Rangers Farm Report: Games of Wednesday 18 September

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 14, @ Tacoma (SEA) 5
Round Rock: 21 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 4 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 33-37, eliminated, 70-74 overall

SP Ryan Garcia: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 5 SO, 80 P / 53 S, 3.43 ERA
RP Marc Church: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 2.11 ERA
RP Nick Krauth: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.86 ERA
CF Dustin Harris: 3-6, 2B, SB (34), .275/.360/.395
1B Blaine Crim: 3-6, HR (20), .278/.372/.471
DH Trevor Hauver: 3-5, 2B, HR (11), BB, .245/.358/.424
C Sam Huff: 2-5, 2 HR (13), BB, .247/.312/.417
SS Jax Biggers: 4-5, .279/.394/.387

To be honest, at the end of 2023, I wondered if Ryan Garcia would continue to have a job in the organization. He’d posted a 6.66 ERA and .263/.367/.482 in 98.2 AA innings as a 25-year-old (admittedly a fairly inexperienced 25-year-old because of covid and elbow surgery, but still). When he allowed 12 runs in his first 12.1 AA innings this season, I wondered again. After that, he was a different pitcher, still a little more walk-prone than preferable but far less susceptible to hard contact. Upon promotion to AAA, he pitched better still, continuing to squash extra-base-type contact and widening the gap between walks and strikeouts. Although last night was far more fastball-oriented, he’s tended to lean on an upper-80s cutter in his six-pitch mix. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see him in person and don’t have as strong a read on him as I should, but the difference between now and a year ago is palpable.

Blaine Crim has hit at least 20 homers in all four of his full seasons with the Rangers.

The win means that for a 26th consecutive season, Texas’s AAA club will not finish ten or more games below .500. That’s admittedly a weird stat, but I’ve always found it interesting. You’d think for any number of reasons — the needs of the parent club, prospects stalling out, injuries, mostly pure randomness — every minor league team would be a clunker every so often. Not so with the Rangers in AAA. How unusual is this?  For the other teams in the Pacific Coast League, here’s the most recent season in this category:

Colorado: 2024
LA Angels: 2024 (probably)
Houston: 2023
San Diego: 2023
San Francisco: 2023
LA Dodgers: 2019
Seattle: 2019
Oakland: 2015
Arizona: 2013
Texas: 1997

During these 26 seasons, Texas’s AAA squad has 15 winning records, nine postseason appearances, four finals appearances, and…. zero championships. The last winner was 1996.

Reno has clinched the second-half title and will play Sugar Land in the PCL finals.

Elsewhere
Frisco hosts Midland tonight in Game 2 of the Texas league semifinals. The Riders must win tonight and tomorrow to advance.

Tampa-affiliated Bowling Green won the high-A South Atlantic League title over Hudson Valley (NYY). The Hot Rods have won three championships in four seasons since the 2021 Great Reorganization. In the low-A Carolina League, Fredericksburg (WAS) defeated Kannapolis (CHW) two games to one in the finals.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Solomon
AA: Drake

Rangers Farm Report: Games of Tuesday 17 September

The Rangers announced their minor league award winners:
Player: OF Alejandro Osuna
Pitcher: Alejandro Rosario
Reliever: Bryan Magdaleno
Defender: IF Cody Freeman
True Ranger: IF Jax Biggers

Box Scores

AA: Frisco 0, @ Midland (OAK) 2
Frisco trails best-of-three semifinals 0-1
Frisco: 2 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 2 walks, 15 strikeouts

SP Winston Santos: 6 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 2 R, 2 BB, 12 SO, 90 P / 59 S,
RP Ryan Lobus: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
RP Josh Sborz: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
SS Max Acosta: 2-4, 3B
1B Abi Ortiz: 0-3, BB
DH Sebastian Walcott: 0-2, BB

Winston Santos was sublime, generating a career-high 23 swinging strikes and tying a previous best of 12 strikeouts set in April against high-A Greensboro. Leaning heavily on a mid-90s fastball that reached 98, Santos fanned seven the first time through the order and missed 10 bats out of 16 swings. Santos won’t pitch again unless the Riders reach the finals, and playoff stats aren’t added to season totals, but as it stands, he’s struck out 150 in 116.1 innings. After a month to acclimate to AA, his last seven starts are 37.2 IP, 24 H, 14 R, 11 BB, 53 SO, 35% strikeout rate.

That said, he’d love do-overs on a couple of batters. 1B Will Simpson, fresher to the level than Santos, drilled the first pitch he saw over the alley for a solo homer in the 2nd. In the 6th, two gentle grounders resulted in an error and single. Santos then walked Jack Winkler on four pitches to load the bases. Winkler had a decent overall season but compressed most of his production into the first half and had batted a paltry .182/.259/.265 since August 1st. With the bases now loaded, Jordan Groshans propelled the next pitch to center for a sac fly.

As for the other part of the winning-at-baseball equation, themes mentioned in the preview included Midland’s ability to turn opposing contact into dust, the Frisco offense’s particular struggles against the Hounds, and Midland closer Seth Elledge’s annoying knack for mowing down hitters without missing bats. All were on display Tuesday. Frisco batters not named Max Acosta were zero-for-26 with two walks, and the team was 2-for-21 on balls in play. In the 9th, Elledge retired the side in order without a swinging strike.

The Riders essentially had two chances to do some damage. In the 6th, Acosta tripled over the head of RF Henry Bolte with two out, but Josh Hatcher struck out. The next inning, Cody Freeman reached on an error and Abi Ortiz walked (and tripped over himself on the way to first). Sebastian Walcott had the right idea on a high curve but swung a little underneath it for the first out. Cooper Johnson struck out, and Keyber Rodriguez lined gently to center to end the threat. Walcott was Frisco’s first baserunner, ignoring an outside breaker for a full-count walk in the 2nd.

Springfield (STL) defeated Arkansas (SEA) 4-1 in the other Texas League opener.

AAA: Round Rock 12, @ Tacoma (SEA) 14 (10)
Round Rock: 17 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 19 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 32-37, eliminated, 69-74 overall

SP Adrian Sampson: 4.2 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 3 SO, 80 P / 49 S, 5.71 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 2.83 ERA
1B Blaine Crim: 1-4, 2B, 2 BB, .275/.371/.465
RF Kellen Strahm: 2-6, 2B, HR (), .246/.365/.352
SS Jax Biggers: 3-5, 2B, .271/.389/.381
3B Frainyer Chavez: 3-5, 2B, .233/.292/.301

Round Rock led 8-3, trailed 11-8, led 12-11. In the bottom of the 10th, rehabbing Avery Weems entered and threw three sliders resulting in a single, flyout, and game-ending three-run homer by Jake Slaughter.

Jonathan Hernandez threw a scoreless inning despite three runners. LF Nick Solak was 3-5 with a double.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Garcia
AA: off, Drake starts Thursday











Texas League Playoff Preview: Frisco vs. Midland

Texas League Division Series (best-of-three)
Frisco RoughRiders (84-54) vs. Athletics-affiliated Midland RockHounds (84-54)

Season Run Differential: Frisco +121, Midland +180
Last 24 Games: Frisco 16-8, Midland 18-6
Season Series: Midland 12-6, +23 run differential

How They Got Here
Frisco and Midland both set franchise records for winning percentage and were by far the best teams and only serious competitors for the split-season division titles. Frisco clinched the first half with an unassailable eight-game lead heading into a concluding series at Midland. Good thing, as the Riders would lose five of six. Needing not worry about Frisco in the second half but never letting up, Midland secured the second playoff spot 12 days ago.

History
Frisco won the 2022 series in dominating fashion over San Antonio (semis) and Wichita (finals), breaking an 18-year drought that included two losses in the finals and four first-round exits. Championship participants who’ve since reached the Majors are Luisangel Acuna, Evan Carter, Justin Foscue, Jonathan Ornelas, Thomas Saggese, Cody Bradford, Mason Englert, Jack Leiter, Ricky Vanasco, and Owen White.  

Midland has seven league titles including four straight from 2014 through 2017, but the Hounds are in the postseason for the first time since 2019. A long-time Oakland affiliate, Midland is semi-notorious for fielding, shall we say, some veteran pitching staffs. This year, three of the last four seasons, and six of the last 13, the Rockhounds have had the Texas League’s oldest average age among pitchers. Frisco has six active pitchers younger than anyone who has pitched for Midland all season.

The squads last met in the playoffs in 2014, when Midland knocked off a Frisco team that included Joey Gallo, Nomar Mazara, Jorge Alfaro, Hanser Alberto, Odubel Herrera, Keone Kela, Jered Eickhoff, Chi Chi Gonzalez, Alec Asher, and Jake Thompson.

Top 30 Prospects per MLB.com
Frisco:
1. IF Sebastian Walcott
3. RHP Alejandro Rosario (inactive)
6. RHP Emiliano Teodo
8. RHP Winston Santos
16. OF Alejandro Osuna
18. LHP Mitch Bratt
21. LHP Kohl Drake
27. RHP Dane Acker
28. RHP Skylar Hales

Rosario was scratched from his AA debut 11 days ago with fatigue (general, not arm-specific) and has not appeared in a Frisco uniform.

Midland:
2. IF Nick Kurtz (injured)
5. OF Henry Bolte
6. RHP Mason Barnett
10 OF Denzel Clarke
11. C Daniel Susac
18. RHP Jack Perkins
24. IF Brennan Milone
26. OF Brayan Buelvas (injured)
29. IF Will Simpson

2024 fourth-overall selection Nick Kurtz suffered a hamstring strain in his fifth AA game and hasn’t played in three weeks.

Offense
Frisco: 5% above-average runs scored, .250/.329/.390, 104 OPS+, 102 wRC+
Midland: 4% above-average runs scored, .253/.329/.402, 104 OPS+, 100 wRC+

Frisco:
C Cooper Johnson / Tucker Mitchell
1B Abimelec Ortiz
2B Max Acosta (also SS)
3B Cody Freeman (also 2B)
SS Sebastian Walcott (also 3B)
LF Aaron Zavala
CF Alejandro Osuna
RF Luis Mieses
Also OF Josh Hatcher, IF Keyber Rodriguez, OF Daniel Mateo

Frisco lacks a Gallo-esque power source or Carter-esque OBP machine, but the offense is well-rounded and absent glaring weaknesses. All the projected starters have an OPS in excess of 100 except Aaron Zavala, and even he reaches base at an acceptable clip. They don’t walk much as a group but excel at contact.

Leadoff hitter Alejandro Osuna (.306/.379/.523) led the team in every slash stat. He, Max Acosta, Cody Freeman, Josh Hatcher, and Cooper Johnson had career seasons at the plate. Abimelec Ortiz suffered most of the season but smacked ten of his 18 homers and slugged .720 in the season’s final month, so maybe he is our new Joey Gallo. Acosta and Hatcher are the likeliest running threats. 18-year-old Sebastian Walcott hit four singles, three doubles, and a homer in his first five AA games.

I have Hatcher in the “also” pile but expect him to play regularly. He leads the teams in RF appearances but has bounced around left, first, and DH of late. Daniel Mateo hasn’t hit well in AA but could be employed as a pinch-runner and/or defensive replacement.

Frisco hit terribly against Midland during the regular season (.219/.291/.305, 2.4 runs per game), but a healthy portion of those plate appearances came from folks now off the roster or not expected to play much, if at all.

Midland:
C Daniel Susac / Shane McGuire
1B Will Simpson
2B Euribiel Angeles
3B Jordan Groshans
SS Jeremy Eierman
LF Junior Perez
CF Denzel Clarke
RF Henry Bolte
Also 2/3/DH Brennan Milone, 2/3/S Jack Winkler, LF Caeden Trenkle, RF Jeisson Rosario

Like Frisco, Midland has an above-average if not quite thrilling offense. They don’t walk much, either, strike out more, and hit for a little more power (after adjusting for park). Midland has several hitters (Susac, Groshans, Winkler, Perez) with sub-par OBPs. Milone led the team with just 15 homers, but the Hounds are likely to have up to five guys in the lineup who slugged .400 or better. Outfielders Bolte, Clarke, and Perez steal more frequently than anyone on the RoughRiders.

Pitching
Frisco: 14% better than avg. runs allowed, .231/.324/.353, 93 OPS+, 12% BB/HBP, 25% SO
Midland: 24% better than avg. run allowed, .219/.301/.335, 78 OPS+, 11% BB/HBP, 25% SO

Frisco:
SP1: Winston Santos (4.89 ERA, .227/.306/.424 oppo line, 10% BB/HBP, 30% SO)
SP2: Kohl Drake (1.42 ERA, .139/.200/.262, 7% BB/HBP, 24% SO)

Santos’s early days in AA contained some memorably rocky outings, including three with multiple homers and a renewed tendency to plunk batters. He improved substantially down the stretch. While I wouldn’t put much stock in a lone head-to-head, he did shut out the Hounds for five innings in mid-August.

Drake’s Frisco stats don’t include his one-off appearance in mid-April, when he very uncharacteristically walked six in 1.1 IP. Drake began the season in the low-A rotation. Five months later, he had his schedule adjusted to insure a playoff start in AA. Not bad. Notably, Midland might offer an entirely right-handed lineup against Drake, who was relatively ordinary against them (.262/.326/.365) compared to lefties (.206/.271/.316).

Frisco hasn’t announced a third starter, and the fluidity of the rotation down the stretch doesn’t point to an obvious choice. Mitch Bratt would be the most rested. He posted a 5.73 ERA, but his peripherals are better.

In relief, Frisco has a wealth of options. Frisco didn’t have a firm closer, but Skylar Hales (2.10 ERA, .241/.303/.352) might fit the role. Newcomers Ryan Lobus and lefty Bryan Magdaleno pitched well enough that I expect them to be trusted in a meaningful situation. Dane Acker has been strong in shorter spells (1.35 ERA, .240/.269/.260). Jackson Kelley (3.38 ERA, .194/.267/.239)doesn’t throw as hard but has been no less effective.

Whither Emiliano Teodo? Short-leash Game 3 starter? 2-3 innings behind Santos or Drake? The 9th inning? Teodo hasn’t pitched on fewer than five days rest all season, so expecting more than one appearance may bit too much to ask, but I suppose it’s possible.

Midland:
SP1: RHP Mason Barnett (2.61 ERA, .212/.283/.331, 10% BB/HBP, 31% SO)
SP2: RHP Jack Perkins (2.96 ERA, .193/.296/.241, 13% BB/HBP, 32% SO)

Frisco had a great pitching staff. Midland had the league’s best (plus stellar defense), allowing 98 fewer runs than the park-adjusted league average.

Barnett has spent most of 2024 with AA Northwest Arkansas and was acquired with others for RHP Lucas Erceg at the deadline. The stats above constitute only his seven Midland starts, which are the most recent and better than his time as a Royal. Perkins is a 2022 fifth-rounder out of Indiana. Both have mid-90s fastballs, a change they will actually use, and a couple of breakers.

Midland had the league’s best bullpen, although their walk and strikeout rates weren’t anything fancy. Closer Seth Elledge (2.22 ERA, .175/.228/.292) is 28 and spent parts of 2020-2021 with the MLB Cardinals. (Did I mention the A’s have a thing for older men?) Elledge deals what looks to me like a pro forma low-90s fastball and low-80s slider, and his swinging strike rate is a shockingly low 7.5%, but he doesn’t walk anybody and has been very hard to hit.

As a group, Frisco tended not to hit lefties especially well, and Midland southpaw relievers David Leal and Domingo Robles were quite effective against same-side hitters. Busy right-handed relievers were Tyler Baum (4.01 ERA, .233/.332/.367, 31% K rate but not as dominant as some), Shohei Tomioka (4.14 ERA, .208/.310/.284), Colin Peluse (2.05 ERA, .213/.274/.301), and Ryan Cusick (1.73 ERA, .213/.318/.245 in relief).

Defense
Both defenses are strong. Frisco ranked at or near the top in preventing steals, errors, potential double plays turned, and balls in play turned into outs. Midland was average-or-better in most defensive aspects but outrageously good at limiting hits on balls in play.

Park Factors
Frisco – 1.03 for runs, 1.03 for homers
Midland – 1.04 for runs, 0.94 for homers

Both parks are mildly hitter-friendly, if in different fashion. Frisco depresses doubles ever so slightly but favors singles and homers. Midland actually diminishes homers more than anywhere save San Antonio and Arkansas but promotes everything else (making Midland’s low defensive BABIP all the more impressive).

Advantages / Outlook
Offense – Frisco
Pitching – Midland
Defense – Midland

On the whole, the offenses were equal, but I favor the current roster of Frisco over Midland.

Midland allowed 58 fewer runs during the season. Frisco’s offense relies on contact, while Midland’s pitching and defense turn contact into outs far better than any other team in the league. Are the Hounds a little lucky? Maybe, but I wouldn’t count on that suddenly disappearing after 138 games. The series could be decided by whether Frisco can generate an extra it or two at the right time.

These are two of the three best teams in AA, and one side is going to be unhappy. If forced to bet, I too would be unhappy because the series is a tossup, but I suppose I would pick the Rockhounds on the basis of their slightly better regular season performance.

Elsewhere
Round Rock catcher Matt Whatley crumpled rounding third Saturday night and remained prone on the grass until tagged out. He was IL’ed today. 2024 14th-rounder Ben Hartl was promoted from low-A Down East. Adrian Sampson is scheduled to start the first game of Round Rock’s season-ending series at Tacoma.

I’m happy to say that Kinston has already secured professional baseball for 2025. The Down East Bird Dawgs are the newest members of the Frontier League. The new logo has an amazing callback to the old tenant:

Rangers Farm Report: Games of Sunday 15 September

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 6, Sacramento (SFO) 11
Round Rock: 7 hits, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 9 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 32-36, eliminated, 69-73 overall

SP Dane Dunning: 2.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 1 SO, 56 P / 34 S, 5.28 ERA
RP Tim Brennan: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 6.47 ERA
RP Josh Sborz: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO, 7.46 ERA
RP Jacob Latz: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO, 2.45 ERA
CF Dustin Harris: 2-5, 2B, .272/.357/.393
LF Trevor Hauver: 1-3, BB, .238/.353/.408
DH Kellen Strahm: 1-2, 2 BB, 2 SB (12), .241/.366/.319

Last Wednesday, I mentioned the difficulty of Dane Dunning returning to MLB this reason regardless of how he pitches. Yesterday won’t help.

Josh Sborz received a visit from the trainer and was pulled after three batters and 16 pitches, only seven if which registered strikes. Yesterday was his first attempt at pitching on one day of rest while on assignment, which (as it stands) expires in about a week.

Eli Ben-Porat led off his “10 Statcast Standouts” ($ link) at Baseball America with none other than Blaine Crim and began that entry with my photos him receiving his team MVP award. “A remarkably consistent batter year-to-year, with a robust sample pointing to excellent discipline, average contact skills and 60-grade raw power with the ability to get to optimized launch angles,” says Ben-Porat.

Round Rock concluded the home portion of the schedule with a 35-39 record.

AA: Frisco 2, @ Amarillo (ARI) 0
Frisco: 8 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 2 walks, 16 strikeouts
First-Half Record: 44-25, 1st place, 4 G ahead
Second-Half Record: 40-29, 2nd place, 4 GB
Overall Record: 84-54
Offense: 4.9 R/G, 5% above average, .250/.329/.390, 104 OPS+
Pitching: 4.0 R/G, 14% above average, .231/.324/.353 oppo line, 93 OPS+

SP Ben Anderson: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 SO, 91 P / 53 S, 3.48 ERA
RP Ricky DeVito: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 4.00 ERA
RP Jackson Kelley: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.38 ERA
RP Seth Clark: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.22 ERA
RF Alejandro Osuna: 1-4, HR (9), .306/.379/.523
2B Keyber Rodriguez: 1-3, BB, SB (7), .234/.285/.369

Frisco set a franchise record with a .609 winning percentage. The 2007 edition holds the record for wins with 85. Frisco tied rival Midland for the second-best mark in AA, trailing only Cubs-affiliated Tennessee (87-50).

The Riders scored on a sac fly and Alejandro Osuna’s 18th homer of the season. Ben Anderson had been skipped last time through the rotation but finished strong. Sebastian Walcott had the day off.

Frisco will head to Midland for Tuesday’s opener of the Texas League semifinals. Arkansas (80-57) and Springfield (79-59) will meet in the other bracket. Winston Santos is the listed starter for Game 1, followed by Kohl Drake, whose short outing on short rest did indeed set him up for a playoff start. Game 3 is TBA.

Rangers Farm Report: Games of Saturday 14 September

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 7, Sacramento (SFO) 2
Round Rock: 9 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 0 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 32-35, eliminated, 69-72 overall

SP Steven Jennings: 2.2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 1 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 43 P / 32 S, 5.33 ERA
RP Robby Ahlstrom: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 3.50 ERA
RP Marc Church: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 2.33 ERA
1B Blaine Crim: 1-3, 2B, BB, .277/.372/.468
LF Trevor Hauver: 3-4, 2 2B, HR (10), .237/.352/.408
3B Frainyer Chavez: 2-4, 2B, .213/.279/.277

The Express named Blaine Crim the team MVP in a ceremony before the game. Prizes included a commemorative plaque, a pair of boots, and a hug from dad.

I’ve been grumpily frustrated about Marc Church for over a year. Back in March, he drew some attention and had a chance at the Opening Day active roster, but most of his AAA outings just haven’t quite looked the part. Last night, he was in fine form, striking out three in two scoreless innings and generating seven misses on nine swings at the slider. Just promoted San Francisco prospect Bryce Eldridge waved through two of them. The slider has nearly always been an absolute beast, but the fastball has been erratic, both in terms of basic control and what happens on contact. Church’s strikeout rate in AAA since returning from injury is 22%, ordinary for a reliever nowadays, but his control has improved dramatically, and he’s largely avoided noisy contact. On the season, Church has a 41% whiff rate with the slider (league rate 28%) and 15% on the fastball (league rate 25%). Nothing he throws moves much horizontally. He relies on impressive vertical break for the fastball, and the slider acts like a fastball until the batter commits. Most of his 2024 has been spent on the shelf, but he still has a shot at being a worthy MLB reliever.

Trevor Hauver has reached safely in 22 consecutive games and is batting .380/.500/.722 with 12 doubles and five homers. Up until that stretch, he carried a line of .193/.303/.311 in 77 games.

Reno won as well, so Round Rock is eliminated from postseason contention.

AA: Frisco 18, @ Amarillo (ARI) 1
Frisco: 21 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 39-29, first-half champ, 83-54 overall

SP Bryan Chi: 3 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 1 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 51 P / 34 S, 4.66 ERA
RP Ryan Lobus: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 3.00 ERA
RP Bryan Magdaleno: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Emiliano Teodo: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 1.98 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 2.10 ERA
RP Dane Acker: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 3.05 ERA
RF Alejandro Osuna: 4-6, 2B, HR (8), .307/.378/.515
LF Josh Hatcher: 3-4, 2B, HR (12), .300/.350/.448
1B Abi Ortiz: 5-6, 2 HR (18), .243/.326/.433
SS Sebastian Walcott: 2-6, HR (1), .348/.375/.609
DH Aaron Zavala: 2-4, HR (5), .223/.333/.306

Once again, Frisco took full advantage of the friendly hitting conditions and a pitching staff that is poor even accounting for those conditions. The Riders connected on seven homers including the first from Sebastian Walcott at this level. Walcott’s dinger left the bat at 107 MPH. Abi Ortiz had a five-hit night with two homers. In his last two months, Ortiz is hitting .293/.385/.581 with 13 homers in 43 games. This is the Ortiz of 2023 and gives the front office something to think about on 40-man deadline day.

Frisco employed a covey of relievers to place them in line for Tuesday’s playoff opener at Midland. Emiliano Teodo hadn’t pitched in three weeks and has thrown no more than 68 pitches since July, so I’m assuming he’s a reliever (or starter on a short leash) in the playoffs.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Dunning
AA: B. Anderson





Rangers Farm Report: Games of Friday 13 September

Greetings from the Dell Diamond. I awakened to no internet and still had none when I left for tonight’s game, so today’s belated report comes to you courtesy of whoever provides internet service to the Round Rock Express. Today’s report is also in haste, so if I missed anything critical, hopefully I’ll recap it tomorrow.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 7, Sacramento (SFO) 5
Round Rock: 5 hits, 8 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 10 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 31-35, 7 GB, 68-72 overall, elimination number 1

SP Peter Solomon: 5 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 2 R, 4 BB, 5 SO, 90 P / 53 S, 6.27 ERA
RP Josh Sborz: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 0 SO, 7.71 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 2.97 ERA
DH Trevor Hauver: 1-2, HR (9), 2 BB

Round Rock made the most of a handful of hits. Trevor Hauver has hit well of late (he also homered about 15 minutes prior to this sentence).

Any Reno win or Round Rock loss the rest of the way will eliminate the Express. I had the elimination number at three yesterday, but it should have been two. I wasn’t considering the tiebreaker which favors Reno on account of a 3-2 advantage in head-to-head games in the second half.

AA: Frisco 15, @ Amarillo (ARI) 5
Frisco: 20 hits, 6 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 38-29, first-half champ, 82-54 overall

SP Kohl Drake: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 34 P / 20 S, 3.10 ERA
RP Jackson Kelley: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.57 ERA
2B Max Acosta: 5-6, 2 2B
1B Abimelec Ortiz: 2-4, 2 HR (16), 2 BB, SB (2)
DH Sebastian Walcott: 2-5, BB, SB (1)
C Cooper Johnson: 2-4, HR (14), 2 BB
SS Keyber Rodriguez: 2-5, 3B, HR (2)
RF Luis Mieses: 3-5, 2B, 2 HR (5)

As expected, Kohl Drake had a short outing. Still, it’s noteworthy that he came back to pitch on four days rest. I don’t think it’s the equivalent of a reliever dealing in consecutive games, but a general indication of confidence? Very much so.

Frisco opened multiple cans of whoop on Amarillo’s pitchers.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Jennings
AA: Chi

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Down two games to one in the South Atlantic League finals, Hickory lost 3-1 on a walk-off homer in the 13th by Reed Rohlman off Tyree Thompson. Thompson had pitched 3.2 scoreless with only one hit allowed until the end.

RF Pedro Gonzalez was one of the team’s heroes, breaking up Lexington’s no-hitter with a game-tying solo homer in the 7th, then slamming into the wall to catch what would have been a walk-off extra-base hit in the 12th. Another was reliever Jesus Linarez, called upon with no notice when putative starter Abdiel Mendoza suffered an injury during warmups. Linarez threw 4.2 scoreless innings with two runners allowed. Ace reliever Kelvin Gonzalez threw innings seven through nine without a run allowed. The Crawdads mustered only eight runners in the game and batted .155/.247/.246 in the four-game series.

The next official game wouldn’t be for another 599 days.

Rangers Farm Report: Games of Thursday 12 September

We knew Kumar Rocker couldn’t maintain his 74% whiff rate on curves against MLB hitters, but would you settle for 62%? Mariners missed completely on 12 of 19 swings. As pointed out by Michael Bowman yesterday, the best individual pitch in the Majors in this regard is Mark Leiter’s splitter, which has generated a 59% miss rate. We’ll need more MLB outings from Rocker to confirm, but the curve has the makings of a singularly effective pitch. I don’t blame folks for calling it a slider even with the contradictory assertion from the man himself. It doesn’t into an easy category. It moves horizontally more like a cutter or maybe a gyro slider, but the drop is between a typical slider and curve.

Seattle’s stadium is among baseball’s friendliest to pitchers, but that Collin Snider homer leaves only eight of 30 parks.

One potential concern is how Rocker’s addition affects the 40-man roster. He’ll occupy a spot over the winter, of course, leaving one less space for offseason maneuvering. Sometimes that could cause trouble, but in this case I don’t see it. Texas has 45 players on the 40-man roster including those on the 60-day IL, but no fewer than nine will become free agents at season’s end. The Rangers will be able to reinstate the injured without breaking a sweat. Also, the number of 40 additions this fall could be as few as two. The Rangers have only one Rule 5-eligible pick from the truncated 2020 draft (pitcher Dylan MacLean, who’s hurt) and four from 2021, none of whom I expect to be protected. The “roster crunch” has the texture of oatmeal. Even with free agent additions, Texas should be able to find room without too much difficulty.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 2, Sacramento (SFO) 3
Round Rock: 6 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts
Record: 30-35, 7 GB, 67-72 overall, elimination number 3

SP Ryan Garcia: 5.1 IP, 7 H (1 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 92 P / 56 S, 3.08 ERA
RP Avery Weems: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Jacob Latz: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.86 ERA
DH Sam Huff: 1-3, BB, .247/.310/.406

Ryan Garcia had to fend off a little more trouble than usual. The opposition was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position but managed to plate three on a solo homer, wild pitch, and sac bunt.

Round Rock needs three wins in the final nine games to avoid becoming the first Texas AAA team to finish at least ten games below .500 since 1997.

AA: Frisco 7, @ Amarillo (ARI) 10
Frisco: 11 hits, 5 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 37-29, first half champ, 81-54 overall

SP Mitch Bratt: 6 IP, 8 H (2 HR), 5 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 83 P / 54 S, 5.45 ERA
DH Josh Hatcher: 1-5, HR (11), .295/.344/.436
1B Abi Ortiz: 2-4, 2B, BB, .232/.315/.397
3B Sebastian Walcott: 3-5, 2 2B
2B Keyber Rodriguez: 2-4, 2 2B, .230/.280/.356

Sebastian Walcott had a busy evening. With two out in the 1st, he grounded up the middle to plate the game’s first two runs. He then hit among the least likely doubles you’ll ever see, a chopper along the line that bounded off 3B Jesus Valdez 60 feet to the home dugout. Walcott never stopped running, and the scorekeeper never ruled an error, so a double it was. Walcott followed with a lasered double to the wall that was common in Hickory. He also bounced a throw from third well in front of first base for his first AA error.

Mitch Bratt pitched in Amarillo for the first time. Mitch Bratt allowed two homers for the first time. He’ll finish 2024 with a slightly unfair 5.73 ERA given the .260/.327/.420 line.

Today’s listed starter is Kohl Drake, who is on four days rest for the first time. I expect a brief outing.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Solomon
AA: Drake

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Hickory extended its season with a 5-1 victory at Lexington. Ricky Vanasco shut down the Legends for 3.2 innings and fanned six but finished with three consecutive walks. Tai Tiedemann was able to squash that threat. Tyreque Reed plated three on a two-out single, solo homer, and sac fly.


Rangers Farm Report: Games of Wednesday 11 September


Kumar Rocker takes the mound tonight.

Here’s my reviews of his first and second AAA starts, and videos of most of his swinging strikes and slow-motion versions of his repertoire..

Michael Baumann of FanGraphs posted a nice summary of Rocker’s current success against the backdrop of his irregular, uncertain ascent to the Majors.

Adam Morris of Lone Star Ball offers his thoughts as well.

Jarrett Seidler and Tom Jackson of Baseball Prospectus summarizes the history and delves into his repertoire at length ($$ link).

Lance Brozdowki has a 12-minute video of Rocker’s repertoire, aided by some video shot by yours truly.

That should keep you occupied until the actual game starts.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 6, Sacramento (SFO) 5
Round Rock: 8 hits, 5 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 10 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 30-34, 6 GB, 67-71 overall

SP Adrian Sampson: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 2 SO, 91 P / 50 S, 5.57 ERA
RP Robby Ahlstrom: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 3.78 ERA
RP Marc Church: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2.60 ERA
C Sam Huff: 3-4, 2 2B, .246/.308/.407
LF Trevor Hauver: 1-3, HR (8), BB, .229/.345/.381
CF Kellen Strahm: 1-3, BB, SB (10), .250/.362/.333

Sam Huff had a fine evening, smacking three hard liners for two doubles and a 7th-inning RBI single that broke a 5-5 tie. Unfortnately, Huff has truly struggled since around the beginning of June, hitting .231/.270/.357 with a very respectable 20 doubles but only four homers in 64 games. His walk rate is down from 14% in 2023 to 8% this year, while the strikeout rate has increased from 24% to 32%. As to his future, I think the likelihood of him being on the 40 next April is very low. If he is, he’d be the #2 catcher (or #3, if Texas went that route) on the active roster because he’s out of options. But if the Rangers considered him a viable #2, I think he’d have more than his four 2024 MLB plate appearances. If he’s in the organization next season, I’d say the most likely way is by sliding through waivers.

AA: Frisco 3, @ Amarillo (ARI) 1
Frisco: 8 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 37-28, , 81-53 overall

SP Winston Santos: 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 67 P / 45 S, 4.89 ERA
RP Bryan Magdaleno: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0.00 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2.17 ERA
RP Dane Acker: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.08 ERA
SS Max Acosta: 3-4, HR (8), .280/.344/.417

Winston Santos finished the regular season with consecutive solid outings. For the season, he posted a 3.67 ERA with 34 walks and 138 strikeouts in 110.1 innings split between Hickory and Frisco. Last year, he fanned only 88 against nearly the same number of batters faced. Despite some homer-proneness upon promotion to Frisco, on the whole he was much less likely to surrender the long ball. All told, a fine and encouraging season. He’ll be added to the 40 in a couple of months.

Max Acosta had missed a few days and watched Sebastian Walcott’s debut Tuesday from the dugout. Last night, he offered evidence that he deserves to play as well. A while back, I mentioned him as someone who’s produced decent if modest numbers that don’t assure a promotion each year, but he gets promoted and hits just as well. His current line of .280/.345/.417 would be his best if it holds. And he’ll probably join Round Rock next March.

Walcott was 0-3 as a DH.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Garcia
AA: Bratt

Rangers Farm Report: Games of Tuesday 10 September

Best as I can tell, at 18 years and 180 days as of yesterday, Sebastian Walcott is Texas’s youngest AA position player ever. He was 11 days younger than Roy Howell, who made his AA and professional debut for the Pittsfield Rangers on June 26, 1972. Howell had been drafted out of high school fourth-overall 20 days prior.

Youngest AA Position Player Debuts in Rangers History:
Sebastian Walcott, 2024, 18 years / 180 days
Roy Howell, 1972, 18 / 191
Jurickson Profar, 2012, 19 / 45
Nomar Mazara, 2014, 19 / 101
Ivan Rodriguez, 1991, 19 /128*
Juan Gonzalez, 1989, 19 / 168*
Rougned Odor, 2013, 19 / 179
Ruben Sierra, 1985, 19 / 180*
Elvis Andrus, 2008**, 19 / 221
Donnie Scott, 1981, 19 / 229*

* Estimated based on assumption of a first game in early April. I don’t have schedules prior to 2005. To whatever extent I’m off, I shouldn’t be off on the low side by more than a few days. I found Roy Howell’s exact debut date in a story about a fog-shortened no-hitter.

** When I published a Frisco-only version of this list, I had Andrus’s debut year as 2009 instead of 2008, but his age was correct.

Elsewhere, the Cardinals promoted IF Thomas Saggese, who started at short and went 0-4 in his MLB debut. He’d taken some time acclimating to AAA but had batted .291/.351/.524 with 12 homers in 55 games since July 1st. The Ranger traded Saggese and pitcher TK Roby to St. Louis for Jordan Montgomery last summer.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 6, Sacramento (SFO) 11 (11)
Round Rock: 8 hits, 8 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 29-34, 7 GB, 66-71 overall, elimination number 5

SP Dane Dunning: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 69 P / 48 S, 1.38 ERA
RP Josh Sborz: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 6.23 ERA
RP Jacob Latz: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 6.75 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 1.2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 3.13 ERA
1B Blaine Crim: 2-5, 2B, BB, .282/.376/.475

Two rehabbing and two optioned pitchers accounted for most of the innings. Dunning pitched well overall and the runs were unearned, although he was not blameless in Sacramento’s two-run first. Given the upcoming activation of Jake deGrom and Kumar Rocker’s MLB debut, plus the presumed return of Josh Sborz, if not Jacob Latz, Dunning may not see Arlington again in 2024 no matter how he performs.

The sides traded threes in the 10th, but Round Rock could not answer Sacramento’s five runs off Aidan Anderson in the 11th.

The Express are in last among eight teams contending for the second-half title, but I think they can still succeed with as few as eight wins in the last 11 games. For example (ignoring first-half winner Sugar Land and bottom-dwelling El Paso):
Round Rock: 37-37
ABQ, OKC, Sacto, Salt Lake, Tacoma: 37-38
Las Vegas, Reno: 36-38

AA: Frisco 1, @ Amarillo (ARI) 5
Frisco: 7 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 7 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 36-28, first-half champion, 80-53 overall

SP Nick Krauth: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 58 P / 37 S, 5.78 ERA
SS Sebastian Walcott: 1-4, 2B
C Cooper Johnson: 3-4, 2B, HR (13), .233/.351/.471

Walcott’s mound opponent was Stephen Giesting, who brought a 5.25 ERA into the game but generates more misses than you’d expect from someone with a fastball in the 88-91 range. Giesting would in fact tie a career-high 19 swinging strikes and deliver seven innings of one-run ball with seven Ks. Walcott swung through a fastball in his first plate appearance but stung another heater down the left field line for a double. He would strike out against Giesting again, then ground out to second to end the game. In the field, he handled five plays without incident.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Sampson
AA: Santos

Five Years Ago The Day Before Yesterday
Low-A Hickory lost the first game of the South Atlantic League finals 6-4 to the KC-affiliated Lexington Legends. Starter Ronny Henriquez pitched well, but a couple of mid-game defensive miscues, reliever Kelvin Gonzalez’s worst outing all season, and lack of timely hitting doomed the Crawdads.

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Hickory lost again, 7-0. Early success by Cole Winn ended for naught with a three-run 5th that put the Crawdads down 4-0. A later three-run homer off Daniel Robert sealed the defeat. Hickory batters not named Kole Enright or Pedro Gonzalez were 5-for-52 with a double and three walks so far in the series. Hickory would head to Lexington needing three straight wins for a title.

Rangers Farm Report: Games of Sunday 8 September

Per local reports, infielder Sebastian Walcott will head to AA Frisco to finish the year. Even in an organization with a history of hyper-aggressive assignments (less so lately), Walcott stands out. I don’t know if he’ll play Tuesday, but let’s assume he does for the following:

Youngest AA Debuts by a Texas hitter, 2003-present:
Sebastian Walcott, 2024, 18 years / 180 days
Jurickson Profar, 2012, 19 / 45
Nomar Mazara, 2014, 19 / 101
Rougned Odor, 2013, 19 / 179
Elvis Andrus, 2009, 19 / 221
Evan Carter, 2022, 20 / 15

Engel Beltre debuted at 19 years and 304 days at the end of 2009 but would spend the first half of the following season in high-A before returning. I’m also ignoring any brief, just-in-case assignments like 19-year-old Esteban Mejia last month.

How young is Walcott? Even if the Rangers delayed his arrival until next April, he’d still be the youngest Texas hitter in AA in at least 21 years.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 9, @ Las Vegas (OAK) 6
Round Rock: 18 hits, 7 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 7 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 29-33, 7 GB, 66-70 overall

SP Robby Ahlstrom: 1.2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 2 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 1 SO, 42 P / 22 S, 4.30 ERA
RP Marc Church: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2.76 ERA
RP Grant Wolfram: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.42 ERA
CF Dustin Harris: 2-5, BB, .278/.365/.403
SS Jax Biggers: 3-5, 2B, BB, .273/.395/.385
1B Blaine Crim: 2-6, 2B, .280/.375/.474
LF Trevor Hauver: 3-5, 2B, BB, .226/.337/.371
C Matt Whatley: 2-5, BB, .208/.295/.338

Round Rock finally opened up a can on Las Vegas after scoring 12 runs in the previous five games. The Express didn’t go deep but collected at least 18 hits for the fourth time this season.

On a bullpen day, Robbie Ahlstrom drew the short straw and had to start in one of baseball’s least forgiving climates. Out of 12 pitchers on the two sides, only Marc Church and Grant Wolfram avoided allowing an inherited runner or one of their own to score.

The Express will head home to face Sacramento, followed by a season-ending to Tacoma.

AA: Frisco 2, Wichita (MIN) 4 (10)
Frisco: 5 hits, 1 walk, 14 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 7 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 36-27, first-half champ, 80-52 overall

SP Kohl Drake: 5 IP, 1 H (1 HR), 1 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 81 P / 50 S, 3.63 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 2.33 ERA
RP Dane Acker: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 3.12 ERA
CF Alejandro Osuna: 2-5, 2B, .302/.377/.509

Kohl Drake leads the organization with 146 strikeouts and will likely finish best even if he doesn’t throw again.

Frisco’s home schedule is done until the playoffs. The Riders head to Amarillo this week. Midland has tied Frisco for the league’s best overall record, but Frisco will have home field advantage for their upcoming semifinal tilt regardless.

Hi-A: Hickory 3, Rome (ATL) 4
Hickory: 8 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 15 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
First-Half Record: 28-38, 5th place, 9 GB
Second-Half Record: 34-32, 3rd place, 6.5 GB
Overall Record: 62-70
Offense: 4.1 R/G, 11% worse than average, .222/.309/.346, 90 OPS+
Pitching: 4.6 R/G, 1% better than average, .231/.324/.384, 105 OPS+

SP David Davalillo: 6 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 3 SO, 79 P / 49 S, 2.10 ERA
RP DJ Peters: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 5.52 ERA
2B Cam Cauley: 1-3, 2B, BB, .235/.297/.411
SS Sebastian Walcott: 1-4, 3B, .261/.342/.443
RF Yeison Morrobel: 2-4, 2B, .211/.287/.323

David Davalillo walked a career-high five and allowed 15 runners in six innings. Somehow, only one scored, and he averaged a tight 13.2 pitches per inning.

Walcott led the South Atlantic League and leads the Texas organization with 40 combined doubles and triples. Among league qualifiers, he was tenth in average (.261) and slugging (.443).

Top picks Malcolm Moore and Dylan Dreiling were both 0-4. Moore finished with a tepid line of .209/.298/.374 in 25 games but was solid after a chilly pro introduction. He swatted three homers and six doubles. Dreiling was .198/.340/.279 with a homer, four doubles, and 19 walks in 24 games.

Cam Cauley hit eight of his 12 homers during a 16-game stretch in July and early August. The rest of the season, he batted .225 and slugged .349.

Hickory was 50-46 after a 12-24 start during which the offense scored one or zero runs 16 times. Next year, the Crawdads will drop to low-A, their home from 1993 through 2020.

Lo-A: Down East 1, Augusta (ATL) 4
Down East: 5 hits, 3 walks, 16 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 6 walks, 15 strikeouts
First-Half Record: 35-30, 3rd place, 6 GB
Second-Half Record: 30-33, 4th place, 8 GB
Overall Record: 65-63
Offense: 4.0 R/G, 8% worse than average, .227/.306/.337, 98 OPS+
Pitching: 3.6 R/G, 16% better than average, .212/.307/.305, 89 OPS+

SP Wilian Bormie: 4 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 81 P / 49 S, 3.47 ERA
RP Josh Trentadue: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 4.46 ERA
RP Adonis Villavicencio: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 4.56 ERA
3B Beycker Barroso: 1-3, BB, .229/.342/.374

Yesterday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 1,878, 2B Antonis Macias grounded out to conclude the existence of the Down East Wood Ducks as an affiliated club of Minor League Baseball. Down East was 476-448 in seven seasons with the Rangers, winning a co-championship in their inaugural season, posting one of the best records in Texas’s minor league history two years later (as chronicled in this year’s Five Years Ago segments), and reaching the postseason twice more after dropping to low-A.

The marriage between Texas and Kinston was admittedly of convenience. The Rangers were desperate to escape the California League’s High Desert Mavericks (who would mercifully fold after 2016). Kinston was desperate to replace a 34-year affiliation with Cleveland lost after 2011 and had an older if suitable facility. I never expected the Rangers to stay any longer than necessary, and I was surprised the Rangers signed a twelve-year lease until discovering how easily they could terminate it with, at best, a nominal penalty. I feel bad for the people of Kinston losing their team, but even ignoring MiLB clubs descending to vassal status in the new agreement with MLB, the expensive facility upgrades required of most parks, and Diamond Baseball Holdings acquiring the Wood Ducks and 34 (!) other teams, I anticipated a new park in a new city by the time the lease expired. As I’ve mentioned, Kinston is about the size of Corsicana and isn’t growing. Expecting the city to renovate Grainger Stadium to modern standards was absurd. Had not the Rangers owned the team at the time, Down East almost certainly would have been one of the casualties of the 2021 reorganization.

All that said, it wasn’t a loveless marriage. Kinston offered a far better situation than Adelanto, CA, or Bakersfeld in the previous decade. It was never a place to dread or mock, and the Rangers never had to fret about sending their prospects there like those other two cities. Players and personnel could shift between the low-A and high-A locations in around four hours. Rain is a problem, but on the whole the climate is generous to baseball.

WITN covered the finale and what the future holds for baseball in Kinston. Benjamin Hill of Ben’s Biz Beat visited Grainger Stadium a month ago.

As for the game, 21-year-old Wilian Bormie reeled off a fifth consecutive start with two or fewer runs allowed. 2024 8th-rounder Anthony Susac recorded Down East’s final out on defense and can say he made eight appearances covering 9.1 innings without allowing a run and stranding six runners bequeathed. IF Echedry Vargas had the day off but among qualifiers finished sixth in average at .276 and second in slugging at .454. He also ranked second in hits (118), eighth in doubles (24), fifth in homers (14), and 19th in steals (29).

Five Years Ago Yesterday
Down East lost the deciding Game 5 of the Carolina League semifinals 6-3 to Fayetteville. Seven straight Woodpeckers reached in the 7th, and four would score. The 2017 edition of the Wood Ducks won a co-championship with a phenomenal bullpen featuring Jeffrey Springs, CD Pelham, Scott Williams, and Adam Choplick. The 2019 version wasn’t so formidable, allowing 37 runners in 17 innings. The Woodies were 87-52 during the regular season, the fourth-best record of any Texas affiliate in franchise history.