SP Dane Dunning: 2.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 1 SO, 56 P / 34 S, 5.28 ERA RP Tim Brennan: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 6.47 ERA RP Josh Sborz: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO, 7.46 ERA RP Jacob Latz: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO, 2.45 ERA CF Dustin Harris: 2-5, 2B, .272/.357/.393 LF Trevor Hauver: 1-3, BB, .238/.353/.408 DH Kellen Strahm: 1-2, 2 BB, 2 SB (12), .241/.366/.319
Last Wednesday, I mentioned the difficulty of Dane Dunning returning to MLB this reason regardless of how he pitches. Yesterday won’t help.
Josh Sborz received a visit from the trainer and was pulled after three batters and 16 pitches, only seven if which registered strikes. Yesterday was his first attempt at pitching on one day of rest while on assignment, which (as it stands) expires in about a week.
Eli Ben-Porat led off his “10 Statcast Standouts” ($ link) at Baseball America with none other than Blaine Crim and began that entry with my photos him receiving his team MVP award. “A remarkably consistent batter year-to-year, with a robust sample pointing to excellent discipline, average contact skills and 60-grade raw power with the ability to get to optimized launch angles,” says Ben-Porat.
Round Rock concluded the home portion of the schedule with a 35-39 record.
SP Ben Anderson: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 SO, 91 P / 53 S, 3.48 ERA RP Ricky DeVito: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 4.00 ERA RP Jackson Kelley: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.38 ERA RP Seth Clark: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.22 ERA RF Alejandro Osuna: 1-4, HR (9), .306/.379/.523 2B Keyber Rodriguez: 1-3, BB, SB (7), .234/.285/.369
Frisco set a franchise record with a .609 winning percentage. The 2007 edition holds the record for wins with 85. Frisco tied rival Midland for the second-best mark in AA, trailing only Cubs-affiliated Tennessee (87-50).
The Riders scored on a sac fly and Alejandro Osuna’s 18th homer of the season. Ben Anderson had been skipped last time through the rotation but finished strong. Sebastian Walcott had the day off.
Frisco will head to Midland for Tuesday’s opener of the Texas League semifinals. Arkansas (80-57) and Springfield (79-59) will meet in the other bracket. Winston Santos is the listed starter for Game 1, followed by Kohl Drake, whose short outing on short rest did indeed set him up for a playoff start. Game 3 is TBA.
SP Steven Jennings: 2.2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 1 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 43 P / 32 S, 5.33 ERA RP Robby Ahlstrom: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 3.50 ERA RP Marc Church: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 2.33 ERA 1B Blaine Crim: 1-3, 2B, BB, .277/.372/.468 LF Trevor Hauver: 3-4, 2 2B, HR (10), .237/.352/.408 3B Frainyer Chavez: 2-4, 2B, .213/.279/.277
The Express named Blaine Crim the team MVP in a ceremony before the game. Prizes included a commemorative plaque, a pair of boots, and a hug from dad.
I’ve been grumpily frustrated about Marc Church for over a year. Back in March, he drew some attention and had a chance at the Opening Day active roster, but most of his AAA outings just haven’t quite looked the part. Last night, he was in fine form, striking out three in two scoreless innings and generating seven misses on nine swings at the slider. Just promoted San Francisco prospect Bryce Eldridge waved through two of them. The slider has nearly always been an absolute beast, but the fastball has been erratic, both in terms of basic control and what happens on contact. Church’s strikeout rate in AAA since returning from injury is 22%, ordinary for a reliever nowadays, but his control has improved dramatically, and he’s largely avoided noisy contact. On the season, Church has a 41% whiff rate with the slider (league rate 28%) and 15% on the fastball (league rate 25%). Nothing he throws moves much horizontally. He relies on impressive vertical break for the fastball, and the slider acts like a fastball until the batter commits. Most of his 2024 has been spent on the shelf, but he still has a shot at being a worthy MLB reliever.
Trevor Hauver has reached safely in 22 consecutive games and is batting .380/.500/.722 with 12 doubles and five homers. Up until that stretch, he carried a line of .193/.303/.311 in 77 games.
Reno won as well, so Round Rock is eliminated from postseason contention.
SP Bryan Chi: 3 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 1 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 51 P / 34 S, 4.66 ERA RP Ryan Lobus: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 3.00 ERA RP Bryan Magdaleno: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA RP Emiliano Teodo: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 1.98 ERA RP Skylar Hales: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 2.10 ERA RP Dane Acker: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 3.05 ERA RF Alejandro Osuna: 4-6, 2B, HR (8), .307/.378/.515 LF Josh Hatcher: 3-4, 2B, HR (12), .300/.350/.448 1B Abi Ortiz: 5-6, 2 HR (18), .243/.326/.433 SS Sebastian Walcott: 2-6, HR (1), .348/.375/.609 DH Aaron Zavala: 2-4, HR (5), .223/.333/.306
Once again, Frisco took full advantage of the friendly hitting conditions and a pitching staff that is poor even accounting for those conditions. The Riders connected on seven homers including the first from Sebastian Walcott at this level. Walcott’s dinger left the bat at 107 MPH. Abi Ortiz had a five-hit night with two homers. In his last two months, Ortiz is hitting .293/.385/.581 with 13 homers in 43 games. This is the Ortiz of 2023 and gives the front office something to think about on 40-man deadline day.
Frisco employed a covey of relievers to place them in line for Tuesday’s playoff opener at Midland. Emiliano Teodo hadn’t pitched in three weeks and has thrown no more than 68 pitches since July, so I’m assuming he’s a reliever (or starter on a short leash) in the playoffs.
Greetings from the Dell Diamond. I awakened to no internet and still had none when I left for tonight’s game, so today’s belated report comes to you courtesy of whoever provides internet service to the Round Rock Express. Today’s report is also in haste, so if I missed anything critical, hopefully I’ll recap it tomorrow.
SP Peter Solomon: 5 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 2 R, 4 BB, 5 SO, 90 P / 53 S, 6.27 ERA RP Josh Sborz: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 0 SO, 7.71 ERA RP Daniel Robert: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 2.97 ERA DH Trevor Hauver: 1-2, HR (9), 2 BB
Round Rock made the most of a handful of hits. Trevor Hauver has hit well of late (he also homered about 15 minutes prior to this sentence).
Any Reno win or Round Rock loss the rest of the way will eliminate the Express. I had the elimination number at three yesterday, but it should have been two. I wasn’t considering the tiebreaker which favors Reno on account of a 3-2 advantage in head-to-head games in the second half.
SP Kohl Drake: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 34 P / 20 S, 3.10 ERA RP Jackson Kelley: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.57 ERA 2B Max Acosta: 5-6, 2 2B 1B Abimelec Ortiz: 2-4, 2 HR (16), 2 BB, SB (2) DH Sebastian Walcott: 2-5, BB, SB (1) C Cooper Johnson: 2-4, HR (14), 2 BB SS Keyber Rodriguez: 2-5, 3B, HR (2) RF Luis Mieses: 3-5, 2B, 2 HR (5)
As expected, Kohl Drake had a short outing. Still, it’s noteworthy that he came back to pitch on four days rest. I don’t think it’s the equivalent of a reliever dealing in consecutive games, but a general indication of confidence? Very much so.
Frisco opened multiple cans of whoop on Amarillo’s pitchers.
Today’s Starters AAA: Jennings AA: Chi
Five Years Ago Yesterday Down two games to one in the South Atlantic League finals, Hickory lost 3-1 on a walk-off homer in the 13th by Reed Rohlman off Tyree Thompson. Thompson had pitched 3.2 scoreless with only one hit allowed until the end.
RF Pedro Gonzalez was one of the team’s heroes, breaking up Lexington’s no-hitter with a game-tying solo homer in the 7th, then slamming into the wall to catch what would have been a walk-off extra-base hit in the 12th. Another was reliever Jesus Linarez, called upon with no notice when putative starter Abdiel Mendoza suffered an injury during warmups. Linarez threw 4.2 scoreless innings with two runners allowed. Ace reliever Kelvin Gonzalez threw innings seven through nine without a run allowed. The Crawdads mustered only eight runners in the game and batted .155/.247/.246 in the four-game series.
The next official game wouldn’t be for another 599 days.
We knew Kumar Rocker couldn’t maintain his 74% whiff rate on curves against MLB hitters, but would you settle for 62%? Mariners missed completely on 12 of 19 swings. As pointed out by Michael Bowman yesterday, the best individual pitch in the Majors in this regard is Mark Leiter’s splitter, which has generated a 59% miss rate. We’ll need more MLB outings from Rocker to confirm, but the curve has the makings of a singularly effective pitch. I don’t blame folks for calling it a slider even with the contradictory assertion from the man himself. It doesn’t into an easy category. It moves horizontally more like a cutter or maybe a gyro slider, but the drop is between a typical slider and curve.
Seattle’s stadium is among baseball’s friendliest to pitchers, but that Collin Snider homer leaves only eight of 30 parks.
One potential concern is how Rocker’s addition affects the 40-man roster. He’ll occupy a spot over the winter, of course, leaving one less space for offseason maneuvering. Sometimes that could cause trouble, but in this case I don’t see it. Texas has 45 players on the 40-man roster including those on the 60-day IL, but no fewer than nine will become free agents at season’s end. The Rangers will be able to reinstate the injured without breaking a sweat. Also, the number of 40 additions this fall could be as few as two. The Rangers have only one Rule 5-eligible pick from the truncated 2020 draft (pitcher Dylan MacLean, who’s hurt) and four from 2021, none of whom I expect to be protected. The “roster crunch” has the texture of oatmeal. Even with free agent additions, Texas should be able to find room without too much difficulty.
SP Ryan Garcia: 5.1 IP, 7 H (1 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 92 P / 56 S, 3.08 ERA RP Avery Weems: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA RP Jacob Latz: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.86 ERA DH Sam Huff: 1-3, BB, .247/.310/.406
Ryan Garcia had to fend off a little more trouble than usual. The opposition was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position but managed to plate three on a solo homer, wild pitch, and sac bunt.
Round Rock needs three wins in the final nine games to avoid becoming the first Texas AAA team to finish at least ten games below .500 since 1997.
SP Mitch Bratt: 6 IP, 8 H (2 HR), 5 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 83 P / 54 S, 5.45 ERA DH Josh Hatcher: 1-5, HR (11), .295/.344/.436 1B Abi Ortiz: 2-4, 2B, BB, .232/.315/.397 3B Sebastian Walcott: 3-5, 2 2B 2B Keyber Rodriguez: 2-4, 2 2B, .230/.280/.356
Sebastian Walcott had a busy evening. With two out in the 1st, he grounded up the middle to plate the game’s first two runs. He then hit among the least likely doubles you’ll ever see, a chopper along the line that bounded off 3B Jesus Valdez 60 feet to the home dugout. Walcott never stopped running, and the scorekeeper never ruled an error, so a double it was. Walcott followed with a lasered double to the wall that was common in Hickory. He also bounced a throw from third well in front of first base for his first AA error.
Mitch Bratt pitched in Amarillo for the first time. Mitch Bratt allowed two homers for the first time. He’ll finish 2024 with a slightly unfair 5.73 ERA given the .260/.327/.420 line.
Today’s listed starter is Kohl Drake, who is on four days rest for the first time. I expect a brief outing.
Today’s Starters AAA: Solomon AA: Drake
Five Years Ago Yesterday Hickory extended its season with a 5-1 victory at Lexington. Ricky Vanasco shut down the Legends for 3.2 innings and fanned six but finished with three consecutive walks. Tai Tiedemann was able to squash that threat. Tyreque Reed plated three on a two-out single, solo homer, and sac fly.
SP Adrian Sampson: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 2 SO, 91 P / 50 S, 5.57 ERA RP Robby Ahlstrom: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 3.78 ERA RP Marc Church: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2.60 ERA C Sam Huff: 3-4, 2 2B, .246/.308/.407 LF Trevor Hauver: 1-3, HR (8), BB, .229/.345/.381 CF Kellen Strahm: 1-3, BB, SB (10), .250/.362/.333
Sam Huff had a fine evening, smacking three hard liners for two doubles and a 7th-inning RBI single that broke a 5-5 tie. Unfortnately, Huff has truly struggled since around the beginning of June, hitting .231/.270/.357 with a very respectable 20 doubles but only four homers in 64 games. His walk rate is down from 14% in 2023 to 8% this year, while the strikeout rate has increased from 24% to 32%. As to his future, I think the likelihood of him being on the 40 next April is very low. If he is, he’d be the #2 catcher (or #3, if Texas went that route) on the active roster because he’s out of options. But if the Rangers considered him a viable #2, I think he’d have more than his four 2024 MLB plate appearances. If he’s in the organization next season, I’d say the most likely way is by sliding through waivers.
SP Winston Santos: 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 67 P / 45 S, 4.89 ERA RP Bryan Magdaleno: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA RP Skylar Hales: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2.17 ERA RP Dane Acker: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.08 ERA SS Max Acosta: 3-4, HR (8), .280/.344/.417
Winston Santos finished the regular season with consecutive solid outings. For the season, he posted a 3.67 ERA with 34 walks and 138 strikeouts in 110.1 innings split between Hickory and Frisco. Last year, he fanned only 88 against nearly the same number of batters faced. Despite some homer-proneness upon promotion to Frisco, on the whole he was much less likely to surrender the long ball. All told, a fine and encouraging season. He’ll be added to the 40 in a couple of months.
Max Acosta had missed a few days and watched Sebastian Walcott’s debut Tuesday from the dugout. Last night, he offered evidence that he deserves to play as well. A while back, I mentioned him as someone who’s produced decent if modest numbers that don’t assure a promotion each year, but he gets promoted and hits just as well. His current line of .280/.345/.417 would be his best if it holds. And he’ll probably join Round Rock next March.
Best as I can tell, at 18 years and 180 days as of yesterday, Sebastian Walcott is Texas’s youngest AA position player ever. He was 11 days younger than Roy Howell, who made his AA and professional debut for the Pittsfield Rangers on June 26, 1972. Howell had been drafted out of high school fourth-overall 20 days prior.
Youngest AA Position Player Debuts in Rangers History: Sebastian Walcott, 2024, 18 years / 180 days Roy Howell, 1972, 18 / 191 Jurickson Profar, 2012, 19 / 45 Nomar Mazara, 2014, 19 / 101 Ivan Rodriguez, 1991, 19 /128* Juan Gonzalez, 1989, 19 / 168* Rougned Odor, 2013, 19 / 179 Ruben Sierra, 1985, 19 / 180* Elvis Andrus, 2008**, 19 / 221 Donnie Scott, 1981, 19 / 229*
* Estimated based on assumption of a first game in early April. I don’t have schedules prior to 2005. To whatever extent I’m off, I shouldn’t be off on the low side by more than a few days. I found Roy Howell’s exact debut date in a story about a fog-shortened no-hitter.
** When I published a Frisco-only version of this list, I had Andrus’s debut year as 2009 instead of 2008, but his age was correct.
Elsewhere, the Cardinals promoted IF Thomas Saggese, who started at short and went 0-4 in his MLB debut. He’d taken some time acclimating to AAA but had batted .291/.351/.524 with 12 homers in 55 games since July 1st. The Ranger traded Saggese and pitcher TK Roby to St. Louis for Jordan Montgomery last summer.
SP Dane Dunning: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 69 P / 48 S, 1.38 ERA RP Josh Sborz: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 6.23 ERA RP Jacob Latz: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 6.75 ERA RP Daniel Robert: 1.2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 3.13 ERA 1B Blaine Crim: 2-5, 2B, BB, .282/.376/.475
Two rehabbing and two optioned pitchers accounted for most of the innings. Dunning pitched well overall and the runs were unearned, although he was not blameless in Sacramento’s two-run first. Given the upcoming activation of Jake deGrom and Kumar Rocker’s MLB debut, plus the presumed return of Josh Sborz, if not Jacob Latz, Dunning may not see Arlington again in 2024 no matter how he performs.
The sides traded threes in the 10th, but Round Rock could not answer Sacramento’s five runs off Aidan Anderson in the 11th.
The Express are in last among eight teams contending for the second-half title, but I think they can still succeed with as few as eight wins in the last 11 games. For example (ignoring first-half winner Sugar Land and bottom-dwelling El Paso): Round Rock: 37-37 ABQ, OKC, Sacto, Salt Lake, Tacoma: 37-38 Las Vegas, Reno: 36-38
SP Nick Krauth: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 58 P / 37 S, 5.78 ERA SS Sebastian Walcott: 1-4, 2B C Cooper Johnson: 3-4, 2B, HR (13), .233/.351/.471
Walcott’s mound opponent was Stephen Giesting, who brought a 5.25 ERA into the game but generates more misses than you’d expect from someone with a fastball in the 88-91 range. Giesting would in fact tie a career-high 19 swinging strikes and deliver seven innings of one-run ball with seven Ks. Walcott swung through a fastball in his first plate appearance but stung another heater down the left field line for a double. He would strike out against Giesting again, then ground out to second to end the game. In the field, he handled five plays without incident.
Today’s Starters AAA: Sampson AA: Santos
Five Years Ago The Day Before Yesterday Low-A Hickory lost the first game of the South Atlantic League finals 6-4 to the KC-affiliated Lexington Legends. Starter Ronny Henriquez pitched well, but a couple of mid-game defensive miscues, reliever Kelvin Gonzalez’s worst outing all season, and lack of timely hitting doomed the Crawdads.
Five Years Ago Yesterday Hickory lost again, 7-0. Early success by Cole Winn ended for naught with a three-run 5th that put the Crawdads down 4-0. A later three-run homer off Daniel Robert sealed the defeat. Hickory batters not named Kole Enright or Pedro Gonzalez were 5-for-52 with a double and three walks so far in the series. Hickory would head to Lexington needing three straight wins for a title.
Per local reports, infielder Sebastian Walcott will head to AA Frisco to finish the year. Even in an organization with a history of hyper-aggressive assignments (less so lately), Walcott stands out. I don’t know if he’ll play Tuesday, but let’s assume he does for the following:
Youngest AA Debuts by a Texas hitter, 2003-present: Sebastian Walcott, 2024, 18 years / 180 days Jurickson Profar, 2012, 19 / 45 Nomar Mazara, 2014, 19 / 101 Rougned Odor, 2013, 19 / 179 Elvis Andrus, 2009, 19 / 221 Evan Carter, 2022, 20 / 15
Engel Beltre debuted at 19 years and 304 days at the end of 2009 but would spend the first half of the following season in high-A before returning. I’m also ignoring any brief, just-in-case assignments like 19-year-old Esteban Mejia last month.
How young is Walcott? Even if the Rangers delayed his arrival until next April, he’d still be the youngest Texas hitter in AA in at least 21 years.
SP Robby Ahlstrom: 1.2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 2 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 1 SO, 42 P / 22 S, 4.30 ERA RP Marc Church: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2.76 ERA RP Grant Wolfram: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.42 ERA CF Dustin Harris: 2-5, BB, .278/.365/.403 SS Jax Biggers: 3-5, 2B, BB, .273/.395/.385 1B Blaine Crim: 2-6, 2B, .280/.375/.474 LF Trevor Hauver: 3-5, 2B, BB, .226/.337/.371 C Matt Whatley: 2-5, BB, .208/.295/.338
Round Rock finally opened up a can on Las Vegas after scoring 12 runs in the previous five games. The Express didn’t go deep but collected at least 18 hits for the fourth time this season.
On a bullpen day, Robbie Ahlstrom drew the short straw and had to start in one of baseball’s least forgiving climates. Out of 12 pitchers on the two sides, only Marc Church and Grant Wolfram avoided allowing an inherited runner or one of their own to score.
The Express will head home to face Sacramento, followed by a season-ending to Tacoma.
SP Kohl Drake: 5 IP, 1 H (1 HR), 1 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 81 P / 50 S, 3.63 ERA RP Skylar Hales: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 2.33 ERA RP Dane Acker: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.12 ERA CF Alejandro Osuna: 2-5, 2B, .302/.377/.509
Kohl Drake leads the organization with 146 strikeouts and will likely finish best even if he doesn’t throw again.
Frisco’s home schedule is done until the playoffs. The Riders head to Amarillo this week. Midland has tied Frisco for the league’s best overall record, but Frisco will have home field advantage for their upcoming semifinal tilt regardless.
SP David Davalillo: 6 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 3 SO, 79 P / 49 S, 2.10 ERA RP DJ Peters: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 5.52 ERA 2B Cam Cauley: 1-3, 2B, BB, .235/.297/.411 SS Sebastian Walcott: 1-4, 3B, .261/.342/.443 RF Yeison Morrobel: 2-4, 2B, .211/.287/.323
David Davalillo walked a career-high five and allowed 15 runners in six innings. Somehow, only one scored, and he averaged a tight 13.2 pitches per inning.
Walcott led the South Atlantic League and leads the Texas organization with 40 combined doubles and triples. Among league qualifiers, he was tenth in average (.261) and slugging (.443).
Top picks Malcolm Moore and Dylan Dreiling were both 0-4. Moore finished with a tepid line of .209/.298/.374 in 25 games but was solid after a chilly pro introduction. He swatted three homers and six doubles. Dreiling was .198/.340/.279 with a homer, four doubles, and 19 walks in 24 games.
Cam Cauley hit eight of his 12 homers during a 16-game stretch in July and early August. The rest of the season, he batted .225 and slugged .349.
Hickory was 50-46 after a 12-24 start during which the offense scored one or zero runs 16 times. Next year, the Crawdads will drop to low-A, their home from 1993 through 2020.
Lo-A: Down East 1, Augusta (ATL) 4 Down East: 5 hits, 3 walks, 16 strikeouts Opponent: 8 hits, 6 walks, 15 strikeouts First-Half Record: 35-30, 3rd place, 6 GB Second-Half Record: 30-33, 4th place, 8 GB Overall Record: 65-63 Offense: 4.0 R/G, 8% worse than average, .227/.306/.337, 98 OPS+ Pitching: 3.6 R/G, 16% better than average, .212/.307/.305, 89 OPS+
SP Wilian Bormie: 4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 81 P / 49 S, 3.47 ERA RP Josh Trentadue: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 4.46 ERA RP Adonis Villavicencio: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 4.56 ERA 3B Beycker Barroso: 1-3, BB, .229/.342/.374
Yesterday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 1,878, 2B Antonis Macias grounded out to conclude the existence of the Down East Wood Ducks as an affiliated club of Minor League Baseball. Down East was 476-448 in seven seasons with the Rangers, winning a co-championship in their inaugural season, posting one of the best records in Texas’s minor league history two years later (as chronicled in this year’s Five Years Ago segments), and reaching the postseason twice more after dropping to low-A.
The marriage between Texas and Kinston was admittedly of convenience. The Rangers were desperate to escape the California League’s High Desert Mavericks (who would mercifully fold after 2016). Kinston was desperate to replace a 34-year affiliation with Cleveland lost after 2011 and had an older if suitable facility. I never expected the Rangers to stay any longer than necessary, and I was surprised the Rangers signed a twelve-year lease until discovering how easily they could terminate it with, at best, a nominal penalty. I feel bad for the people of Kinston losing their team, but even ignoring MiLB clubs descending to vassal status in the new agreement with MLB, the expensive facility upgrades required of most parks, and Diamond Baseball Holdings acquiring the Wood Ducks and 34 (!) other teams, I anticipated a new park in a new city by the time the lease expired. As I’ve mentioned, Kinston is about the size of Corsicana and isn’t growing. Expecting the city to renovate Grainger Stadium to modern standards was absurd. Had not the Rangers owned the team at the time, Down East almost certainly would have been one of the casualties of the 2021 reorganization.
All that said, it wasn’t a loveless marriage. Kinston offered a far better situation than Adelanto, CA, or Bakersfeld in the previous decade. It was never a place to dread or mock, and the Rangers never had to fret about sending their prospects there like those other two cities. Players and personnel could shift between the low-A and high-A locations in around four hours. Rain is a problem, but on the whole the climate is generous to baseball.
As for the game, 21-year-old Wilian Bormie reeled off a fifth consecutive start with two or fewer runs allowed. 2024 8th-rounder Anthony Susac recorded Down East’s final out on defense and can say he made eight appearances covering 9.1 innings without allowing a run and stranding six runners bequeathed. IF Echedry Vargas had the day off but among qualifiers finished sixth in average at .276 and second in slugging at .454. He also ranked second in hits (118), eighth in doubles (24), fifth in homers (14), and 19th in steals (29).
Five Years Ago Yesterday Down East lost the deciding Game 5 of the Carolina League semifinals 6-3 to Fayetteville. Seven straight Woodpeckers reached in the 7th, and four would score. The 2017 edition of the Wood Ducks won a co-championship with a phenomenal bullpen featuring Jeffrey Springs, CD Pelham, Scott Williams, and Adam Choplick. The 2019 version wasn’t so formidable, allowing 37 runners in 17 innings. The Woodies were 87-52 during the regular season, the fourth-best record of any Texas affiliate in franchise history.
SP Max Scherzer: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 SO, 53 P / 39 S, 3.60 ERA 1B Blaine Crim: 3-4, 2B, 2 HR, (19), .280/.375/.474 LF Kellen Strahm: 1-3, 3B, BB, .257/.364/.403
Not that anyone was seriously questioning Max Scherzer’s desire to return, but for any doubters, he spent his evening in Summerlin, Nevada, dealing fastballs in a black and green alt-identity Round Rock Chupacabras jersey. Scherzer retired the first 11 in order, then issued an intentional walk, perhaps to practice with a runner aboard or flip from a lefty to another righty hitter. Scherzer would hit that batter an fan the next for his final out. Peter Solomon extended the no-hitter into the 8th.
Blaine Crim homered twice and doubled, all on shots in the 105-107 MPH range. I wrote about Crim and his tricky path to the Majors last week.
SP Jacob deGrom: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 49 P / 35 S, 1.50 ERA RP Jacob Latz: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 12.46 ERA RP Bryan Magdaleno: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA RP Ryan Lobus: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA CF Alejandro Osuna: 1-4, HR (7), .300/.376/.507
DeGrom settled for five strikeouts compared to Scherzer’s five in what is presumbaly his final rehab appearance. He, Jacob Latz, Bryan Magdaleno, Seth Clark, and Ryan Lobus combined on a three-hit shuotut. Frisco was limited to three hits as well, but the team’s first ball in play left the yard courtesy of Alejandro Osuna.
SP DJ McCarty: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 6 SO, 88 P / 56 S, 4.43 ERA RP Damian Mendoza: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 4.85 ERA RP Gavin Collyer: 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 SO, 3.24 ERA 2B Cam Cauley: 2-5, SB (27), .234/.295/.409 SS Sebastian Walcott: 2-5, 2B, 2 SB (26), .261/.343/.441 1B Arturo Disla: 2-3, 2 2B, BB, .264/.333/.529 RF Yeison Morrobel: 1-5, HR (9), .209/.285/.319
Yeison Morrobel hit a walk-off three-run homer in the 10th. Gift-runner Sebastian Walcott had retied the game by advancing to third on a single and jogging home on a balk. Morrobel has endured a very rough second half but is hitting hard when he connects, slugging .493 with 12 extra-base hits in his last 19 games.
Four Hickory pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts. Since mid-May, Sebastian Walcott is batting .291/.362/.497 with 42 extra-base hits and 24 steals.
Lo-A: Down East 3, Augusta (ATL) 5 (10) Down East: 8 hits, 3 walks, 12 strikeouts Opponent: 9 hits, 10 walks, 11 strikeouts Record: 30-32, eliminated, 65-62 overall
SP Kolton Curtis: 3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 70 P / 40 S, 2.85 ERA RP Alberto Mota: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 2.25 ERA CF Chandler Pollard: 2-5, 2B, 2 SB (39), .238/.315/.326 SS Echedry Vargas: 1-3, 2B, BB, SB (29), .276/.321/.454 C Jesus Lopez: 2-5, .242/.306/.351
In front of an announced crowd of 1,911, the Wood Ducks played their penultimate game in affiliated ball. 1B/C Ben Hartl recorded the final out in the 10th. 17th-rounder Joey Danielson took the loss but finished with an opposing line of .207/.303/.207 in his debut season.
Jimmy Ryals of the Assembly wrote at length about Down East’s departure. The Wood Ducks play their final game as an affiliate of the Texas Rangers this afternoon. Worth nothing: the situation affecting Kinston, Modesto, Myrtle Beach, and other cities was created neither by the minor league franchises nor the host cities.
Five Years Ago Yesterday Down East and Fayetteville split their second doubleheader in the Carolina League semifinals by scores of 5-4 and 2-7. In the opener, Yanio Perez homered in the 7th to tie the game and singled in Sam Huff with the winner in the 8th. In the nightcap, Down East threw 193 pitches in seven innings and walked nine. Fayetteville starter and Houston prospect Luis Garcia faced the Woodies three times in his final four starts, allowing four runs in 17 innings and striking out 32. The teams would play a deciding game the next day.
SP Kumar Rocker: 5 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 2 R, 1 BB, 8 SO, 65 P / 50 S, 1.80 ERA RP Marc Church: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2.93 ERA CF Dustin Harris: 2-4, 2B, HR (10), .280/.367/.407 C Matt Whatley: 1-3, HR (5), .200/.287/.336
Kumar Rocker sat at his locker before yesterday’s game, perused Alan Nathan’s “The Physics of Baseball: Baseball at High Altitude,” and chuckled softly to himself. As if those rules would apply to him.
Swings at curves: 1st start: 14 swings, 11 misses, 2 fouls, 1 in play 2nd start: 17 swings, 12 misses, 3 fouls, 2 in play
In the PCL, results on curves (and sliders) are divided nearly equally between misses, fouls, and balls in play. Rocker has a 75% whiff rate, 15% fouls, and 10% in play.
The PCL is hitting .216/.284/.376 in plate appearances that end in a curve and .231/.300/.400 ending with sliders. Opponents are 1-for-18 with 15 strikeouts against Rocker’s breaker.
Here’s Rocker’s miss chart:
I would argue his most impressive pitch of the night was the green dot, a first-pitch changeup that dove under Hoy Park’s bat. He hadn’t begun a plate appearance with a change before in AAA. If he’s willing and able to land that pitch, he can add some mystery to what has already been a nearly unhittable repertoire.
Rocker did hang a flat curve that Colby Thomas sent into the stratosphere and the Stratosphere. Earlier, Carlos Perez, who goes oppo as infrequently as nearly anyone in the PCL, cued a double down the first-base line and eventually scored. Perez has three homers and two doubles in four games against the Express.
The Express are in a funk. Seven straight losses, and 3.1 runs scored per game since planting 18 on Salt Lake 17 days ago. A Texas AAA squad hasn’t finished more than nine games below .500 since 1997, and until now, I hadn’t had reason to recall that stat.
SP Andy Rodriguez: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 57 P / 36 S, 2.82 ERA RP Jackson Kelley: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 3.78 ERA RP Skylar Hales: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 2.42 ERA 3B Cody Freeman: 2-4, 2B, .272/.329/.449 2B Theo Hardy: 1-2, 2B, BB
Per local media, Alejandro Rosario needed some rest, so Andy Rodriguez drew the spot start. Rodriguez had been knocked around some lately but was more than up to last night’s task. Wichita also lost a remarkable six of eight runners on the bases courtesy of four double plays and two unsuccessful steals.
SP Brayan Mendoza: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 88 P / 53 S, 3.48 ERA RP Ivan Oviedo: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA C Malcolm Moore: 2-2, 2B, HBP, .220/.316/.402 2B Danyer Cueva: 2-4, 2B, HR (1), .225/.304/.367
Malcolm Moore is hitting .367/.460/.700 during an eight-game on-base streak.
Sebastian Walcott tripled in four trips to the plate. Across the entire minors, he ranks in the bottom half of the top ten in combined doubles and triples with 38.
Lo-A: Down East 0, Augusta (ATL) 4 Down East: 1 hit, 1 walk, 11 strikeouts Opponent: 5 hits, 7 walks, 10 strikeouts Record: 30-31, eliminated, 65-61 overall
SP Kamdyn Perry: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 43 P / 26 S, 7.20 ERA RP Eric Loomis: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 SO, 3.00 ERA RP Caden Scarborough: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 8.31 ERA RP Luke Savage: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 3.77 ERA RP Anthony Susac: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0.00 ERA
Down East spread the early innings around some relative newcomers. Kamdyn Perry was Texas’s 17th-rounder in 2023. He didn’t pitch in 2023 (customary for young mound picks) and tossed 26 innings for the rookies this summer with a 6.58 ERA, 18 walks, and 22 strikeouts.
The offense: 14 outs, Beycker Barroso walk, Keith Jones II single, 13 outs.
Five Years Ago Yesterday High-A Hickory knocked off the South Atlantic’s best team in two straight. 90-win Delmarva, playing beyond the regular season for the first time in 14 years, discovered the capriciousness of the minor league playoffs. Abdiel Mendoza (6 IP), Hever Bueno (2.2), and Kelvin Gonzalez (1) combined on a ten-inning, two-hit shutout. The Crawdads scored the winner absent a hit, loading the bases on two walks and an HBP. Kole Enright scored the winner on Jax Biggers’ sac bunt. Hickory would advance to the finals against KC-affiliated Lexington, which had a losing regular season but vanquished 77-61 Augusta.
Spokane was eliminated by Tri-City in the Northwest League semis 3-2 in ten. In the previous year’s finals, reliever Emmanuel Clase gained unwanted fame by committing a walk-off balk to bring in the championship-winning run for Eugene. 2019’s victim was Nic Laio, who brought a 5% walk rate into the contest but walked the leadoff batter bottom half of the 10th and issued a four-pitch walk with the bases loaded. Little did we know that Spokane was playing its final game as a Texas affiliate and as a member of a short-season league.
SP Ryan Garcia: 5 IP, 5 H (1 HR), 3 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 87 P / 56 S, 2.76 ERA LF Dustin Harris: 2-2, 2 BB, SB (33), .278/.366/.397 C Sam Huff: 1-3, HR (11), BB, .239/.305/.403
Ryan Garcia carried a no-hitter into the 5th, but if you’re a pitcher in Vegas, the house always wins. Five Aviator homers in a span of 12 batters turned a close game into a rout. Tyler Soderstrom’s 92 MPH homer off Garcia was the softest hit at 26 degrees all season in the PCL. The Express are in ninth place, so “7 GB” undersells the difficulty of reaching the postseason.
SP Mitch Bratt: 2.1 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 5 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 58 P / 37 S, 5.33 ERA RP Bryan Magdaleno: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA RP Dane Acker: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 3.17 ERA 3B Cody Freeman: 2-4, BB, SB (15), .270/.328/.446 1B Abimelec Ortiz: 1-4, 3B, BB, .233/.318/.403
Last night wasn’t pretty, but on the whole, Mitch Bratt has pitched better than his 5.33 ERA in Frisco. Bryan Magdaleno fanned batters with a slider and fastball in his AA debut.
SP Jose Gonzalez: 4 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 3 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 59 P / 36 S, 6.75 ERA CF Dylan Dreiling: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, .195/.351/.286 SS Sebastian Walcott: 2-5, 3B, .260/.343/.436 DH Malcolm Moore: 2-5, 2B, .200/.297/.363
Malcolm Moore’s batting average now begins with a “2.” The next step is a “3” to lead off the OBP. Honestly I wouldn’t stress about how he and other 2024 picks perform in the short run. There are exceptions (Langford), but for the most part, the post-draft period is about acclimating to the professional lifestyle. Also, the assignments of Moore and 2nd-rounder Dylan Dreiling are aggressive. Josh Jung, picked eighth overall in 2019, spent his late summer after the draft at low-A Hickory. Davis Wendzel (41st overall) only reached short-season Spokane. Justin Foscue began in high-A but only after missing any 2020 action because of covid. Aaron Zavala (38th overall) played for low-A Down East initially.
In 88 low-A innings, Jose Gonzalez allowed three homers, all solos. In his high-A debut, the 12th batter he faced connected on a three-run shot.
Lo-A: Down East 6, Augusta (ATL) 5 Down East: 10 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts Opponent: 10 hits, 3 walks, 14 strikeouts Record: 30-30, eliminated, 65-60 overall
SP Kyle Larsen: 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 77 P / 49 S, 5.36 ERA RP Adonis Villavicencio: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 4.98 ERA RP Jake Jekielek: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA DH Ben Hartl: 2-4, HBP, .367/.533/.500 RF Yeremi Cabrera: 2-4, BB, .200/.310/.267
In the 10th, 2024 17th-rounder Joey Danielson surrendered his first three runs of the season. No matter. Down East responded with four runs straight out of a DSL summary: infield single, HBP, HBP, sac fly, reached-on-error, reached-on-error. 10th-rounder Jake Jekielek out of Northwood University in Illinois made his pro debut
Five Years Ago Yesterday Spokane extended the Northwest League semifinals to a deciding game with a 5-1 victory over Tri-City. RF Heriberto Hernandez hit a two-run homer. Starter Teodoro Ortega (4.2 IP) and Billy Layne (4.1) took some pressure off a staff that had four relievers throw multiple innings the night before.
