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.
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.
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.Â
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 (ifit’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.
SP Shane Greene: 1 IP, 1 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 3 HBP, 1 SO, 33 P / 13 S, 22.50 ERA RP Danny Duffy: 3 IP, 1 H (1 HR), 1 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 2.25 ERA RP Cole Winn: 2.1 IP, 4 H (2 HR), 5 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 8.31 ERA CF Derek Hill: 2-4, 2B, 3B, BB, SB (2) RF Sandro Fabian: 3-4, 2B
Shane Greene’s career is too long for me to bother researching in depth, but yesterday was almost certainly his wildest professional outing. If not, it’ll do. Danny Duffy surrendered a homer after Greene placed the first two runners of the 2nd aboard, after which he pitched quite well.
Cole Winn breezed through two innings but was tattooed in the 7th. Both homers came on reasonably located pitches, the second in particular a slider clipping the low-inside corner, but opponents Clay Dungan and Oscar Mercado had them lined up perfectly. Despite the seriously ugly line, Winn does look better than last year.
David Wendzel and Trevor Hauver doubled.
Five Years Ago Yesterday Opening Day starters from the top level down were Taylor Hearn, Brock Burke, Tyler Phillips, and Hans Crouse. Hearn signed with Hiroshima Toyo Carp over the winter. Crouse is with the Angels’ AAA affiliate. Phillips is in his fourth year with the Phils after being claimed off waivers mid-2021. He was born and raised just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia in New Jersey.
AAA: Round Rock 8, @ El Paso (SDP) 4 Round Rock: 12 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts Opponent: 8 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts Record: 3-1, tied for first
SP Tim Brennan: 4.1 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 3 R, 3 BB, 1 SO, 61 P / 34 S, 6.23 ERA RP Jonathan Hernandez: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA RP Austin Pruitt: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA RP Marc Church: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.50 ERA LF Dustin Harris: 2-5, 2 HR, (2) C Sam Huff: 3-5, 2 3B, HR (1) DH Andrew Knapp: 2-4, HR (1) CF Derek Hill: 2-4, SB (1)
Dustin Harris homered twice. These were not subsidized by the hitter-friendly conditions of El Paso. Both were in excess of 100 MPH off the bat and in my “almost always a homer” classification, noteworthy because that matches his total in that class out of 179 balls in play in AAA last year.
Sam Huff hit three balls at 100+ and fell a double short of a cycle.
Me, 8 Sep 2022: “Unfortunately, Tim Brennan crumpled to the ground with pain in his arm after releasing his 52nd pitch. There’s no news and I’m not going to speculate, but it certainly didn’t look good.” It wasn’t. 19 months and a healed elbow later, Brennan returned to game action, unfortunately in El Paso, where his 6.23 ERA for the night passes for league-average.
Jonathan Hernandez breezed through a rehab inning. Marc Church was in much sharper form than his shaky close last Saturday.
Signings Elsewhere RHP Scott Engler, Minnesota IF Dio Arias, Diablos Rojos, Mexican League RHP Noah Bremer, Lancaster, indy Atlantic League IF Ti’Quan Forbes, Charleston, indy Atlantic League (via trades from Frontier and Mexican Leagues) LHP Joe Palumbo, indy Atlantic League IF Anderson Tejeda, Charleston, indy Atlantic League (missing from any action outside of winter ball for nearly two years) RHP Kyle Cody, Lake Country, indy American Association IF Anthony Calarco, Chicago, indy American Association OF Juremi Profar, Lake Erie, indy Frontier League (yes, listed as OF)
Five Years Ago Yesterday An old version of the Daily Primer included 21-or-younger pitchers in the system who’d thrown 140+ innings in a season during 2007-2018. No updating necessary!
Foscue Per various reports, IF Justin Foscue will replace the injured Josh Jung on the Texas roster. Congratulations to him.
I wrote at length about Foscue’s bat last month. Short version: highly mature and patient approach, tough to whiff (especially on fastballs), decent exit velocity if a little light at the top end, a terrific contact rate that would be aided by a little less variance in his launch angles.
Foscue has played two games at second and one at first in AAA this season. I’m not expecting Foscue to slide into Jung’s spot on a regular basis, but since he is replacing him, I wanted to entertain the possibility. Foscue made 35 starts at third for Round Rock in 2023. Despite some practice there, he didn’t log any innings at the position in Spring Training games.
In his top-ten Texas prospect writeups, Grant Schiller of Baseball Prospectus described his 3B play as “a greater success in 2023 than anticipated, and it appears he may be able to man the position passably.” I would have written something similar last May or so and remember telling a scout making his first visit to to the Dell Diamond that I was more interested in Foscue at third than second. Since then, however, my quasi-enthusiasm has waned.
Last night, I re-watched every 2023 error by Foscue. That’s obviously a biased sample that would lead to a negative impression of even elite fielders, but I wanted to see what types of mistakes he was making at third (and second). I watched several “ordinary” plays as well. Nearly all of Foscue’s errors were on throws to first. He isn’t known for his range, but he’ll glove what he can reach with assurance. But when the situation called for a snap throw and no time to set his body, he sometimes slung or sailed his throws.
Can he play there occasionally? Sure. As an everyday replacement for Jung? I’m not seeing it. I’m happy to be wrong, though. Jung has been better than average defensively, compared to my expectation of dead-average. Leiter I forgot to link to my video of his fine performance Saturday. Here you go.
Part II of the Daily Report Primer: Stats I Love and Loathe
Age The best prospects tend to receive aggressive assignments and are young for their levels. Down the road, theyâre often omitted from my annual 40-Man / Rule 5 preview because they ‘ve forced their way onto the MLB squad months earlier (15 months earlier in the case of Evan Carter). If all you know about a player is his age, you actually know quite a lot. 18-year-old Anthony Gutierrez at Down East last year. 20-year-old Cam Cauley at Down East (and the Arizona Fall League). 20-year-old Carter at Frisco, Round Rock, and Texas. The Rangers are letting you know theyâre well-regarded without you needing stats or confirmation from a prospect-oriented publication.
One shouldnât get carried away with age, though. Of course, players drafted out of college will be older, so dismissing them for being 23 in high-A would be ridiculous. However, the older the player, the higher the expectations. (Incidentally, that a good many college players donât handle A-level ball reinforces just how hard the pro game is.) Catchers tend to take more time, as do many pitchers.
The Rangers donât promote as aggressively as a decade ago, and promotions feel more player-tailored and less driven by organizational culture. Still, with the exception of Friscoâs pitching staff, all of Texasâs full season squads had groups of hitters and pitchers below the league-average age. Â
Slash Stats (Average / On-Base Percentage / Slugging) In the Majors, batting average isnât completely useless, but it matters far less than on-base percentage and slugging. In the minors, I still like to keep an eye on it. Putting the bat on the ball with frequency and authority is what gets players noticed and moves them up the ladder.
Hereâs two fictional players with 500 plate appearances. Both have a .360 OBP and .440 slugging percentage:
A)Â Â Â 100 hits, 10 doubles, 25 homers, 80 walks, 160 strikeouts B)Â Â Â 150 hits, 33 doubles, 8 homers, 30 walks, 60 strikeouts
Same OBP, same slugging percentage, very different hitters. Player A is kind of a cut-rate Joey Gallo, batting .238 with huge number of walks and good-but-not-elite power. James Outman was in that general range last year. Player B batted .319 but doesnât walk much or offer much more than doubles power. There arenât many Player B type nowadays. Luis Arraez is the best example.
Knowing the batting average in addition to OBP and slugging can be surprisingly informative. That said, even in the minors, OBP and slugging are much more useful.
These stats mean the least at lower levels and gain importance as players advance. They also matter more to offense-oriented positions. Except at the extreme margin and probably not even then, a first basemen cannot compensate for weak hitting with outstanding defense. He has to hit.
OPS (OBP + slugging) is grotesque aesthetically because it sums two stats with different denominators, but it nevertheless usually describes a hitter adequately. Still, Iâm more inclined to just give you entire slash line.
Walks (Hitters) The goal of a hitter is to reach base safely, so the ability to lay off iffy pitches can define a career. Walks create hitting situations with runners on base, wear down the pitcher, and mitigate inevitable slumps Aaron Zavala began 2021 with an 0-for-16 slump but also drew eight walks, producing a .333 OBP. Would that all slumps were so productive. Zavala gave his teammates eight opportunities to hit with a runner on base, and he scored three runs in those four hitless games. Fellow early slumper Justin Foscue reached four times and scored twice during his 0-for-18 start last year. Itâs something. Â
Even for Zavala, walks are a means, not an end. I do worry about players who seem to rely too heavily on walks, which is easier to do at the lower levels where control is often absent. Selectivity is a great attribute. Passivity, not so much. I occasionally see hitters looking passive at the plate, and honestly, much of the time i can’t blame them. Control is worse than ever nowadays. Why swing at junk? That said, eventually the hitter will rise to a level at which most pitchers not only have control but a semblance of command, and the hitter will have to adjust.
Strikeouts (Hitters) To some extent, we can ignore hittersâ strikeouts. What really matters is how they perform when they donât. Not to be flip, but strikeouts for hitters donât matter until they do. At some point, they reach a level that forces a herculean batting average on contact just to get by. Prior to 2021, I gamed out how Adolis Garcia could achieve a .300 OBP with so many strikeouts. âLetâs say he can manage a 5% BB+HBP rate (well below league average) and a 30% K rate (well above, even in 2021). That means he needs to bat .263 for a minimum .300 OBP. And with all those Ks, that requires a .376 average on contact, about 50 points above the league average and better than what heâs done in AAA.â
That season, Garcia ended up with a 6% BB+HBP rate and struck out in 31% of his plate appearances, close to my guesses. He also batted .364 when he made contact, roughly the 75th percentile among AL batters with at least 400 plate appearances. So, very good in that respect. And what did that high average on contact get him? A .286 OBP, 9th-worst among that same set of batters. Incidentally, Garcia still strikes out a lot but upped his walk rate to 10% last year. He had 25 fewer plate appearances and 15 fewer hits, but he reached more often because of 25 additional walks.
Some hitters are exceptionally good at avoiding strikeouts, but not particularly to their benefit. Most of the time, weak contact on marginal pitches isnât any better than a strikeout. While I certainly wouldnât call Justin Foscue a âweak contactâ type, I noted a while back that his exceptional ability to avoid strikeouts improved his walk rate but hadn’t contributed much to his production on contact.
ERA I do list ERA when recapping pitchers. Much of the time, itâs a handy stat, but itâs not the end-all and sometimes is lying to you. Letâs take two pitchers from the lower levels in 2023:
Player A: 3.86 ERA, 6% BB/HBP rate, 38% SO rate, .252 opposing OBP Player B: 3.73 ERA, 19% BB/HBP rate, 24% SO rate, .313 opposing OBP
Player B had the slightly better ERA, but Iâd pick Player A in a critical situation without question. B had a decent strikeout rate but gave nearly one of every five batters a free pass, and his opposing average on balls in play was unsustainably low. Pitcher A combined excellent control with a terrific strikeout rate, but a small handful of rough innings inflated his ERA. Usually, situational performance (such as runners in scoring position) tends to even out in the long run.
Sometimes a single terrible outing can wipe out a relieverâs ERA. An infamous 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.
So, youâll occasionally read something from me like âheâs pitched better [or worse] than his ERA would suggest.â If Players A and B continue to pitch as they have, Player A is far more likely to have the lower ERA eventually.
Player A is Kumar Rocker.
Homers, Walks, Strikeouts (Pitchers) These are better indicators than ERA, which is often tied to luck on balls in play and how well relievers strand runners left behind.
Homers are trickier to analyze. More fly balls equal more homers, of course, but HR rates can bounce around crazily from year to year for no other reason than variance. Walk and strikeout rates tend to stabilize more quickly.
Walk and HBP rates are up across the minors post-2020, particularly at the lower levels. A combined BB/HBP of 10%, slightly problematic a dozen years ago, is now well below average in most leagues. My old rule of thumb was that a BB/HBP rate of 15% was untenable for a would-be starting pitcher because heâd run into trouble too often and force too many bullpen innings. Last year, among the 66 pitchers with at least 10 starts in the low-A Carolina League, more had a BB/HBP rate of at least 15% (21) than below 10% (15). So much for my thumb. More pitchers seem to be able to abide the higher walk rate because theyâre darn near unhittable otherwise, and they arenât being asked to face as many batters. Even so, as they climb the ladder, those walks are more likely to cause trouble.
Strikeout have risen so much that I still have to remind myself what constitutes an acceptable rate. In 2007, my first year on the job, the best team in the low-A Midwest League (which contained Texas-affiliated Clinton) had a strikeout rate of 21.3%. Last year, the worst team in the low-A Carolina League (including Down East) had a rate of 21.8%. San Jose set a low-A record in 2021 with a 31.5% rate. As I mentioned earlier, a rate of nine strikeouts per nine innings is below average.
The gap between starters and relievers has shrunk. Comparing the 50 busiest starters in 2007 to the 50 relievers who finished the most games, relievers struck out about 36% more batters. In 2023, that difference was only 12%.Â
HBPs are kind of an afterthought in typical stat-watching, but theyâve risen greatly in recent years, and some pitchers are plunk-prone enough to seriously degrade their performance. Last year, low-A St. Lucie hit 130 batters in 128 games.
As you can see, I tend to refer to these stats in rates per batter faced rather than per nine innings. Per-nine accounting can be skewed by the number of runners allowed. If two pitchers strike out a batter per inning, they obviously are striking out an identical amount per nine innings, but if one is allowing one runner per inning and the other two, the stingier pitcher has a 25% strikeout rate compared to the other guyâs 20%. That 5% is meaningful.
Opposing Slash Stats The opposing batting line relates closely to the pitcherâs core peripherals. I mention it often and think itâs interesting. Every year, I wish it would gain more traction, but it doesnât.
Field and League Context Hereâs the park-adjusted league averages for Texasâs full-season affiliates in 2023:
Round Rock: 5.9 runs per game, .264/.360/.440 slash line, 0.97 park factor Frisco: 5.2 runs, .253/.343/.404, 1.00 park factor Hickory: 5.0 runs, .245/.338/.397, 1.00 park factor Down East: 4.4 runs, .221/.332/.341, 0.96 park factor
Round Rock suppresses offense relative to most of its peers, but the Pacific Coast League is so hitter-oriented as a whole that even Express hittersâ stats have to be viewed with a little cynicism. Down East has a pitcher-friendly park in a pitcher-friendly league. Â
The homer rate in low-A is about 40% lower than MLB. A good many players havenât reached full physical maturity.
Fielding Fielding is trickiest to evaluate from an outsiderâs perspective. Fielding percentage rarely tells the whole story.
For example, over the course of a season, letâs pretend two infielders share shortstop duties equally. On their first 400 grounders, theyâre identical statistically. But then on their next 20 grounders apiece, Shortstop 1 never touches a single one, but Shortstop 2 reaches all of them and turns 15 into outs and throws 5 into the stands, allowing those hitters to reach second. Shortstop 2 will have a worse fielding percentage, but he also turned 15 more balls into outs. Would you rather an opposing batter reach first safely 20 times, or reach second 5 times but get put out the other 15 times? Shortstop 2 is far more effective despite making more errors.
Even with no stats, you can learn plenty simply from where someone plays. 85% of Evan Carterâs outfield starts in Frisco were in center. Dustin Harris only played in left. An unprecedented two-thirds of Trevor Hauverâs OF starts were in right, perhaps partly in deference to Harris while he was in AA, but also because heâs improved out there.
Statcast Statcast data became available for Texasâs AAA league in 2022, and oh how I adore it. Pitch speed, horizontal and vertical movement, exit velocity, and launch angles, all giving me a new realm of information to analyze.
Did the starter emphasize a changeup and ditch his curve last night? Did he hold his velocity deep into the outing? Is a hitter seeing a particular type of pitch more often, and to what effect? Are his homers certainties in most MLB parks or PCL gifts? Did a pitcher who allowed five runs get nickled-and-dimed? I can answer those questions even if I didnât see them game.
I categorize every ball in play based on what it typically produced in the Majors, not in AAA. Plenty of balls that become extra-base hits in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League may just be long outs in a typical MLB park.
Some examples of the analysis I was able to provide last year that would have been absent or in the form of observational anecdotes previously:
Sam Huff, of all people, was aggravatingly grounder prone.
Jonathan Ornelas, despite a .359 slugging percentage, has serious, MLB-worthy top-end exit velo. He, too, is hindered by a high grounder rate, which at least makes superficial sense given his more modest stature compared to Huff.
Dustin Harris batted a respectable .273 with a .455 slugging percentage, but his exit velocity was alarmingly low. Also, while he wasnât necessarily whiff-prone against breaking stuff, his production against it was sorely wanting. (The good news is that if last year included a minor but nagging injury or a mechanical issue that could be corrected, he could really break out in 2024.)
Justin Foscueâs swinging strike rate against fastballs was a comically low 4%, yet he actually hit better against breakers (.281 with a .531 slugging percentage). He’s a mature hitter, if not quite fully developed.
OF JP Martinez deserved his call-up, but his .298/.418/.543 line in AAA included more than a little luck in terms of grounders and soft shots finding holes.
Cody Bradford really was all that. All his pitches were effective.
Marc Churchâs slider was glorious. 50% of opposing swings drew air! The fastball probably prevented a 2023 MLB debut. Not enough whiffs, plenty of hard contact.
Luck The likelihood of a .250 batter going hitless in 16 consecutive at-bats is small: almost exactly one in 100. Spread that to 36 hitters* (nine per Texasâs four full-season teams) and the likelihood that someone starts the season 0-for-16 jumps to nearly one in three, still uncommon but not rare. Aaron Zavala began 2022 0-for-16 (with eight walks). Last year, Justin Foscue didnât collect a hit until his 18th at-bat.
Now, consider the entire season. The likelihood of someone having an even longer hitless stretch is virtually assured. In 2021, Luisangel Acuna had an 0-for-30 stretch (with five walks). Abi Ortiz, who batted .294 overall, followed a 1st-inning homer with 20 hitless at-bats last August. Statistical variance in baseball is much higher than most people think. Donât place too much emphasis on the short run, whether good or bad.
* Texas isnât going to stick with the same 36 minor league hitters game after game, but Iâm trying to make the math easier. Runs Scored, RBI, Pitcher Wins/Losses Ignored except as occasional anecdotes. All are byproducts of more important measure of production.
SP Adrian Sampson: 5 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 2 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 77 P / 49 S, 3.60 ERA RP Antoine Kelly: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA CF Elier Hernandez: 2-4, 2B, BB C Sam Huff: 2-3, 2B, BB
After some difficult late-March outings that cost whatever chance he had of making the Opening Day squad, Adrian Sampson had a nice first start in AAA.
Justin Foscue and Trevor Hauver walked twice. The Astros aren’t known for good control in their minor league system and ranked among the worst in walk rate in the PCL the prior three years.
Depending on when you see him, you might wonder why Daniel Robert isn’t in the Majors. Not Sunday. Up six in the 9th, he retired only one of four batters and left with the bases loaded. Jesus Tinoco promptly surrendered a grand slam but recorded the final two outs.
Five Years Ago Yesterday Part of my minor league roster preview: “Texas has only 40% of the current rotation under contract for 2020, and [Mike] Minor could re-emerge as trade bait. The Rangers need a decent portion of their upper-level rotation prospects (Hearn, Burke, Hernandez, Palumbo) to pan out, or theyâll once again have to buy those innings on the free-agent market while they wait for the next wave of pitchers to advance.”
Daily Report Primer Part 1: How The Game Is Played Every year, I publish a primer as a guide to my daily reports: how the minors are structured, how the game is played and managed, what I look for, what stats I follow and ignore.Â
Winning These are developmental leagues. Rosters arenât constructed and games arenât managed to win, at least not as a primary goal. Good prospects arenât going to be benched if they perform poorly. Does the prospect quality of a system correlate to its performance in the minors? Hereâs a chart of every teamâs organizational ranking in 2023 per Baseball America and its full-season winning percentage:
In some years Iâve seen a hint of a pattern. Not so much this year, except perhaps having the three worst winning percentages among the seven worst-ranked clubs. Just like last year, the regression indicates one higher spot in the rankings is worth about three-quarters of one win over a span of around 600 games, and the confidence interval is vast. That said, over the years, the quality of Texasâs system has correlated reasonably well to its record. But for 2024, what does the Rangersâ current #12 ranking actually represent for its winning chances, given that their top two prospects likely wonât see an inning of the minors?
Some organizations emphasize winning more than others. For my outsiderâs perspective, my concern isnât about winning as much as excessive losing. In 2021, White Sox-affiliated Kannapolis lost its first ten, then 16 of the next 20, and then dropped to 46 games under .500 until an 8-1 finish. That just doesnât seem conducive to a positive development environment.
Irrespective of how well farm quality translates to winning, I do prefer reporting on winning teams.
Starters Last year, I wrote how the six-games-a-week schedule encouraged a six-man rotation. So it does, but the Rangers actually pushed against that a little more than I expected in 2023. Not uncommonly, a team would use a five-man rotation, and whoever was starting twice in the week would have a restricted count on Sunday.
Regardless, the idea of a workhorse has disappeared. In 2010, 20-year-old Wilfredo Boscan threw 163 innings in 27 starts, averaging 26.2 batters per start. The old format was 140 games in 151 days, so he averaged six innings every 5.6 days. A substantial workload, but not considered excessive at the time.
That would be inconceivable today. In 2010, 26 Texas minor leaguers averaged at least 18 batters per outing (minimum 10 outings). Last year, only nine did. In 2012, 18 pitchers faced at least 450 batters during the season. Last year, and in 2022, the number was four. In 2023, the median length of a start by a Texas minor leaguer was only 4.0 innings. The organization had only one complete game, itself a technicality in the form of Aidan Curryâs rain-shortened four-inning outing. There were only 73 complete games across the entire full-season minor leagues.
Surprisingly, Texasâs AAA starters havenât tended to work longer on average than the lower levels the past two seasons. More bullpen starts and some struggles by pitchers expected to last longer have conspired to bring the median AAA outing length down, but even excluding obvious bullpen starts, AAA SPs arenât throwing more than their lower-level colleagues.
Even with this limited workload, Texas does want starters to get their innings, so pitchers will often be allowed to press through situations that might get an MLB starter pulled. What will get a starter pulled early is excessive pitches. If the inningâs count has crept into the mid-20s with no end in sight, the bullpen will be active. Once it surpasses 30, the pitcher (especially if younger) could be yanked unless the batter heâs facing makes the final out. An unfortunate example would be Brock Porterâs professional debut: 32 pitches, six batters faced, four walks, only two outs recorded.
In the past, Texasâs AAA workload used to have semi-rigid removal standards. Mid-inning pitcher replacement was uncommon; the expectation was a pitcher would finish an inning. I used to jokingly mock opposing managers who removed pitchers mid-inning just to have some authority into the proceedings. Well, the jokeâs on me, because Round Rock manager Doug Davis, who took charge last year, loves the mid-inning switch. Honestly, such an approach adheres more closely to MLB management, so I canât really complain.
Some organizations have more fluid roles. Houstonâs two A-level squads had 19 pitchers who both started and finished at least three games. Texasâs Hickory and Down East teams combined for four. The traditionalist White Sox had none.
Relievers Minor league relievers tend to pitch on a schedule rather than in situational roles. Even in AAA, nominally the final training ground for the Majors, relievers usually pitch on prescribed days.Â
Pitching on consecutive days, already a rarity below AAA, has become exceptionally rare even in AAA. Last year, Round Rockâs eight busiest relievers combined for only five back-to-back outings: Yerry Rodriguez (twice), Chase Lee (twice), and Jacob Latz (once). Not even the experienced Jonathan Hernandez, optioned to AAA for much of the season, pitched on consecutive days.
In the old days (circa 2018), pitching on consecutive days was a tell that a reliever might be headed for Arlington soon. Now, the relatively rigid AAA workloads and expansion of up-and-down relievers may have made that idea obsolete. AAA is still the final audition, but even with manager Doug Davisâs predilection for mid-inning changes, relief usage operates less like the Majors than it ever has.
AAA usage has also changed much more than low-A over the past decade:
Texas AAA in 2023: 39 relievers, 3.6 per game Texas AAA in 2012: 22 relievers, 2.4 per game
Texas Low-A in 2023: 34 relievers, 2.5 per game Texas Low-A in 2012: 20 relievers, 2.0 per game
A good many ârelieversâ in low-A are tandem starters (think the DJ McCarty / Dylan MacLean pairing in Down East last year) working multiple innings, while in AAA, relievers commonly work a single frame, so more are needed on a given night.
45 Texas minor leaguers saved a full-season game last year, led by Antoine Kelly with 11. Only four pitchers had more than five, and 19 had exactly one. Teams donât have set closers, or to the extent they do, they tend to place trustworthiness above ceiling. In the last 16 years, nine Texas minor league relievers have recorded 20 saves in a season. None has ever subsequently saved a Major League game.
Sometimes in critical situations, managers have leeway to use relievers whoâve proven their trust more traditionally. In 2021, Frisco leaned heavily on 2021 draftee Chase Lee and Daniel Robert down the stretch. In 2022, Nick Starr finished three of Friscoâs four playoff games. Last year was different, however. For example, Down Eastâs Paul Bonzagni and Izack Tiger had minimal pro experience, but both made multiple appearances in the Woodiesâ five-game playoff run.
Batting Orders, Position Player Starts Batting orders arenât necessarily optimized for run production and or aligned with the relative qualities of the prospects. Donât worry about them.
Players tend to receive regular rest. No Marcus Semiens in the minors. Elier Hernandez accrued 612 plate appearances last year, most in the system since 2012, and he missed 12 of 149 games. Even well-regarded prospects may find themselves in a rotation, receiving a day off each week to accommodate a crowded infield or outfield. Likewise, even the least heralded will receive occasional action. A typical team might have only 12 position players consisting of three catchers, five infielders, and four outfielders (with some positional flexibility, of course). Nobody is going to gather dust on the bench.
Walks and Strikeouts Usually, both increase down the organizational ladder. The combined BB/HBP rate in MLB last year was 9.5%. The minor leagues ranged from 11.9% to 16%. Atypically, high-A exhibited the best control last year. Â
Walks exploded in low-A in 2021, something I attributed to an unscheduled year off and automated umpiring in one league. True, but not the whole story, as rates of walks and HBPs have remained elevated. Since the reclassification of the minor league system in 1990, there have been 1,002 low-A team-seasons. The top 16 and 33 of the top 34 highest BB/HBP rates have occurred in the last three years.
Strikeouts have finally leveled off after years of increases, which is to say they remain historic. Not that long ago, almost any pitcher with a 25% strikeout rate was noteworthy. In 2022, all of low-A had a 25.5% K rate, and last year dipped to 24.7%. Nine of the top ten and 52 of the top 60 strikeout seasons in low-A have occurred in the past three years. No league at any levels averaged fewer than nine strikeouts per nine innings. Again, a pitcher with one strikeout per inning is at best average, usually below.
Errors and âMistakesâ The number of miscues that give the opposition free runners or bases increases greatly at the lower levels.
Likewise, fielding mistakes that donât appear in the box score increase down the ladder. For example, fielderâs choices that donât result in outs, throws to home that miss the cutoff and allow the trail runner to advance.
Running With MLB adopting the runner-friendly rules tested in the minors, youâve probably got a better idea of how they affect the game. The Rangers have been especially adept at exploiting these rules. In 2021, Down East set an all-time low-A record for most successful attempts per game (2.41), and their total of 290 was only nine short of the record despite playing 20 fewer games than normal. The next year, the Woodies stole 308, setting the low-A record and falling five shy of the most by any minor league team since at least 1990. Last year, the team settled for a middle-of-the-pack 209.
Teams run much more often in the minors than MLB, ranging from 36% more in AAA to 156% more in the DSL. Across the minors in the US last tear, the success rate on the bases was 77%, and rates donât decline despite the increased attempts.
Promotions Promotions and demotions arenât made in a vacuum. A promoted player is necessarily taking someone elseâs spot. Should that other player also be promoted? Demoted? Moved to a different position? Should the players share the position and moonlight at DH? Should the promoted guy move to a different position instead, and who would that affect? These decisions are sometimes complicated, and a player might advance more slowly than youâd like because Texas has to sort through all these issues.
Report Tone Even in a deep system, most of Texasâs minor leaguers arenât going to reach MLB or make much impact if they do. Texas has 26 Major Leaguers and well over 200 minor leaguers. The cold math turns most of them into âfailures.â
They are not failures. Theyâre exceptional athletes in an industry with a limited number of jobs. If youâre the 2,000th best accountant in the country, youâre doing great, plus you can start your own business if you want. The 2,000th professional baseball player is in Double A, and he canât start his own league to compete against MLB.
Also, we can argue about the relative entertainment quality of the current high-strikeout era, but the players themselves have never been better. There are pitchers stuck in AAA with repertoires that I guarantee would have made them passable MLB relievers a dozen years ago.
Ultimately, I want to be honest about a playerâs likelihood of reaching the Majors, and I focus on the prospects most likely to help Texas in the future, but Iâll cover anyone having a great day.
