Author: scottrlucas

PCL umpire James Jean, who called the plate in Round Rock last night, would make a fine replacement for Angel Hernandez. I would love to know the accuracy scores of AAA umps versus the worst in in the Majors. One interesting aspect of the challenge system is confirmation that most umps are quite good at their jobs. A sizable percentage of overturned calls are close enough to justify the ump’s decision. Very few are embarrassing. I’ve never seen an overturned call on a “strike” six inches off the plate. I’m very strongly in favor of automated calls in the Majors, but not because I think most umps are incompetent. And while I’d prefer the computer handling everything, the challenge system would afford the opportunity to have Hernandez publicly humiliated, assuming he hangs around long enough to see it implemented, and assuming he’s capable of that emotion.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 1, Oklahoma City (LAD) 7
Round Rock: 6 hits, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 7-6, 3 GB

SP Jack Leiter: 6 IP, 6 H (3 HR), 3 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 10 SO, 83 P / 53 S, 3.77 ERA
1B Dustin Harris: 2-4, .350/.372/.600

Jack Leiter surrendered homers on three of his first 18 pitches, yet I came away very pleased with his outing. Let’s get the bad news out of the way first.

The homers came on a fastball, slider, and curve. The fastball to a righty clipped the inside corner above the belt, not where Leiter has lived in 2024 but not a terrible location (absent info about the hitter’s tendencies). The slider was unique, the only one high and arm-side of 26 thrown. The curve, well, it was a cookie, but context is key. As a rule, minor league hitters hate early curves. The swing rate on first-pitch curves in Round Rock’s games so far is only 22%, and only 20% of swings are put into play. Until hitters adjust, it’s a pretty safe way for a pitcher to grab a favorable count. Instead, OKC’s Ryan Ward bounced  Leiter’s curve off the warehouse roof well beyond the 400 sign.

Leiter’s location wasn’t as sharp in the first two innings. In the 3rd, he recovered the impressive command of his first start, focusing on the glove-side edge of the plate (irrespective of batter handedness). Leiter tallied 18 swinging strikes, 13 with the fastball, which peaked at 98.2 MPH and 20″ of induced vertical break. OKC missed an enormous 59% of fastballs offered at. The Baseball Club (remember, they don’t have a nickname) even missed on 44% of in-zone fastballs, plus all of the eight outside the zone. That’s domination.

The slider wasn’t as effective but had several strong moments. The curve and change are mostly just along for the ride. This was an old-fashioned power performance. The pitch mix looks relieverish, but let’s let leave that aside for now. Ten strikeouts, zero walks (and a hit batter). A ratio of 6.25 Ks per BB/HBP for the season. We can’t wish away the homers, but on the whole, Leiter performed well again, and his 2024 has been highly encouraging.

I don’t have video because I left my camera battery at home, but Texas’s player development twitter account and the Express have come through.

AA: Frisco 7, Corpus Christi (HOU) 1
Frisco: 8 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 7 walks, 14 strikeouts
Record: 5-2, tied for first

SP Dane Acker: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 SO, 75 P / 43 S, 1.04 ERA
RP Robby Ahlstrom: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 2.08 ERA
RF Abi Ortiz: 2-3, 2B, BB

Frisco has a bunch of holdovers from 2023 trying to prove they deserve a locker in Round Rock. Among them are Dane Acker and Robby Ahlstrom, both off to strong starts.

The offense spread out the hits; only Ortiz had two. Ortiz has taken well to AA so far, batting .333/.500/.625 with five extra-base hits in seven games and more walks (8) than strikeouts (6).

With a walk in four trips to the plate, Aaron Zavala now has more combined walks and HBPs (206) than hits (205) in his career. Only three other Rangers farmhands with more than 500 career plate appearances during 2007-2024 share that distinction: current players Jayce Easley and Ian Moller, plus IF Nick Vickerson from years gone by. Those that have done so in single seasons in the Majors have tended to be older, all-or-nothing types, and/or in steep decline: Rickey Henderson, Adam Dunn, Yasmani Grandal recently.

Hi-A: Hickory 0, Jersey Shore (PHI) 4 (7)
Hickory: 1 hit, 3 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts

SP Joseph Montalvo: 4.1 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 1 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 71 P / 45 S, 2.08 ERA
RP Larson Kindreich: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA

Hickory was shut out for the third time in six games and fell to 0.5 runs per game for the season. Sebastian Walcott drew his first walk.

Hi-A: Hickory 5, Jersey Shore (PHI) 0 (7)
Hickory: 5 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 0 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 2-5, 3 GB

SP Winston Santos: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 SO, 78 P / 53 S, 0.84 ERA
RP Seth Clark: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
C Tucker Mitchell: 1-3, 2B
SS Sebastian Walcott: 1-3, 3B
DH Quincy Scott: 1-2, BB

An onslaught! Hickory scored three in the 1st, equaling its output in the first six games combined. Doubles by Tucker Mitchell and Quincy Scott plated the runs. Later, Sebastian Walcott tripled and scored on a double-play grounder, and Ben Blackwell advanced a base at a time on a walk, steal, wild pitch, and sac fly.

Winston Santos offered a second consecutive strong start. Last year, Santos was the talk of Surprise (talk of the back fields, at least) but just didn’t miss many bats and surrendered a bunch of extra-base hits. In 2024, hope of a rebound is panning out so far.

Lo-A: Down East 0, @ Carolina (MIL) 6 (7)
Down East: 2 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts

SP Kyle Larsen: 3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 51 P / 34 S, 9.00 ERA
RP Jose Gonzalez: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA

Lo-A: Down East 0, @ Carolina (MIL) 2 (7)
Down East: 2 hits, 4 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 4-3, 2 GB

SP Wilian Bormie: 4 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 2 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 55 P / 29 S, 4.05 ERA
RP Brayan Mendoza: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 1.50 ERA

Oh, dear. Down East caught whatever has been afflicting Hickory, getting shut out on four hits across 14 innings.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Sampson
AA: Teodo (vs. Justin Verlander)
Hi-A: Curry
Lo-A: TBA

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 2, Oklahoma City (LAD) 4
Round Rock: 7 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 6 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 7-5, 2 GB

SP Owen White: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, 77 P / 51 S, 7.30 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 6.75 ERA
RP Marc Church: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 3.86 ERA
RP Cole Winn: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 5.68 ERA
C Sam Huff: 2-4, .324/.410/.676

Brought into the 9th to air it out, Cole Winn began with a 92 MPH cutter, his fastest in two-plus seasons in AAA, and fanned two batters on 98 MPH fastballs, also both faster than anything he’d previously thrown. A fly to right concluded his evening. He added one strike-grabbing curve and a splitter. If you put that version of Winn in a Major League ballpark, he’d get people out.

Technically, this isn’t his first time in this role, as he threw a single inning on Sunday, but that was the 6th inning of a getaway day, and he wasn’t as successful. The outing just didn’t resonate. Plus, I saw last night in person.

So, where has this been, or to put another way, why hadn’t the Rangers tried him in this role before, given his beyond-lengthy struggles? I don’t speak for the Rangers, but my answers are tied to his fastball and overall mix. One, his fastball was his worst pitch last year. His strike rate was poor, and a good many that found the plate were sent back hard the other direction. Two, he’s always had a deep repertoire with everything grading at least average when he was in better form. Indeed, some of the attempted fixes have involved broadening and tweaking his pitch mix even more, such as sliders transforming into cutters and sweepers, and this year’s splitter.

When I saw him two weeks ago, he wasn’t outstanding but looked like he was taking the fight to the competition instead of fighting himself. Hopefully, the positive trend will continue, and for the first time in a long while, we can talk about the possibility of his MLB debut.

Owen White had his moments. His average fastball is up a full tick over last year (94.0 four-seamer, 93.7 sinker), and he’s no longer dipping down into the upper 80s. His overall strike rate is also much improved, although the occasional control lapses have resulted in a walk/HBP rate identical to 2023.

Marc Church was who’s been been in AAA: wipeout slider, erratic fastball.

Ricky Vanasco shut the door for OKC. After a Sandro Fabian walk with two out, Jax Biggers hit a fly that could have cleared the fence in August (99.1 MPH, 31 degrees), but on a cool, late evening in April, it was a just a long out.

AA: Frisco 3, Corpus Christi (HOU) 6
Frisco: 3 hits, 10 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 7 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 4-2, 1 GB

SP Gerson Garabito: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 SO, 75 P / 47 S, 2.08 ERA
RP Tyler Owens: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA

Whoson Whatawito? Okay, Garabito is a 28-year-old Dominican who came up with the Royals and also pitched with the Giants for a season. He’d been out of the MLB system since late 2021. Older reports regarded him as a mid-tier prospect with a chance at the back end of a rotation or mid-relief role. The curve mentioned in these reports has taken on a slidery shape. Texas signed him last December and either backdated the transactional entry or I missed it, because he did not ring a bell until very recently. Garabito has a 3.56 ERA in 667 minor league innings.

1-2-3 hitters Aaron Zavala, Laim Hicks, and Abi Ortiz were all 0-3 with two walks.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Leiter
AA: Acker
Hi-A: Santos / TBA
Lo-A: TBA / TBA

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Jacob Latz, Tai Tiedemann, and Nick Snyder combined for a Hickory-record 17 strikeouts in 6-1 victory over Kannapolis. Sam Huff homered. Latz is a Ranger today. Snyder pitched small portions of 2021 and 2022 with the Rangers but has spent much of the past four-plus seasons on the shelf, and he’s currently on Philly’s minor league 60-day IL. Tiedemann pitched briefly for indy Frederick last year after becoming a free agent following 2022.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 7, Oklahoma City (LAD) 6 (7)
Round Rock: 10 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 6 walks, 8 strikeouts

SP Michael Lorenzen: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 5 BB, 6 SO, 89 P / 53 S, 6.35 ERA
3B Dustin Harris: 3-4, 2 SB (4)
CF Elier Hernandez: 3-4, HR (1)
LF Trevor Hauver: 1-2, 2 BB
C Sam Huff: 2-2, 2B, HR (2), BB

AAA: Round Rock 6, Oklahoma City (LAD) 1 (7)
Round Rock: 6 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 7-4, 1 GB

SP Tim Brennan: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 SO, 66 P / 40 S, 3.24 ERA
RP Jonathan Hernandez: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA

The Express swept the doubleheader. Michael Lorenzen had his least successful rehab outing, walking five. The changeup was effective, but the slider wasn’t getting him anywhere. Tim Brennan was more effective in his second start back from elbow surgery. He’s still seeking the reestablish his once-terrific control. Jonathan Hernandez’s velocity was down two ticks across the board, but he worked a scoreless 5th.

Sam Huff knocked a mild homer by his standards: 98 off the bat, 359 feet. In the early going, Huff is hitting as hard as ever, but, as in 2023, the impact is blunted by a below-average launch angle. On the other hand, he’s slugging .700, so maybe I should lay off. Dustin Harris has started five consecutive games at third.

In the nightcap, the offense was nearly silent until the 6th when six consecutive hitters reached with two out.

OKC no longer has a “Dodgers” nickname nor a replacement. For 2024, they are known simply as Oklahoma City Baseball Club and will be rechristened next year. They were assimilated into the Diamond Baseball Holdings borg in 2021, and the current marketing trend is to build an identity separate from the parent club.

AA: Frisco 6, Corpus Christi (HOU) 5
Frisco: 6 hits, 12 walks, 16 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 5 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 4-1, tied for first

SP Ben Anderson: 3.2 IP, 5 H (1 HR), 1 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 59 P / 40 S, 1.93 ERA
RP Andy Rodriguez: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 2 SO, 6.75 ERA
CF Kellen Strahm: 1-3, 2 BB, SB (1)
C Liam Hicks: 2-5
1B Abi Ortiz: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB
SS Max Acosta: 1-3, 2 BB

Frisco scored three in the 9th. Abi Ortiz doubled, and Cody Freeman struck out but reached first on a passed ball. Max Acosta walked, pinch-hitter Devin Hurdle singled home two, and after a Frainyer Chavez walk, Geisel Cepeda was hit by a pitch to bring in the winning run.

Ben Anderson has been around since 2019 as a 13th-round pick, but because of covid and three consecutive injury-shortened seasons, he hasn’t pitched much and I don’t know much about him.

Hi-A: Hickory 1, Jersey Shore (PHI) 0 (10)
Hickory: 3 hits, 1 walk, 14 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 1-4, 3 GB

SP Luis Ramirez: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 58 P / 36 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Jackson Kelley: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Josh Gessner: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA

Hickory scored the game’s only run when Anthony Gutierrez beat out a deep grounder to short. Pinch-runner Jayce Easley, who began the inning at second, never stopped running and scored as Jersey Shore protested the call at first. Four Crawdads combined for a four-hit shutout topped by Skylar Hales’ three strikeouts of eight batters.

I’m going to renege on yesterday’s comment that I’d wait before analyzing Sebastian Walcott’s slow start, because it isn’t the type of random dry spell that will afflict every hitter eventually. He’s 1-for-19 with no walks and nine strikeouts. A look under the hood confirms the intensity of his early struggles. 30% of all his pitches and 51% of his swings have resulted in a swinging strike. Those are exceedingly high figures. Further, only 56% of his taken pitches have resulted in a ball. (I don’t know the high-A rate, but in AAA a common range is 65%-75%.) So, in his case, there’s no “at least he’s drawing walks” fallback. Also, four of his ten balls in play have been infield pops. Absolutely nothing is in his favor right now. I’m not going to throw out any adjectives like “alarming” or “scary” yet because it’s early, and he endured a similar stretch in rookie ball last year (2-for-28 with 18 strikeouts across seven late-July games) and recovered.

I guess the one thing in Walcott’s favor is he has company, as Hickory’s offense is the worst in pro ball: 0.6 runs per game and a .138/.190/.164 line.

Lo-A: Down East 6, @ Carolina (MIL) 7
Down East: 9 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 7 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 4-1, 1 GB

SP Paul Bonzagni: 2.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 0 SO, 56 P / 32 S, 6.75 ERA
SS Echedry Vargas: 1-2, 2B, HBP, SB (1)
3B Gleider Figuereo: 1-2, 3 BB
RF Thomas Specht: 1-3, 2B, BB, SB (1)

Echedry Vargas doubled down the opposite line in his first at-bat. Next, he was hit on the hand, and after an inning, he was replaced. Vargas has a funky .158/.191/.421 line with more extra-base hits (3) than strikeouts (2).

Grapevine native Paul Bonzagni started infrequently in college, only nine of 41 appearances at Weatherford College and Southern Illinois, so I wasn’t expecting to see him in the rotation.

Today’s Starters
AAA: White
AA: Garabito

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Wei-Chieh Huang started for Frisco, and I called April 10th “awfully early for a ‘bullpen start.'” Those were the days. Hickory’s Hans Crouse missed 19 bats en route to a scoreless five innings and nine strikeouts.

Three bullpens combined for 17 innings of one-run ball and 20 strikeouts.

Box Scores

AAA: wet

Two today.

AA: Frisco 4, Corpus Christi (HOU) 3
Frisco: 5 hits, 5 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 6 walks, 15 strikeouts
Record: 3-1, 1 GB

SP Ryan Garcia: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 69 P / 39 S, 9.00 ERA
RP Aidan Anderson: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Grant Wolfram: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
C Liam Hicks: 2-4
1B Abimelec Ortiz: 1-3, HR (1), BB

The bullpen walked the bases loaded in the 6th but escaped unharmed. Otherwise, it didn’t allow a single runner in lengthy relief of Ryan Garcia.

Abi Ortiz hit his first homer. Take a look!

Hi-A: Hickory 1, Jersey Shore (PHI) 8
Hickory: 5 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 1 walk, 11 strikeouts
Record: 0-4, 3.5 GB

SP Mitch Bratt: 3 IP, 8 H (1 HR), 7 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 70 P / 48 S, 21.00 ERA
RP Bryan Chi: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Adrian Rodriguez: 2 IP, 1 H (1 HR), 1 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 4.50 ERA
RP Yohanse Morel: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 6.00 ERA
SS Cam Cauley: 3-4, 2B
CF Anthony Gutierrez: 2-4, 2B

Whew. The good news is a Hickory home game was televised for the first time. The bad news is the same thing. Of 120 minor league teams, Hickory ranks last in scoring (0.5 runs/game) and slugging (.172) and 119th in average (.148) and OBP (.198). Back in 2021, both Hickory and Down East ranked among the minors’ worst offenses in the opening month but finished mid-pack in their respective leagues, so don’t fret yet.

Cam Cauley doubled deep to right-center and singled twice. Sebastian Walcott was 0-4 with three strikeouts. Since I’m the one who harps on over-analyzing short-term trends, I’m going to wait before saying more about him.

Mitch Bratt has a sub-.300 OBP in each of three previous pro seasons, but he’s going to have to climb down from .643 after last night. Three others combined for six innings of one-run ball.

Lo-A: Down East 4, @ Carolina (MIL) 1
Down East: 9 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 4-0, tied for first

SP Kohl Drake: 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 55 P / 40 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Ryan Lobus: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Luke Savage: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 6.00 ERA
2B Echedry Vargas: 1-5, HR (1)
3B Gleider Figuereo: 1-3, 3B, BB
C Julian Brock: 2-4
SS Danyer Cueva, 2-4, 2B, SB (2)

Down East grabbed a permanent lead in the 1st when Gleider Figuereo tripled, Julian Brock singled, and Danyer Cueva doubled with two out.

2B Echedry Vargas hit his first full-season homer. More should be forthcoming, as he knocked a league-high 11 last year in the complex league in 52 games.

The Mudcats squandered their best chance in the 8th. 2023 10th-rounder Case Matter walked four of five batters, leaving undrafted TCU alum Luke Savage a two-run lead but three on board. CF Marcos Torres tracked down a short liner, and groundout ended the inning without further damage.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Lorenzen / Brennan
AA: B. Anderson
Hi-A: Ramirez
Lo-A: TBA

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Visiting Round Rock for the first time since an affiliation change. Nashville defeated the Express 3-1 behind effective if walk-heavy outings from Taylor Hearn and Brett Martin. My takeaway from Hearn’s outing was that he looked promising overall but probably wouldn’t have escaped without serious damage had he pitched similarly at the Major League level, and when he was called up soon after for an emergency start, he didn’t. Unfortunately, Hearn’s problem in his MLB debut wasn’t just control but elbow tightness.

Pitching for Astros-affiliated Round Rock was Forrest Whitley, who has thrown only 268 pro innings since being drafted in 2016, and whose transaction list includes nine instances of “injured list.”

I’d planned on saving the writeup on Davis Wendzel’s MLB promotion until Tuesday morning, but since he’s starting tonight, I’ll go ahead and send it.

Wendzel has spent most of his pro career on the left side of the infield with a small majority of games at short, slightly less time at third, and a handful of games at second. Unlike Justin Foscue, most of his errors are with the glove. While his fielding isn’t elite, it isn’t going to limit whatever becomes of his MLB career.

If you want your hitters to sell out for power, Wendzel is your man. He led the Pacific Coast League in homers last year with 30 homers and has collected three more in just nine games in 2024. Nobody on the Express gets the ball airborne as often. Wendzel’s walk/HBP rate is exceptional, comparable to Foscue. He posted a 108 OPS+ last year, league-average in getting on base and above in slugging.

The downside of so many skyward shots are a bunch of easily catchable flies. Last year, 22% of his balls in play were in excess of 45 degrees. Of 71 in play, he had one single and one windblown-on-a-hot-night homer. Combined with an above-average K rate, 44% of his at-bats last year concluded with a strikeout or pop. Thus, a .236 batting average. (Note: I don’t differentiate between infield flies and deeper high flies. Anything 46+ degrees is nearly always an out.)

Wendzel has a huge and problematic platoon split. During 2022-2024 in AAA, he’s batted .333/.435/.681 against lefties but only .189/.297/.369 against righties. He still hits for power and draws free passes against righties, but he strikes out much more often and succeeds far less often on balls in play. Related to the platoon split is difficulty against breaking stuff compared to fastballs. He’s hardly alone in that regard, but his whiff rate and production against sliders and curves declines precipitously.

These are the factors underlying his impressive top-line numbers that have kept him out of MLB to date. That and having Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, and Josh Jung as regulars. He was going to make the Majors at some point but would need a break. Unfortunately, the break was an oblique injury to Justin Foscue, but in any case, congratulations to Wendzel.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 9, @ El Paso (SDP) 6
Round Rock: 15 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 5-4, 1 GB

SP Adrian Sampson: 4 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 2 SO, 84 P / 49 S, 5.00 ERA
RP Jonathan Hernandez: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Cole Winn: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 6.75 ERA
3B Dustin Harris: 2-6, 2B, HR (3)
SS Davis Wendzel: 3-5, 2 2B
RF Sandro Fabian: 3-5, 2B, SB (1)
CF Derek Hill: 3-5

Like yesterday, El Paso wasn’t offering outside the zone, and Adrian Sampson issued three free passes and hit a batter in four innings. Antoine Kelly (0.2 IP) and Marc Church (1.2 IP) both surrendered a run on a hit and walk. Kelly was magnificent in his previous outing, but on the whole, neither has given cause to be chosen over Grant Anderson as a relief replacement for Texas.

Dustin Harris hit an inside-the-park homer to right-center. In the early going, the batting hero is Sandro Fabian, who has been the best combination of contact and exit velo, hitting .483/.500/.759 with just three strikeouts in 30 trips to the plate.

Texas signed RHP Codi Heuer, part of the cross-Chicago trade for Craig Kimbrel in July 2021. Heuer had more success after the trade despite worse control, but Tommy John surgery and a subsequent elbow fracture kept him off the mound most of the last two years. He’d been a free agent since November.

AA: Frisco 12, @ Wichita (MIN) 8
Frisco: 14 hits, 6 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 6 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 2-1

SP Nick Krauth: 3.2 IP, 7 H (2 HR), 6 R, 5 BB, 3 SO, 76 P / 40 S, 14.73 ERA
RP Grant Wolfram: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
CF Kellen Strahm: 1-4, 2 BB
DH Liam Hicks: 2-4, 2B, BB
1B Abi Ortiz: 2-4, 2 2B, BB
RF Josh Hatcher: 2-5, 2B, SB (1)
2B Max Acosta: 3-5, 2 2B, SB (1)

Down 6-3 early and 8-7 in the 9th, Frisco scored five to take the series. Abimelec Ortiz’s second double plated Kellen Strahm and Liam Hicks, both of whom had walked. Ortiz also doubled in Hicks in the 1st.

Nick Krauth faced ten batters and threw 35 pitches in a six-run 1st but was allowed to continue and fared well thereafter. 24-year-old Tyler Owens, the return for JP Martinez, struck out three in two scoreless innings. 

Hi-A: Hickory 0, @ Rome (ATL) 3
Hickory: 3 hits, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 7 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 0-3

SP Brock Porter: 2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 2 HBP, 2 SO, 50 P / 23 S, 4.50 ERA
RP Florencio Serrano: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA

Brock Porter had some success with his high fastball, but control was sorely lacking in his 2024 debut. In his pro career covering 71.2 innings, only 39 batters have hits, but 56 have reached on walks or HBPs.

Hickory totaled one run, 16 hits (all singles), and three walks in the three-game series.

Jacob Maton and Larson Kindreich threw scoreless two-K innings.

Lo-A: Down East 7, Lynchburg (CLE) 6 (11)
Down East: 6 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 4 walks, 16 strikeouts
Record: 3-0

SP David Davallilo: 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 59 P / 38 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Alberto Mota: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Bryan Magdaleno: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 SO, 0.00 ERA
3B Gleider Figuereo: 2-5, 2 HR (2)

Catcher Jesus Lopez singled in Echedry Vargas with two out in the 11th.

3B Gleider Figuereo homered in his first two at-bats. He hit nine last year and slugged .323. More is expected in 2024.

I caught David Davallilo on an off day last month. He was in better form under more meaningful circumstances in his first start. Now 21, Davallilo had one successful start for Down East at the end of 2023 after a successful complex league run.

In 2023, Bryan Magdaleno missed plenty of bats but still had trouble keeping runners off base. He had no trouble Sunday, fanning six consecutive batters, five swinging, all with the tying run on second base in extras.

Five Years Ago Yesterday
IF Chris Seise reached safely 11 times in Hickory’s four-game series at Lakewood. To my knowledge, he hasn’t signed anywhere since becoming a free agent last fall.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 2, @ El Paso (SDP) 7
Round Rock: 9 hits, 5 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 9 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 4-4, tied for first

SP Jack Leiter: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 SO, 77 P / 42 S, 3.24 ERA
RP Danny Duffy: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 1.50 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 11.57 ERA
LF Elier Hernandez: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB
3B Dustin Harris: 2-3, HBP, SB (2)

A mixed result for Jack Leiter on a chilly night in El Paso. He struck out six of 16 batters and drew misses on 10 of 29 swings (34%). But on the whole, the Chihuahuas were a patient bunch, forcing deep counts including three straight full counts to open the 4th and end his night early. Leiter’s impressive induced vertical break from the previous start was absent, but we can probably pin most of that on El Paso’s 3,700′ elevation.

Danny Duffy’s fastball is running 88-92, but he’s been effective.

Dustin Harris played third again, fielding a liner and popout.

AA: Frisco 3, @ Wichita (MIN) 13
Frisco: 5 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 14 hits, 8 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 1-1, tied for first

SP Emiliano Teodo: 2.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 49 P / 28 S, 13.50 ERA
LF Aaron Zavala: 1-3, HBP
DH Liam Hicks: 2-3

Emiliano Teodo completed the first two innings on just 19 pitches, but after 30 pitches for just two outs in the 3rd, he was done. The only time he’s shown decent control was last year’s Arizona Fall League, the toughest level of competition he’d faced to date. He’s exciting but has work to do.

Nobody tell Liam Hicks he’s not playing rec-league softball. Maybe he’ll maintain his .778 OBP all season.

Hi-A: Hickory 1, @ Rome (ATL) 4
Hickory: 7 hits, 0 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 0-2, tied for first

SP Aidan Curry: 4 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 67 P / 42 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Jackson Kelley: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Skylatr Hales: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA

Aidan Curry was reasonably effective but didn’t have much help, as the Crawdads committed three errors during his outing (and two more later). Tricky righty Jackson Kelley and hard-throwing Skylar Hales shut down the Emperors for four innings.

Sebastian Walcott blooped a single for his first hit, and six teammates singled, but that would be the extent of the offense.

Lo-A: Down East 1, Lynchburg (CLE) 0
Down East: 4 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 2 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 2-0, tied for first

SP Kolton Curtis: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 SO, 56 P / 32 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Josh Trentadue: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 0.00 ERA
1B Arturo Disla: 1-3, BB

In their full-season debuts, undrafted 19-year-old Kolton Curtis and 2023 14th-rounder Josh Trentadue combined for a two-hit shutout. The 22-year-old Trentadue is out of Southern Idaho. Both had only a handful of pro innings in last year’s complex league.

In the 8th, Echedry Vargas atoned for the previous night’s three-error performance with a two-out RBI double for the game’s only run.

Other News
Texas placed LHP Dylan MacLean on the full-season injured list. The 2020 4th-rounder posted a 3.20 ERA with 75 strikeouts in 76 innings at Down East, often in a tandem with the similarly named DJ McCarty.

Righties Josh Stephan and Jose Corniell are on the seven-day IL along with IF Keyber Rodriguez and OF Alejandro Osuna.

The White Sox designated reliever Alex Speas for assignment (to make room for OF Robbie Grossman) and traded him to Oakland.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Sampson
AA: Krauth
Hi-A: Porter
Lo-A: TBA

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Down East’s Leody Taveras collected his third multi-hit night in three games. Demarcus Evans fanned a side in order on 12 pitches.

Justin Foscue made his MLB debut, subbing for 2B Marcus Semien in last night’s dismantling of Houston. Foscue swung at the first pitch he saw and popped to deep second. A pop to him ended the game.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 4, @ El Paso (SDP) 5
Round Rock: 11 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts
Record: 4-3

SP Owen White: 4.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 1 SO, 75 P / 43 S, 8.64 ERA
RP Jonathan Hernandez: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
SS Davis Wendzel: 2-4, HR (3), BB
1B Blaine Crim: 2-4, HR (2)

I had the “if you hold El Paso scoreless in El Paso for five innings, I don’t care how you did it” narrative ready for Owen White, but his 5th was a buzzsaw. Two singles, a hit batter, a triple off the wall, and a walk ended his night. His velocity was slightly up compared to his first start, peaking at 96, and he missed bats on four out-of-zone sliders. On the whole, he hasn’t allowed excessively hard contact, but opponents are lining the ball into play with some frequency.

In a 4-4- tie, Round Rock loaded the bases in the 9th but couldn’t score. In the bottom half, El Paso plated the winning run on an infield single and a hard liner that CF Derek Hill initially stepped in toward, only to watch it sail over his head.

Dustin Harris made his first start at third in three years. He’d worked out there in March and made at least one start in an intersquad game. I received an third-party report of credible play but unfortunately witnessed nothing notable myself. Harris was involved in four plays last night including a 5-3 double-play grounder, a routine play for any half-decent 3B, but he made it, too. Harris also leapt to snare a hard chopper down the line and nearly threw the runner out.

Davis Wendzel has only three hard-hit balls this season, but all three have earned a 360-ft. jog.

AA: Frisco 6, @ Wichita (MIN) 4
Frisco: 10 hits, 8 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 5 walks, 14 strikeouts
Record: 1-0

SP Dane Acker: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 65 P / 44 S, 1.93 ERA
RP Ben Anderson: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RF Aaron Zavala: 2-4, 2B, BB, SB (1)
C Liam Hicks: 2-2, 2B, BB
CF Kellen Stahm: 2-4, BB
SS Max Acosta: 2-4, BB

Dane Acker faced one over the minimum through four. Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa, aka “Bubba,” aka “Hoop,” shone in his AA debut. The last name is hoh-oh-pee-ee too-ee-oh-neh-toh-ah. No dipthongs in Hawaiian. Every vowel is pronounced.

Aaron Zavala had the first of what I hope are a high number of multi-hit games Last year he had 14 versus 44 zero-hit games, en route to a .194 average. After taking a curve for strike three in his first at-bat, he offered slightly off-balance at the same pitch next time, hit it off the end of the bat, and still collected a deep opposite-field double. Liam Hicks, OBP King of the Arizona Fall League, reached safely in all five trips trips to the plate.

The Wind Surge employ ex-Rangers AJ Alexy and Scott Engler, both of whom appeared last night. Alexy walked six and allowed five of Frisco’s runs in 3.1 innings. His extreme wildness last year impelled his release from the White Sox and a spell in indy ball last year. Engler walked two in an inning but escaped.

Hi-A: Hickory 0, @ Rome (ATL) 4
Hickory: 3 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 0-1

SP Winston Santos: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 68 P / 50 S, 1.80 ERA
RP Luis Ramirez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA

Braves prospect Owen Murphy, picked 20th overall in 2022, allowed four runners and fanned eight over 6.2. At DH, Sebastian Walcott was hitless with two strikeouts. He reached on a slowish grounder that the 3B couldn’t handle. I thought it a tough play that might warrant a hit, but no. SS Cam Cauley struck out three times in four trips to the plate. CF Anthony Gutierrez, 1B Tucker Mitchell, and 2B Ben Blackwell singled.

Sticking at Hickory for a second year, Winston Santos is trying for the breakout season that eluded him in 2023. He walked two in the 3rd but overall was quietly, solidly effective.

Rome still has the Braves as a parent but dropped the marketing affiliation, adopting the nickname Emperors with a penguin as a mascot. Not bad. CF Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. reached second on a single and throw, faced his dugout and… waddled. The Braves have a middle infielder in AAA named Luke Waddell. They must demote him to Rome.

Lo-A: Down East 7, Lynchburg (CLE) 6
Down East: 8 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 5 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 1-0

SP Brayan Mendoza: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 67 P / 38 S, 2.25 ERA
RP Wilian Bormie: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 3.38 ERA
2B Danyer Cueva: 2-4, SB (1)
DH Julian Brock: 3-4, 2B, 3B

LF Tommy Specht (1-4) plated two in the 1st. 2023 8th-round catcher Julian Brock turns 23 in June and was a strong college hitter. Not to say low-A is a cakewalk, but Brock might have some fun at this level.

Undrafted Mercer alum Ryan Lobus made his full-season debut in the 5th and surrendered a run on a Danyer Cueva error and double.

Two insurance runs in the 8th would prove useful. Up 7-4 in the 9th, sidearmer Luke Savage allowed a walk and homer before recording an out, then surrendered another walk and single. Permitted to work through the situation, Savage induced a final groundout. He was a 2021 pick limited by injury to minimal pro experience before now, and to be honest I’d forgotten his existence until I watched an impressive outing in March.

Echedry Vargas, who I talked up more than anyone in Surprise, was 0-4 with a strikeout and three errors at shortstop. Tomorrow is another day.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Leiter
AA: Teodo
Hi-A: Curry
Lo-A: TBA

Five Years Ago Yesterday
In his full-season debut, Emmanuel Clase worked a clean inning on 14 pitches for high-A Down East. Maybe you’re not in the mood to relieve Clase’s exploits prior to his trade to Cleveland. I won’t overdo it. New-to-Texas reliever Grant Anderson threw two perfect innings for low-A Hickory in relief of Jacob Latz.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 10, @ El Paso (SDP) 2
Round Rock: 15 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 4 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 4-2, 1 GB

SP Michael Lorenzen: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 70 P / 41 S, 5.40 ERA
RP Antoine Kelly: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 20.25 ERA
3B Davis Wendzel: 2-4, HR (2)
C Sam Huff: 1-3, 2B, 2 BB
1B Blaine Crim: 1-4, HR (1)
RF Sandro Fabian: 2-5, HR (1)
SS Jonathan Ornelas: 4-5, 2B, 3B, SB (1)
LF Trevor Hauver: 2-4, BB

Michael Lorenzen produced another credible start before his return to MLB, which might come early next week. He’s walked or hit more than usual despite strong strike and missed-bat rates. Regardless, he seems fine.

The Chihuahuas swung and missed at six of Antoine Kelly’s seven fastballs as well as their one swing at his slider. Most of his heaters were 98 and high in the zone. He’s not first in line as a Texas bullpen replacement, and in general I don’t think the Rangers are in a hurry to promote him, but he can certainly put himself in a position to make his MLB debut with outings like this.

The Express have scored at least eight runs in five consecutive games and lead the league with a .555 slugging percentage. A bunch of familiar faces are back from last year’s offense, which posted a 106 OPS+ and 4% more runs than the park-adjusted league average.

Other News
Dane Acker, Emiliano Teodo, and Nick Krauth will head Frisco’s rotation this weekend at Wichita.
Aidan Curry and Brock Porter will follow Opening Day starter Winston Santos in high-A Hickory’s series at Rome.

Elsewhere
IF Rougned Odor signed a minor deal with the Yankees.
Seattle signed RHP CJ Widger, Texas’s 2021 10th-rounder released late last month.

Sacto
The Oakland A’s announced a three-year residency in Sacramento while their park in Las Vegas is built (if it’s built). Most coverage has focused on the A’s, but I’ve wondered more about the impact on the AAA Sacramento RiverCats.

In 2021, Minor League baseball instituted a simple six-days-a-week schedule that doesn’t jibe at all with the MLB schedule, which includes homestands that could commence any day of the week except Saturday and Sunday and last from three to over ten days. To date there hasn’t been any coordination between MLB and minor league schedules because it hasn’t been needed. Now, the scheduling powers that be will have to mesh these formats without causing major disruptions to these teams and others in MLB and the Pacific Coast League. Best of luck.

The RiverCats are affiliated with the Giants, not the A’s. If I’m the owner of the Giants, I’m happy to have the Bay area to myself, but if I’m in their baseball ops, I’m concerned about the impact of sharing the AAA facility. Might the RiverCats be forced to play at irregular times including day games following night games? Would the schedule be broken into more and shorter series, requiring more travel? Would practice facilities sometimes be off-limits because the A’s were using them, or because they were undergoing renovation to align them more with MLB standards? Anything decreasing the AAA location’s desirability for developing future big-leaguers would irritate me greatly, especially when the culprit is the clownishly obtuse ownership of the A’s.

If I own or work for the RiverCats, I’m similarly concerned about these disruptions. Are my travel costs going to increase? Is a jagged schedule with more day games going to depress attendance along with parking, concessions, and merchandise revenues? Are new administrative headaches going to burden staff already working long hours, multi-tasking and putting out brush fires? (I should note that RiverCats owner Vivek Ranadive, who also owns the NBA Kings, oversaw the move and is pals with A’s owner John Fisher, so I guess he’s cool with everything. Conversely, the RiverCats’ president offered a combination of befuddlement and defiance.)

Fisher called Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park “intimate,” and that’s true, but it’s a double-edged sword. Look, I love minor league parks as much as anyone, but they’re not equipped to handle Major League operations. Everything is smaller. Clubhouses, weight facilities, batting cages, etc. The clubhouses aren’t attached to the dugouts. The bullpens have no restrooms. The press box has booths for two broadcast crews, but an MLB game typically requires at least five (tv and radio for both teams, plus a home Spanish crew). Virtually everyone will have to office off-site.

I’m sure there’s numerous other issues that haven’t yet occurred to me. Usually, folks find a way to muddle through such situations. But it could really be a mess.

Today’s Starters
AAA: White
AA: Acker
Hi-A: Santos
Lo-A: B. Mendoza

Five Years Ago Yesterday
The four starters (Taylor Hearn, Brock Burke, Tyler Phillips, Hans Crouse) combined for 17.2 innings, 14 hits, 6 runs, 0 walks, and 19 strikeouts. Phillips provided the best line, fanning four in five scoreless innings.