Category: Daily Report

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 7, Albuquerque (COL) 10
Round Rock: 9 hits, 5 walks, 17 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 11-5, tied for first

SP Jake Latz: 4 IP, 9 H (4 HR), 6 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 83 P / 57 S, 4.74 ERA
RP Ryder Ryan: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO, 1.80 ERA
SS Josh Smith: 1-3, .246/.328/.386
C Yohel Pozo: 2-3, HR (1), HBP, .279/.326/.395

Round Rock trailed 6-0 early but made a game of it, even putting the winning run at the plate with one out in the 9th, but Sam Huff and Sherten Apostel both struck out. Huff, in fact, struck out in all five at-bats. Weirdly, he had only three swinging strikes, but the majority of pitches he stared at were called strikes. Huff has a 40% strikeout rate.

Bubba Thompson singled twice, and Davis Wendzel reached on a single and walk.

AA: Frisco 2, NW Arkansas (KAN) 11
Frisco: 8 hits, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 6 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 10-3, 2 G up

SP Cody Bradford: 2.1 IP, 6 H (2 HR), 10 R, 4 BB, 1 HBP, 3 SO, 67 P / 37 S, 10.80 ERA
RP Seth Nordlin: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 3.27 ERA
RP Lucas Jacbosen: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
SS Jonathan Ornelas: 3-5, .348/.362/.348
DH Blaine Crim: 1-3, HR (1), BB, .326/.380/.465

Me, two weeks ago: “Sometimes a single terrible outing can wipe out a reliever’s ERA. My favorite example is John Smoltz back in 2002. He allowed eight runs in 0.2 innings in early April and needed three months of quality outings (including 37 saves!) just to drag his ERA below 4.00.” Cody Bradford isn’t a reliever, but he’s in this predicament.

My memory of Jonathan Ornelas’s 2021 was faulty. I would have described his season in Hickory as up and down, but in fact he batted .300/.356/.485 during the final three months in Hickory, and he’s off to a similar if power-deprived start in Frisco.

Blaine Crim has his first homer. Crim had a stretch of 25 homerless games at Hickory last year, during which he, Ornelas, and his pals were one of minor league ball’s worst-hitting teams. That I remember correctly. Point being, Crim went deep 29 times last year despite the arid patch, so I wouldn’t worry about his lack of power at present.

High-A: Hickory 3, at Wilmington (WAS) 10
Hickory: 8 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 5-8, 4 GB

SP Owen White: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 4 SO, 70 P / 44 S, 4.38 ERA
1B Jake Guenther: 2-3, 2B, HR (2), .276/.400/.517

For the first time since last August, Owen White had trouble throwing strikes. His season walk rate is still a hair below 10%, which in 2022 qualifies as better than average. Guenther, part of the Nate Lowe trade, is 25 next month and mostly a 1B, so games like this are exactly what he needs.

Low-A: Down East 6, at Columbia (KAN) 2
Down East: 12 hits, 3 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 6-7, 3 GB

SP Josh Stephan: 4 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 2 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 81 P / 49 S, 2.77 ERA
RP Michael Brewer: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Destin Doston: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Teodoro Ortega: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 11.57 ERA
LF Alejandro Osuna: 4-5, 2 SB (6), .273/.368/.364
CF Yosy Galan: 1-4, BB, SB (2), .231/.333/.385
2B Junior Paniagua: 2-4, 2B, .172/.273/.241

Down East scored four on four hits in the 10th. Yosy Galan plated two with a single up the middle. He’s known mostly for power, but Galan has 18 steals in 59 pro games and has played CF sparingly.

Abimelec Ortiz threw out two runners at the plate from right field, and catcher Eferenyer Narvaez picked off a runner at first. .

Today’s Starters
AAA: Arihara
AA: Leiter
Hi-A: Englert
Lo-A: TBD

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Round Rock’s Tyler Wagner and Iowa’s Jake Buchanan combined for 6.2 innings, 23 runners allowed and 158 pitches. It wasn’t pretty. Ronald Guzman improved to .349/.388/.476 with two hits.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 6, Albuquerque (COL) 1
Round Rock: 10 hits, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 11-4, 1 G up

SP Tyson Miller: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 61 P / 36 S, 0.90 ERA
RP Nick Tropeano: 3 IP, 1 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 5.00 ERA
RP Hever Bueno: 2 IP, 1 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 2.25 ERA
CF Leody Taveras: 2-4, 2B, .421/.441/.702
1B Matt Carpenter: 2-4, 3B, HR (2), .306/.390/.583

Josh Smith singled twice. So far, he’s started five times at short, five at third, and three in center.

Tyson Miller pitched well in place of Glenn Otto, who was recalled to start for Texas tonight. Miller hadn’t pitched in six days, so I suspect he was prepped for 2-3 innings regardless.

Hever Bueno entered with none out and the bases loaded in the 8th. After a a soft fly dropped in for a run, Bueno retired the side with no further damage and worked a clean 9th.

OF Joe McCarthy signed with Orix in Japan, concluding his odd weeks-long limbo. We’ll always have Surprise, Joe. Reliever Greg Holland elected free agency after clearing waivers.

AA: Frisco 12, NW Arkansas (KAN) 2
Frisco: 13 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 2 hits, 9 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 10-2, 3 G up

SP Justin Slaten: 4 IP, 2 H (2 HR), 2 R, 5 BB, 5 SO, 72 P / 39 S, 4.00 ERA
DH Ezequiel Duran: 2-5, 2 2B, .289/.347/.489
2B Justin Foscue: 2-4, 2B, HR (1)
SS Jonathan Ornelas: 3-4, .317/.333/.317
3B Diosbel Arias: 2-4, 2 HR, (2), .241/.353/.483

Back fully healed, Justin Foscue knocked a pitch just over the fence to score Ezequiel Duran, Dustin Harris (1-4) and Blaine Crim (1-3, BB). Unlike last year, Jonathan Ornelas hasn’t played in the outfield, so he’s sharing short with Duran, who’s also splitting time with Foscue at second. Duran hasn’t played at third yet.

Justin Slaten allowed two solo homers. Long balls were a problem for him last year: a system-high 17 in 82 innings, just shy of one per two times through the order.

High-A: Hickory 5, at Wilmington (WAS) 2
Hickory: 8 hits, 6 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 5-7, 4 GB

SP Nick Krauth: 4 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 2 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 68 P / 43 S, 6.75 ERA
RP Triston Polley: 3 IP, 2 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 2.89 ERA
RP Spencer Mraz: 2 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 5.79 ERA
DH Evan Carter: 2-3, 2B, 3B, 2 BB, HBP, .342/.458/.500
LF Trevor Hauver: 1-1, 2B, 2 BB, .158/.472/.368

Evan Carter reached safely four times. Keith Law of The Athletic saw the Crawdads on Tuesday. His review of Carter wasn’t outright negative, but he did note that both of Carter’s singles could have been outs with better defense, and his one walk was solely on a wild pitcher. He did describe Carter’s approach as “passive.” More disconcertingly, Law reported Ricky Vanasco’s fastball velocity was in the 89-93 range, well below his pre-surgery level. We’ll see how that develops.

Lefty Triston Polley is one of those guys picked in 2019 who I still don’t know much about because of covid and my absence from Arizona. Statistically, he’s all over the map: extremely walk-prone at Indiana State, then extraordinarily precise at short-season Spokane in 2019 (2 walks, 32 strikeouts), wild again last year, solid in 2022.

Trevor Hauver and Aaron Zavala (0-4, BB) co-lead the league with 13 walks.

Low-A: Down East 1, at Columbia (KAN) 10
Down East: 5 hits, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 6 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 5-7, 3 GB

SP Robby Ahlstrom: 3.1 IP, 5 H ,5 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 53 P / 38 S, 12.00 ERA
C Tucker Mitchell: 1-3, BB, .273/.467/.318

Down East has used eight starters in 12 games with an average of 56 pitches and 3.1 innings. I imagine personnel will dictate the decisions, but given the large rosters, we could be looking at a small subset of genuine “starters” plus a slew of guys who just happen to be getting the ball first and will give 3-4 innings.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Latz
AA: Bradford
Hi-A: White
Lo-A: Stephan

Five Years Ago Yesterday
OF Leody Taveras hit his third homer and IF Anderson Tejeda his second in a 15-6 thrashing of Kannapolis. I’ve not seen any word of Tejeda finding employment since St. Louis released him on the 4th.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 14, Albuquerque (COL) 1
Round Rock: 16 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 10-4, tied for first

SP Cole Winn: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 75 P / 47 S, 1.38 ERA
RP Jason Bahr: 2 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 11.81 ERA
RP Dan Winkler: 2 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 1.69 ERA
3B Josh Smith: 2-4, 2B, HR (2), .220/.291/.380
LF Leody Taveras: 2-5, HR (3), .415/.436/.660
C Sam Huff: 2-3, 2B, HR (3), 2 HBP, .261/.320/.500
SS Davis Wendzel: 3-5, HR (3), .286/.364/.531
1B Matt Carpenter: 3-5, 2B, .281/.378/.438

On an Education Day special, the wind was blowing hard out to left, Albuquerque’s pitchers were of, shall we say, varying quality, and Round Rock put on a show for the youngsters.

Sam Huff hit the longest homer I think I’ve ever seen in person, exactly 500 feet per Trackman. The blast rebounded off the scoreboard behind the home bullpen and concourse about 20-30 feet up. Huff leads the team with 11 balls hit in excess of 101 MPH. He’s striking out in 34% of his plate appearances and has walked only twice, so it’s all or nothing, but the all is truly something. Huff had been plunked in his first two trips to the plate, emphatically tossing his bat aside after the second one. He followed that with a scorched double and the homer. It’s not wise to upset a Wookie.

Later on, Davis Wendzel hit his hardest ball of the season (107 MPH) in the same direction, if not quite as far. Wendzel also turned an exceptional 6-3 force on a grounder deep to his left. Josh Smith, who like Wendzel started slow, had two of his better swings that resulted in a homer and double.

Leody Taveras homered just beyond the 407 sign in right-center. Taveras is making an ample amount of solid contact, and even a goodly number of his softer swings have been driven just over the infielders’ heads for singles. I don’t foresee an immediate promotion despite the situation in Arlington. Unless he’s going to play regularly, better to keep on trucking in AAA.

Cole Winn was fine, if not as scintillating as Alexy the day before. I hadn’t seen him in person this season until yesterday. He’s switched the majority of his non-fastballs in each start: sliders on the 8th, curves the 14th, and changeups on the 20th. Winn threw 13 righty-righty changes, including three of his six swinging strikes. Only seven MLB starters have thrown more of that variety in a single outing during 2022. Winn’s change is often firm and the quality varies. Sometimes he pulled the string and induced a silly-looking swing. Sometimes he planted it firmly on the low-outside corner; it’s effectively a low-and-away fastball at 84 instead of 93. In those cases, the pitch has nothing but the speed differential working for it, but when he sells it, that’s enough. Righties swung at eight, put three in play and collected one hit. Much more than the average AAA pitcher, Winn appears to be workshopping pitches and sequences. His righty–righty change on a 3-1 count might be less common than a 500-ft. homer. He got a call on that pitch and followed with another change for a swinging strikeout.

Farewell to Andrew Felts, employee of the Round Rock Express for seven years and primary media man since March 2018. Aubrey Losack takes his place.

AA: Frisco 2, NW Arkansas (KAN) 7
Frisco: 4 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 6 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 9-2, 3 G up

SP Avery Weems: 3 IP, 3 H (2 HR), 3 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 64 P / 39 S, 14.29 ERA
RP Grant Anderson: 3 IP, 1 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 6 SO, 3.86 ERA
LF Dustin Harris: 2-4, HR (1), .308/.333/.410

Dustin Harris had three hits (.143 average) in his first five games and nine hits (.500 average) in his last five games.

High-A: Hickory 0, at Wilmington (WAS) 3
Hickory: 2 hits, 2 walks, 15 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts
Record: 4-7, 5 GB

SP Ben Anderson: 4 IP, 4 H ,2 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 70 P / 38 S, 2.70 ERA
RP John Matthews: 3 IP, 0 H ,1 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 6.35 ERA
2B Frainyer Chavez: 2-3, .364/.462/.364

Frainyer Chavez’s two singles were the only hits, and the last 13 went down in order.

Ricky Vanasco did not hit nine batters yesterday as indicated in my report. My copy editor is a perpetual disappointment.

Low-A: Down East 7, at Columbia (KAN) 0
Down East: 9 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 7 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 5-6, 3 GB

SP Bradford Webb: 4 IP, 3 H ,0 R, 2 BB, 7 SO, 67 P / 41 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Emiliano Teodo: 2.2 IP, 0 H , 0 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Luis Tejada: 2 IP, 1 H ,0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 3.24 ERA
DH Tucker Mitchell: 2-4, 2B, SB (1), .263/.462/.316
3B Derwin Barreto: 2-4, 2 HR, (2), .273/.360/.591

Derwin Barreto hopped as needed between Frisco, Hickory, and the rookie complex last year. He hit well in Arizona (.324/.490/.514 in 13 games) but isn’t known for power.

Bradford Webb, last year’s 7th-rounder out of Virginia Commonwealth, pitched well on his 24th birthday.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Otto
AA: Slaten
Hi-A: Krauth
Lo-A: TBD

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Joe Palumbo was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament and would undergo surgery. I remember listening to the game on the radio when he was pulled mid-batter. By my unofficial calculation, the Rangers and all four of their full-season squads had a losing record for the first time in nearly 11 years.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 3, Albuquerque (COL) 2
Round Rock: 9 hits, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 2 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 9-4, tied for first

SP AJ Alexy: 5 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 1 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 78 P / 53 S, 3.75 ERA
RP Jesus Tinoco: 2 IP, 2 H ,0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
1B Sherten Apostel: 2-4, HR (1), .250/.250/.625
C Yohel Pozo: 3-3, 2B, .250/.289/.306

Last time out, I’d mentioned that AJ Alexy wasn’t going to hasten his return to Arlington by walking a batter per inning. Last night just might. Showing his best control of the season by far, Alexy carried a no-hitter into the 5th. Against a lineup with just one lefty, Alexy unleashed a slider nearly one-third of the time, generating misses with the down/out version and getting several favorable calls with a sweepy type. The lone run came on a homer off a first-pitch curve. Alexy uses the curve to grab an early strike, as many batters let the pitch pass once they see some bend. Albuquerque’s Taylor Snyder thought differently and found a curve higher in the zone than Alexy probably intended.

The Dallas Morning News has a quote from manager Chris Woodward about the bullpen saying “I think our options are here, right now. I don’t think it’s a matter of replacing them.” That’s as may be, but barring rapid improvement by some of the current roster, changes are coming, and Alexy’s goal is to be atop the list as a starting or relieving option when the time comes. (I would reiterate that the state of the MLB staff isn’t material to Cole Winn’s eventual debut.)

In his first plate appearance since being outrighted, Sherten Apostel barreled through a Dillon Overton change for a homer. He later singled on the hardest-hit ball of the night by either side. CF Bubba Thompson (1-4) dropped in a surprising two-out, two-on bunt in the 7th to plate the go-ahead run.

Round Rock turned a rare 9-6 force-out. With runners on 1st and 2nd in the 9th, DJ Peterson’s shallow fly landed just beyond Thompson’s grasp, but RF Zach Reks was nearby to throw out the lead runner who couldn’t stray far from second for fear of being doubled off.

SUNDAY’S GAME
AAA: Round Rock 6, at Sugar Land (HOU) 3
Round Rock: 12 hits, 5 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 0 walks, 13 strikeouts

SP Kohei Arihara: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 73 P / 56 S, 5.25 ERA
RP Nick Tropeano: 2 IP, 1 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 7.50 ERA
RP Hever Bueno: 2 IP, 1 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 6 SO, 3.00 ERA
LF Bubba Thompson: 2-5, 2B
CF Leody Taveras: 3-5
1B Matt Carpenter: 2-5, 2B, HR (1)

Everyone had Monday off, and only Round Rock played Sunday. I had some travel and catch-up work earlier this week, so here’s Sunday:

Matt Carpenter hit a three-run homer in the 9th to break the tie. Hever Bueno had one of those special days. Sugar Land’s best bet was to save their energy for the next series. Bueno mixed a 95-98 fastball and mid-80s slider. The heater is on the straight side, but when he’s locating it and the slider at the same time, the uphill/downhill tandem leaves hitters guessing badly.

“He’ll pitch in the Majors” and “he won’t get out of short-season ball” were both credible opinions of Bueno in 2017, the year after Texas picked him in the 9th round out of Arizona State. Now in his walk year, Bueno has thrown only 133 pro innings thanks to injuries, covid, and his own wildness. Bueno dropped his walk rate to a manageable 10.6% in 2021 at Frisco, and he’s issued a single freebie in six AAA innings. He and the staff deserve a lot of credit for how he’s progressed. Now, the goal is to pitch like that all the time. No easy task. Sunday was an MLB-worthy effort, but I’ve seen so many players look like Major Leaguers one-third to one-half of the time. Consistency is everything. What finally got Joe Barlow to the Majors last year was pitching like Bueno’s Sunday outing in virtually every appearance.

AA: Frisco 4, NW Arkansas (KAN) 3
Frisco: 9 hits, 6 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 2 hits, 6 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 9-1, 3 G up

SP Kevin Gowdy: 2.1 IP, 1 H (1 HR), 2 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 0 SO, 44 P / 26 S, 5.06 ERA
RP Seth Nordlin: 2.2 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 5.14 ERA
RP Fernery Ozuna: 1.2 IP, 1 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Chase Lee: 1 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
LF Dustin Harris: 2-4, SB (3), .286/.316/.314
2B Justin Foscue: 1-3
RF Josh Stowers: 2-3, 2B, BB, .375/.429/.500

Justin Foscue singled in his first game since being slowed by a back injury. Chase Lee and Fernery Ozuna (and Lucas Jacobsen, AND don’t forget catcher Jordan Procyshen) have yet to allow a run.

League-wide scoring is up a run per game in the early going; Frisco’s 3.9 allowed per contest is the best. The Riders haven’t surrendered an unearned run. They also haven’t thrown out a base-stealer (0-for-17).

High-A: Hickory 7, at Wilmington (WAS) 5
Hickory: 8 hits, 6 walks, 15 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 10 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 4-6, 5 GB

SP Ricky Vanasco: 2.1 IP, 2 H ,1 R, 4 BB, 3 SO, 53 P / 25 S, 9.00 ERA
RP Joe Corbett: 2 IP, 1 H ,1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 4.26 ERA
CF Evan Carter: 2-4, BB, .344/.436/.438
RF Aaron Zavala: 1-4, 3B, BB, .172/.415/.241
2B Cristian Inoa: 1-2, 2B, BB, HBP, SB (1), .379/.486/.621
DH Chris Seise: 2-4, 2B, .269/.367/.538

Aside form a couple of starts at low-A Hickory to conclude 2019, Ricky Vanasco’s control has never been good, and the start of his post-TJ career hasn’t been any different. Patience.

Evan Carter is a teenager in high-A, and last year’s injury that limited him to 32 games doesn’t appear to have slowed his progress at all. Who knows where Chris Seise would be without all his injuries, but he too is off to a nice start.

Low-A: Down East 6, at Columbia (KAN) 4
Down East: 9 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 5 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 4-6, 3 GB

SP Gavin Collyer: 0.2 IP, 0 H ,2 R, 4 BB, 1 HBP, 2 SO, 34 P / 13 S, 14.40 ERA
RP Bubba Hoopii-Tuionetoa: 3 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 8 SO, 3.00 ERA
RF Marcus Smith: 1-4, HR (1), .091/.286/.227
DH Jose Rodriguez: 2-4, BB, .174/.296/.174
C Enfrenyer Narvaez: 1-4, HR (2), .185/.214/.519
LF Alejandro Osuna: 1-3, 2B, BB, 2 SB (4), .192/.276/.308

Bubba Hoopii-Tuionetoa retired nine straight and fanned eight on 38 pitches, 30 for strikes. Most impressive by far was a mid-90s fastball to which he applied ride or sink as desired. He also threw six tight curves, all strikes, three swinging. Least effective was his change, all four of which pushed too far outside to tease a swing.

Houston-affiliated Fayetteville’s pitching staff has a combined BB/HBP rate of 22%, totally beyond the pale of any acceptable human conduct.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Winn
AA: Weems
Hi-A: Anderson
Lo-A: TBD

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Not a terribly exciting day, the the system did have future Major Leaguers starting for every full-season squad: Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Ariel Jurado, Pedro Payano and Jonathan Hernandez.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 6, @ Sugar Land (HOU) 3
Round Rock: 11 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 7 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 7-4, tied for first

SP Jake Latz: 6 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 1 R, 5 BB, 5 SO, 84 P / 48 S, 2.40 ERA
RP Ryder Ryan: 2 IP, 2 H ,1 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 1.50 ERA
LF Leody Taveras: 2-5, HR (2)
SS Davis Wendzel: 2-4, 2B, HR (2)
2B Nick Tanielu: 2-4, HR (2)

Latz suffered minimal permanent damage despite a homer and five walks. He threw a whopping 26 changeups: 7 for swinging strikes, 4 called strikes, 8 for balls, 4 put in play for outs, the rest fouls. Everything else was close to a 50/50 proposition on balls and strikes.

Wendzel has warmed to .250/.341/.472 after a slow start. Taveras has raced out of the gate (.410/.439/.667); nearly half of his balls in play have been 95+ MPH.

AA: Frisco 4, @ San Antonio (SDG) 3
Frisco: 12 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts
Opponent: 2 hits, 5 walks, 6 strikeouts

SP Jack Leiter: 4 IP, 1 H ,1 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, 75 P / 42 S, 2.57 ERA
RP Nick Starr: 1.1 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 1.80 ERA
2B Jonathan Ornelas: 2-4
SS Ezeuqiel Duran: 2-4, 2B
1B Blaine Crim: 2-4
RF Kellen Strahm: 2-3

Leiter matched the form of his first start. I couldn’t make the trip to San Antonio but peeked on MiLB.tv as best I could. Leiter walked the opening batter on five pitches and two straight in a later inning, mostly pulling his fastball outside against righties. As before, trying to eke out walks was the opposition’s best strategy, because he was virtually unhittable otherwise.

If the thought is “I love what I’m seeing, but why all the walks,” this isn’t new. As a junior at Vandy, Leiter allowed 48 hits and a combined 58 walks and hit batters while striking out 179. That’s a .129/.241/.250 opposing line with a 13% BB/HBP rate and 42% SO rate. His control was often iffy, and that’s something he’ll be working on. Also, as good as the SEC Conference is, it’s not Double A.

Meanwhile, his teammates banged out a bunch of singles against Thomas Eshelman, who pitched an abbreviated complete game.

AA: Frisco 4, @ San Antonio (SDG) 1
Frisco: 8 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 8-1, 2 G up

SP Cole Ragans: 4.1 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 1 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 71 P / 43 S, 1.17 ERA
RP Lucas Jacobsen: 1 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
CF JP Martinez: 1-2, BB, HBP, 2 SB (4)

Ragans squelched the Missions nearly as well as Leiter, leading to a doubleheader sweep and a six-game series sweep. The two goals for Ragans are 1) to pitch as well as he did early last season, and 2) build some stamina to avoid last year’s sharp fade. To be clear, I’m not criticizing that fade, given how the universe has been aligned against him for the past several years.

Grant Anderson, he of the three consecutive homers allowed in Leiter’s first start, retired five of seven, and Lucas Jacobsen was again untouchable.

JP Martinez made up for being the only hitless Rider in the opener.

High-A: Hickory 3, Bowling Green (TAM) 6
Hickory: 9 hits, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts

SP Mason Englert: 4.2 IP, 3 H ,3 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 5 SO, 74 P / 49 S, 7.88 ERA
SS Keyber Rodriguez: 1-3, BB, SB (1)
RF Aaron Zavala: 1-2, 2 BB
3B Thomas Saggese: 2-4, 2B
CF Angel Aponte: 2-3, 2B

Englert started well but was hit late, and two bequeathed runners scored off John Matthews.

Aaron Zavala is branching out into hitting in addition to hoarding walks. Walking more than hitting is rare but it happens. Jayce Easley and Yonny Hernandez accomplished the feat last year. At the moment, Zavala has 11 walks and four hits and has a .160/.417/.160 line. Trevor Hauver is in the same funky boat: .133/.481/.333 with two hits and ten walks.

High-A: Hickory 4, Bowling Green (TAM) 9
Hickory: 6 hits, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts
Record: 3-6, 5 GB

SP TK Roby: 4.2 IP, 8 H (2 HR), 7 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 62 P / 50 S, 9.00 ERA
CF Evan Carter: 2-3, HBP, SB (2)
DH Aaron Zavala: 1-3, BB
LF Trevor Hauver: 1-1, 2 BB

In the early going, Evan Carter isn’t striking out nearly as much as last year. Five in 28 trips to the plate so far.

Bowling Green (8-1) was one of the best high-A teams in history last year, and they seem committed to a repeat in 2022.

Low-A: Down East 1, Kannapolis (CHW) 5
Down East: 4 hits, 2 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts

SP Larson Kindreich: 4 IP, 3 H ,1 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 69 P / 38 S, 1.50 ERA
SS Maximo Acosta: 2-3, SB (1)

Kannapolis reached Nick Lockhart (2 IP, 4 R) after Kindreich departed, and Down East again didn’t hit much.

Low-A: Down East 3, Kannapolis (CHW) 2
Down East: 5 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 3-6, 4.5 GB

SP Victor Santos: 5 IP, 5 H ,2 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 5 SO, 70 P / 44 S, 5.63 ERA
RP Destin Dotson: 1.1 IP, 1 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Michael Brewer: 1.2 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
CF Daniel Mateo: 3-4, 2 SB (2)

Daniel Mateo singled in gift runner Jose Acosta on the first pitch in the bottom of the 8th, abruptly giving the Woodies a split. Victor Santos did everyone a favor with five solid innings on just 70 pitches.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Arihara
AA: off
Hi-A: off
Lo-A: off

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 7, @ Sugar Land (HOU) 2
Round Rock: 9 hits, 7 walks, 14 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 6-4, tied for first
SP Glenn Otto: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 53 P / 33 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Tyson Miller: 4 IP, 2 H ,1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 1.29 ERA
3B Josh Smith: 2-5
CF Bubba Thompson: 3-5

Glenn Otto held the Space Cowboys (adieu, Skeeters) scoreless and nearly hitless for four innings. Notably, Otto threw nearly as many curves (10) as sliders (12) and generated two of his three swinging strikes with that pitch. It runs the same speed as his slider (low 80s), has nice depth and sometimes a little slidery run. It certainly provides a different look that makes the upstairs fastball stand out.

Tyson Miller frustrates hitters a his low-slot delivery that looks like it’s coming in from third base. I’ve seen him pitch very well at times, and he might deserve another MLB look at some point. The “might help” group is pretty large.

Bubba Thompson isn’t hitting with Huffian force (no one is) but is making solid contact and isn’t striking out so much (11 in 41 trips). He’s still looking for his first walk. But like my daughter who immediately calls for a parent whenever she misplaces something, he might not be looking very hard. The walks are wherever you put them last, Bubba, keep looking

AA: Frisco 7, @ San Antonio (SDG) 3
Frisco: 13 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 6 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 6-1, 1.5 G up

SP Cody Bradford: 5 IP, 3 H ,2 R, 3 BB, 5 SO, 73 P / 48 S, 3.86 ERA
RP Fernery Ozuna: 1.2 IP, 2 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Chase Lee: 1 IP, 1 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
1B Blaine Crim: 4-5, 2 2B
LF Dustin Harris: 3-4, 2B
C David Garcia: 2-3

Bradford’s three walks match a career high. His motif is control and command,

Chase Lee did what he does. Fernery Ozuna has fanned ten of his first 22 batters. Last year, Ozuna had a pretty good walk rate (8.6%) combined with enough hit batters (4% rate) to push his overall control into the below-average category.

AA pitchers hadn’t received the memo about Dustin Harris’s borderline top-100 prospect status. He was batting .143 with a walk before last night. San Antonio isn’t a hitter’s park — facing prevailing winds and dimly lit — but Blaine Crim likes it just fine, collecting six hits including three doubles in three games.

High-A: Hickory 3, Bowling Green (TAM) 4
Hickory: 8 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 1 walk, 14 strikeouts
Record: 3-4, 3 GB

SP Owen White: 5 IP, 2 H ,0 R, 1 BB, 8 SO, 65 P / 42 S, 2.25 ERA
RP Josh Smith: 2 IP, 3 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0.00 ERA
SS Thomas Saggese: 1-5, HR (1)
DH Chris Seise: 1-4, HR (2)

We focus on players here, so Bowling Green’s late comeback doesn’t spoil some nice performances. Owen White fanned his last four batters and produced 13 swinging strikes.

Thomas Saggese has his first homer, Chris Seise his second.

Eudrys Manon, fixture of last year’s low-A late innings, was taken deep with two on by ex-Ranger Alexander Ovalles.

Low-A: Down East 3, Kannapolis (CHW) 1
Down East: 4 hits, 7 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 2-5, 4 GB

SP Josh Stephan: 5 IP, 2 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 59 P / 43 S, 2.00 ERA
RP Luis Tejeda: 3.1 IP, 3 H ,1 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 4.26 ERA
CF Marcus Smith: 1-3, HBP

Marcus Smith grounded through the infield in the 1st, the first time in 18 plate appearances he’d put a ball in play. After that single, he stole second and then somehow scored on what was classified as an infield single by Jose Rodriguez. Smith has a .300 OBP with three runs and three stolen bases in five games, so for someone with a 67% strikeout rate, he’s actually been productive. It’s nice to see his speed making a difference given his protracted hamstring problems.

Josh Stephan, Luis Tejeda and Bubba Hoopii-Tuionetoa (0.2 scoreless, 1 strikeout) quelled an offense that had scored nearly nine runs per game in the early going.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Latz
AA: Leiter and Ragans (scheduled doubleheader, off-day tomorrow)
Hi-A: Englert and Roby (DH)
Lo-A: TBD and TBD (DH)

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Frisco’s Scott Heineman was ejected after arguing a third strike. The man did not like umpires. He once got tossed early in a late-season game with undermanned Round Rock, and the Express had to use a pitcher in the outfield in his place.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 4, @ Sugar Land (HOU) 2
Round Rock: 10 hits, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 5-4, 1 GB

SP Cole Winn: 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 69 P / 43 S, 1.13 ERA
RP Jesus Tinoco: 2 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Hever Bueno: 1 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.50 ERA
3B Josh Smith: 1-4
C Sam Huff: 1-4, HR (2)
SS Davis Wendzel: 1-3

Cole Winn worked on his slider in his first start. This time, he got reacquainted with his old friend the curve. Winn threw 21 compared to only six sliders, registering six swinging strikes, several fouls, and nothing in play for a hit.

Sam Huff’s team-leading tenth ball off the bat in excess of 100 MPH traveled over the fence for a game-tying homer in the 9th. Huff is striking out in 40% of his trips to the plate and hitting an even .500 when he makes contact. Average exit velocity isn’t a great stat for reasons I’ll get into later. But in the case of Huff, it’s 99 MPH, which is three tics above last year’s MLB leader, Aaron Judge. (Obviously, it’s early in the season.)

OF Zach Reks departed in the 1st after appearing to injure his knee at the plate. He swung through a pitch and collapsed in pain.

RHP Nick Snyder is up. With his relative inexperience and options, he could be back in AAA before too long, but based on his performance in Round Rock and how the Texas bullpen has performed so far, I’m hoping for a longer stay.

IF Sherten Apostel went unclaimed through waivers and was outrighted to Round Rock.

AA: Frisco 6, @ San Antonio (SDG) 3
Frisco: 6 hits, 5 walks, 17 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 5-1, 1 G up

SP Justin Slaten: 4 IP, 4 H ,2 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 53 P / 34 S, 3.60 ERA
RP Seth Nordlin: 2 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 8.31 ERA
RP Lucas Jacobsen: 1 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
SS Ezequiel Duran: 2-4, 2 2B, BB

Justin Slaten pitched well in his first AA start. Slaten had adequate control in high-A but was very homer-prone. Texas drafted him in 2019’s third round.

Catcher Jordan Procyshen hit a three-run homer in the 8th after San Antonio shortstop Korry Howell badly misplayed what appeared to be a textbook double-play grounder.

After missing with two fastballs, Lucas Jacobsen threw seven consecutive strikes (four swinging) to make quick work of the 9th.

High-A: Hickory 4, Bowling Green (TAM) 8
Hickory: 7 hits, 5 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 3-3, 2 GB

SP Nick Krauth: 4 IP, 6 H ,4 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 61 P / 42 S, 8.44 ERA
RP Juan Mejia: 3 IP, 2 H ,0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RF Aaron Zavala: 2-4, 2 SB (3)
2B Cirstian Inoa: 1-3, 2B, BB
1B Jake Guenther: 1-4, HR (1)

The 22-year-old Krauth was a steady presence in last year’s low-A rotation and should rebound from last night. Krauth would have been picked somewhere in the 2020 draft if not for MLB deciding to stop after five rounds and cap all free agent signings at $20k. (What good fortune for an industry to be able to unilaterally restrict wages without any antitrust worries. And yet, per the commissioner, club ownership is a inferior investment to an ordinary index fund! The owners should set up a GoFundMe.)

Aaron Zavala collected his first two hits to team up with his previous eight walks.

Low-A: Down East 1, Kannapolis (CHW) 5
Down East: 5 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 4 walks, 14 strikeouts
Record: 1-5, 4 GB

SP Jose Corneill: 5.1 IP, 3 H ,0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 50 P / 32 S, 0.00 ERA
1B Abimelec Ortiz: 1-3, HR (1)

Corneill came to Texas from Seattle in exchange for Rafael Montero. The trade was 18 months ago but Corniell is still just 18, the youngest pitcher on the staff by nearly a year.

Down East is hitting .168/.282/.272 as a team, so, not much to write about at present.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Otto
AA: Bradford
Hi-A: White
Lo-A: TBD

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Making his first appearance despite being on the roster for all nine games, righty Tyler Ferguson threw a scoreless inning. The Kentucky alum developed extreme control issues as a junior, dropping him to Texas in the 6th round. Ferguson never enjoyed any length of success as a Ranger. I saw him a couple of times up close; the delivery was stiff and forced as he willed the ball toward the plate. His last season in Texas was 2018. He’s still around, pitching in relief for Atlanta’s AA squad, and his control last year in high-A was respectable.

Box Scores

Thanks for the messages about the box score link not working. I completely rebuilt my template and made a typo, and I think MiLB changed their format as well.

AAA: Round Rock 1, at Sugar Land (HOU) 2
Round Rock: 6 hits, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 8 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 4-4, 1 GB
SP AJ Alexy: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 2 SO, 75 P / 47 S, 5.14 ERA
3B Davis Wendzel: 3-3, HR (1)

AJ Alexy has walked seven in seven innings, which won’t hasten his return to Arlington. On the upside, his strike rate of 63% and average of 17.3 pitches per inning are perfectly acceptable. Walks aside, he’s concluding plate appearances fairly quickly. Average speeds so far: fastball 94, change 86, slider 84, curve 77.

Davis Wendzel boosted his slugging percentage from .182 to .400 in a few hours. Marcus Semien could do the same any day now, so don’t fret the slow start.

AA: Frisco 9, at San Antonio (SDG) 6
Frisco: 10 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 4-1, 1 G up

SP Avery Weems: 2 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 4 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 3 SO, 47 P / 31 S, 20.25 ERA
RP Nick Starr: 1.2 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 2.45 ERA
CF Kellen Strahm: 2-2, BB, HBP
2B Trey Hair: 2-4, 2B
DH Sandro Fabian: 2-4, 2B, HR (1)

The Riders scored seven in the 1st on seven hits. They managed only three more than rest of the game and immediately surrendered four runs in the bottom half of the first, but the initial outburst was enough.

LF Dustin Harris dropped a catchable ball midway through. The soft fly came down more-or-less between left, center, and short; I wouldn’t call it a gimme, but he had it lined up and heeled it. Tuesday was only his third pro game at the position. OF Kellen Strahm is hitting a wild .375/.643/.500 in the early going. That’s three hits, five walks and a hit batter. Soon to be 25, Strahm showed improved power to augment his strong OBP skill in an injury-shortened 2021 (.281/.388/.448 in 50 games).

High-A: Hickory 1, Bowling Green (TAM) 0
Hickory: 7 hits, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 7 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 3-2, 1 GB

SP Ben Anderson: 2.2 IP, 1 H ,0 R, 4 BB, 3 SO, 61 P / 29 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Triston Polley: 3.1 IP, 1 H ,0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 4.76 ERA
RP Marc Church: 2 IP, 3 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
DH Evan Carter: 1-3, BB
2B Cristian Inoa: 2-3, BB
SS Keyber Rodriguez: 1-3, BB
CF Angel Aponte: 2-3, 2 SB (2)

Hickory allowed 12 runners but managed to erase two on the bases and stranded the rest, including six in scoring position. The 6’4″ righty Anderson (2019, 13th round) hasn’t struggled with control historically.

22-year-old Cristian Inoa is playing some second base with Luisangel Acuna out. The 5′”10 Inoa spent most of last year in low-A at first, I think mainly because Texas had others in mind for second, third, and short. Inoa responded by hitting 11 homers, easily a career high.

Low-A: Down East 4, Kannapolis (CHW) 0
Down East: 4 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 1-4, 3 GB

SP Emiliano Teodo: 2.1 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 2 SO, 36 P / 21 S, 1.00 ERA
RP Bradford Webb: 3.2 IP, 2 H ,0 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Michael Brewer: 2 IP, 1 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
C Tucker Mitchell: 1-2, BB
LF Yosy Galan: 2-3

Emiliano Teodo, starting pitcher? Teodo reached triple digits on the gun with regularity but often in no particular direction at Arizona last year (21 BB/HBP and 48 SO in 29 innings), and I’d only thought of him as a reliever despite his inexperience. We’ll see. Righty Bradford Webb is a senior sign from Virginia Commonwealth drafted in last year’s seventh road. As such, he’s a relative greybeard, 24 next week. He fanned 13 with no walks in 8.2 rookie innings in 2021.

OF Marcus Smith has come to the plate 17 times. He has 12 strikeouts, four walks, and one sac bunt.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Cole Winn
AA: Justin Slaten
Hi-A: Nick Krauth
Lo-A: TBD

Five Years Ago Yesterday
A slow day, but I mentioned the 2013 Hickory squad setting low-A records in total strikeouts (1,403) and strikeout rate (28.5%). Those marks now rank third and ninth, respectively, surpassed by the 2019 Clinton LumberKings and several 2021 entries. The ’13 Crawdads created a future Major Leaguer at every position:

C Jorge Alfaro
1B Ronald Guzman
2B Ryan Rua
3B Joey Gallo
SS Luis Marte
OF Nick Williams
OF Lewis Brinson
OF Nomar Mazara
and seven pitchers

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 7, at Sugar Land (HOU) 6
Round Rock: 16 hits, 1 walk, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 4-3, 1 GB

SP Kohei Arihara: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 68 P / 38 S, 5.14 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 1 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 11.57 ERA
LF Bubba Thompspon: 3-5, SB (5)
SS Josh Smith: 2-5
CF Leody Taveras: 4-5, 2B
C Sam Huff: 2-5
3B Davis Wendzel: 2-4, 2B

Bubba Thompson is batting .407 with a .519 slugging percentage and five steals. Thompson also hasn’t walked in six games and has struck out in one-third of his trips to the plate. So, Thompson is being an extreme version of himself in his early days at AAA.

Sam Huff has put the ball in play 12 times. Eight have been in excess of 96 MPH. 95 is the point at which average and slugging percentage on balls in play really ramps up.

Relying heavily on the slider, Daniel Robert avoided the atypical control issues that marred his first two appearances. He locked down the 9th.

AA: Frisco 6, at San Antonio (SDG) 4
Frisco: 10 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 3-1, 1 G up

SP Zak Kent: 4 IP, 5 H ,3 R, 3 BB, 1 SO, 67 P / 39 S, 6.75 ERA
RP Grant Wolfram: 3 IP, 2 H ,1 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 10.80 ERA
RP Chase Lee: 2 IP, 1 H ,0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
CF JP Martinez: 2-5, SB (2)
1B Blaine Crim: 2-4, 2B
SS Jonathan Ornelas: 3-4

Grant Wolfram improved greatly on the wild outing I saw Saturday night. Three walks in four innings is unusually high for Zak Kent. Aside from the end of last season when he ran out of gas, Chase Lee has manhandled AA in his brief pro career.

High-A: Hickory 7, Bowling Green (TAM) 14
Hickory: 9 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 12 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 2-2, 2 GB

SP Ricky Vanasco: 1.2 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 3 R, 2 BB, 1 SO, 44 P / 26 S, 16.20 ERA
LF Trevor Hauver: 1-4, HR (1), BB
SS Keyber Rodriguez: 4-4

Did Hickory get its ugliest game of the season out of the way in mid-April? Let’s hope! Hickory walked 12, hit another, issued a balk and two wild pitches, and committed four errors.

Ricky Vanasco’s first appearance since 2019 was a dud. It happens. He just never got on track. A seven-pitch walk, another seven pitches to record his first out, a single, then a homer by ex-Ranger Heriberto Hernandez (part of the Nathaniel Lowe trade).

Trevor Hauver has the system’s first grand slam. Luisangel Acuna draws most of the attention, but teammate Keyber Rodriguez was Down East’s primary shortstop the year before.

Low-A: Down East 2, Kannapolis (CHW) 7
Down East: 3 hits, 4 walks, 18 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 0-4, 4 GB

SP Gavin Collyer: 3.1 IP, 6 H ,5 R, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 4 SO, 65 P / 41 S, 12.46 ERA
RP Nick Lockhart: 2.2 IP, 0 H ,1 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Bubba Hoopii-Tuionetoa: 1 IP, 1 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 7.71 ERA
SS Maximo Acosta: 1-3, 2B, BB

With the caveat that we’re four games into the season, let’s have a look at the combined BB/HBP rates and strikeout rates in Texas’s low-A league during the past three seasons:
2019: 10.2% BB/HBP, 24.2% SO
2021: 12.7%, 25.6%
2022: 15.7%, 29.0%

Yipes. 47% of plate appearances in the Carolina League in 2022 are ending with a homer, walk, HBP or strikeout; that is, not involving any fielders but the pitcher and catcher. 2021 started out very high (although not this high) and then slowly declined, so I hope ’22 does the same. Still, we’re probably looking at more records in walks and strikeouts.

What set me on this statistical quest: 1) the game itself was drab, and 2) I noticed that Down East had struck out 60 times in four games for an otherworldly 39% K rate. In 30+ years of low-A history, the highest strikeout rate by a team’s offense is 30.4%, set last year (of course) by Visalia. The previous record was 28%.

Today’s Starters
AAA: AJ Alexy
AA: Avery Weems
Hi-A: Ben Anderson
Lo-A: TBD

Five Years Ago Yesterday
“Joe Palumbo set a career high with 10 strikeouts and needed just 81 pitches to complete six innings. An MiLB.com story notes that Palumbo will be Rule 5-eligible this winter if left off the 40-man roster, and he’ll ‘have to use this year to prove he’s worthy of being protected.’  I’d phrase this differently: Palumbo is a lock for the 40 at present and can only pitch his way off of it.” He was indeed a lock, despite having only one more outing during 2017, as you’ll find out in a future installment.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 3, El Paso (SDG) 2
Round Rock: 8 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 3-3, 2 GB

SP Jake Latz: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 78 P / 54 S, 3.00 ERA
LF Bubba Thompson: 2-4, SB (4)
CF Josh Smith: 1-4, HR (1)

Josh Smith has his first AAA homer and first professional start in the outfield. He’s also started twice at third after two days at his usual short. Smith caught two sharply hit flies. Both were plays any competent outfielder would make, but a misread on either might have spelled trouble. One can wait a long time to see even a small handful of 50/50 outfield plays that would provide some insight into the player’s quality, and one must wait in person, because the video feed rarely shows an outfielder’s reaction time and initial route.

I don’t start listing players’ slash stats until we’re around two weeks in. Also, nearly all Mondays in 2022 are off-days for the entire system. I expect many will be off-days for me as well, but I might pop in with news, summaries, or items I think deserve more coverage.

AA: Frisco 3, Arkansas (SEA) 5
Frisco: 10 hits, 1 walk, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 2-1, tied for first

SP Cole Ragans: 3.1 IP, 3 H ,0 R, 1 BB, 7 SO, 66 P / 44 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Fernery Ozuna: 2 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
SS Jonathan Ornelas: 2-4

Cole Ragans pitched well, spotting a 93-95 fastball, change, curve and slider. Per Grant Schiller of Baseball Prospectus, Ragans tallied seven swinging strikes with the fastball and six with his change. Ragans could be pitching in middle relief in 2030 and I’ll still consider him a “comeback player” because of the successive elbow surgeries.

Fernery Ozuna is a converted infielder who drew notice for his tripe-digit velocity a year ago. Ozuna has acceptable control but can be alarmingly homer-prone, and the velo tends to ebb and flow. Seth Nordlin (2.1 IP, 7 runners, 4 runs) took the loss.

High-A: Hickory 5, at Winston-Salem (CHW) 2
Hickory: 11 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 2-1, 1 GB

SP TK Roby: 3.1 IP, 1 H (1 HR), 1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 55 P / 36 S, 2.70 ERA
RP Josh Smith: 1.2 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
DH Chris Seise: 2-4, HR (1)
C Scott Kapers: 2-4, HR (1)

Sometimes pitchers in the lower levels try to work up but lack the location or spin, and sometimes the hitter is keyed on a high fastball. Yesterday, that hitter was Chris Seise, who smacked a Trey Jeans fastball over the fence in a hurry. Limited to 31 games the previous four years, Seise is only DHing for the time being. I have no idea what to expect of Seise and really don’t even care for now. i just hope he can stay in the lineup.

Roby pitched in a real game for the first time in ten months, having been sidelined since last June with elbow trouble. Roby deals a high-spin fastball, curve and change. He was the middle man in Texas’s five-pick 2020 draft.

Hickory placed infielder Luisangel Acuna on the IL with a hamstring strain, per MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry. He’s expected to miss a couple of weeks.

Low-A: Down East 9, at Carolina (MIL) 11
Down East: 9 hits, 8 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 3 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 0-3, 3 GB

SP Victor Santos: 3 IP, 4 H ,3 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 59 P / 40 S, 9.00 ERA
RP Destin Dotson: 2 IP, 0 H ,0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0.00 ERA
DH Efrenyer Narvaez: 1-5, HR (1)
LF Yosy Galan: 2-4, HR (1), BB
2B Junior Paniagua: 1-3, 2 BB

Outfielder Yosy Galan hit the second-most homers in the Arizona League last summer. The 20-year-old also struck out at just shy of a 40% rate in 2021 and has four in nine plate appearances so far.

In the primer I mentioned hitters having such an inflated strikeout rate that even a high average on contact won’t compensate. Efrenyer Narvaez rolls his eyes at that statement: In nine at-bats, he has six strikeouts, a single, triple and homer. Can a hitter fan two-thirds of the time and hit 1.000 when he puts the bat on the ball? I’m going to say no, but it’s 2022, so who knows.

Down East scored four in the 9th on three walks, three hit batsmen and a Galan single.

Today’s Starters
AAA: off
AA: off
Hi-A: off
Lo-A: off

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Down East won its inaugural home opener 4-3 in ten innings. 3B Josh Altmann doubled and then scored on an error. Brett Martin allowed a run and whiffed seven in 5.1 innings. Round Rock’s Ronald Guzman singled twice and drew a bases-loaded go-ahead walk.