umps, who had to confer and then explain the ruling to Frisco manager Chad Comer. Following Stasio were three pitchers who had up nights in up-and-down seasons. Some shoring up down the stretch would be nice, both for the careers of these young men and Frisco’s postseason outlook. Since shutting out San Antonio twice in late July, Frisco is 12-17, and the rotation has allowed 6.65 runs per nine (earned and unearned), placing some stress on the bullpen ad offense. 
Hi-A: Hub City 4, at Greensboro (PIT) 11
Hub City: 8 hits, 7 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 6 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 22-35, 8.5 GB, 56-67 overall, eliminated (I think)
SP Jormy Nivar: 2.2 IP, 6 H (2 HR), 5 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 1 SO, 60 P / 34 S, 16.88 ERA
CF Paxton Kling: 2-3, 2 BB, 2 SB (31), .231/.365/.363
The Rangers promoted Jormy Nivar to Hub City 11 days after Wily Villar. Gotta keep the guys with similar names together, although in this instance I’ve had less trouble than the DJ McCarty / Dylan MacLean duo.
Since returning to action, Paxton Kling has reached first safely 25 times, stolen 15 bases and been caught once, so 0.64 steal attempts per time on first.* The team rate is 0.15, and the league is 0.21. He’s been busy. The most active in the system (min 10 attempts):
0.51, Marcos Torres (46 attempts)
0.42, Rashawn Pinder (14 attempts)
0.40, Chandler Pollard (29 attempts)
0.39, Paxton Kling (39 attempts)
0.37 Yolfran Castillo (61 atttempts)
Yesterday I said Hub City’s elimination number was three, but after last night’s loss plus wins by division-leading Winston-Salem and Greenville, I believe it’s over. Hub City can still pass W-S, but that would require the Dash to lose six straight to Rome next week, and Hub City can’t catch a Rome team that wins more than five down the stretch. If I’m wrong, well, give it a day or two.
* Runners can steal third and home, of course, and batters sometimes reach first on fielder’s choices or errors, but for general discussion, division of steals by times safely on first is a decent proxy for how active a runner is on the bases. 
Lo-A: wet
Two today.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Supak
AA: TBD
Hi-A: DeTaeye
Lo-A: Morales / TBD
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Recently acquired Glenn Otto threw five scoreless, walk-free innings with seven strikeouts in his MLB debut against the then-mighty Astros. That stands as the apex of his pro career, as he would give up 24 runs in his concluding five starts of 2021. He had a fairly busy 5th-starter-type 2022 (135 IP, 0.6 WAR), but an oblique injury limited his appearances and effectiveness in 2023, and he was lost on waivers that September. His last outing was in September 2024 for AAA Sugar Land, and he retired after 2025.
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