Welcome to "Chatter from the Pressbox", the website dedicated to the Pressbox of the Frisco RoughRiders, the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers.

Today's Matchups Around the Ranger's System

Today's (5/20) Match-Ups Around the Ranger's System

Round Rock: Martin Perez (3-3 5.27) vs. Fresno Grizzlies: Andrew Kown (3-1 2.61) @ 1:00 PM CT

Myrtle Beach: Kyle Hendricks (1-4 2.91) @ Wilmington Blue Rocks: Sugar Ray Marimon (3-0 2.65) @ 12:30 PM CT

Hickory : Santo Perez (2-2 6.19) @ Asheville Tourists: Daniel Winkler (4-2 6.06) @ 1:05 PM CT



Saturday, April 30, 2011

Game 22: Frisco RoughRiders (Martin Perez) @ Corpus Christi Hooks (Jonnathan Aristil)

Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Whataburger Field (Corpus Christi, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (7-14 7 games back in the Texas League South)... Corpus Christi Hooks (9-12 5 games back in the Texas League South)
Streak: Lost 1 in a row
Last 10: 3-7
Series Record: 1-5-0
Record against Corpus Christi: 1-4
Starting Pitchers: Martin Perez (1-0 2.65 ERA)... Jonnathan Aristil (1-1 5.49 ERA)

What to Watch for on the Mound: Both teams send their starting pitcher out to the mound for the 5th time this season... Martin Perez makes his first start of the year against the Corpus Christi Hooks. In his last start against San Antonio, Perez gave up 5 hits, 4 walks, and 3 runs in 4 innings pitched. Perez struck out 5 batters as well. In 17 innings pitched this year, Perez has given up 14 hits, 8 walks, and has struck out 20 batters. This will be Perez's 4th start on the road. Perez is 1-3 with a 6.26 ERA against the Hooks in his career in 7 starts... Jonnathan Aristil struggled through his last start when he gave up 5 hits, 3 walks, and 7 runs (6 earned) in 3 2/3 innings pitched against the Midland Rockhounds. On the season he has given up 18 hits and 10 walks in 19 2/3 innings pitched. This is Aristil's first career start and second appearance against Frisco.

Boscan's Start: Wilfredo Boscan suffered his 3rd loss in his last 4 starts in the Rider's 4-0 loss to Corpus Christi. Boscan gave up 7 hits, 2 walks, and 4 runs in 6 2/3 innings pitched. Boscan induced 12 groundouts to 2 flyouts and threw 87 pitches (55 strikes). Boscan has now given up 30 hits and 8 walks in 22 innings.

Bats Cold Against Xavier Cedeno: Corpus Christi southpaw Xavier Cedeno held Frisco to just 5 singles and a walk in the game. The Riders only had a baserunner reach 2nd base once in the game, which came in the 7th inning when Frisco got back to back singles from Jonathan Greene and Jose Ruiz with 1 out. Elio Sarmiento and Travis Adair then struck out to end the threat. It was Cedeno's second straight win against Frisco this year after starting the year 0-3.

Steele Production: T.J. Steele entered the last time Corpus Christi and Frisco played with 0 homeruns on the year. After Friday, Steele now has 3 homeruns against Frisco in 5 games. The homerun also gave Steele 6 RBIs in 5 games against the Riders.

Batting Average: Riders are hitting .270 on the year as a team, which is tied for the 2nd best in the Texas League. Their struggles with power (lowest SLG% in the league) and discipline, (lowest walk total in the league) however, have hurt their overall offensive production.

Engel Beltre Update: In case you missed it, the official suspension time for outfielder Engel Beltre was 15 games.

This Date Last Year: Frisco defeated Corpus Christi on the road 4-3 to move to 11-10. Tanner Roark was the winning pitcher for the Riders and Ben Snyder recorded the save.

Around the Ranger's System:

Round Rock (AAA) defeated the Memphis Redbirds 5-4 in 13 innings. Neil Ramirez started for the Express and gave up 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run in 5 1/3 innings pitched. Ramirez struck out 8 batters on 87 pitches (55 strikes). Chad Tracy went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 walks. Joey Butler went 1 for 4 in the game with a run. Beau Jones got a blown save after allowing 1 of his 2 inherited runners to score. Jones struck out 2 batters in 1 2/3 innings pitched. Chris Mobley got the win after pitching 2 innings of scoreless relief.

Myrtle Beach (high-A) lost 5-1 to the Frederick Keys. Michael Olt went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk in the game. Joe Wieland started for the Pelicans and went 6 innings. He allowed 8 hits, 0 walks, and 5 runs, while Wieland struck out 5 batters. Zach Osborne and Trevor Hurley pitched 3 innings of scoreless relief. Ryan Strausborger went 2 for 3 with a triple and a stolen base at the plate.

Hickory (low-A) defeated the Augusta Greenjackets 8-3. Jurickson Profar went 2 for 4 with a double, homerun, 2 RBI, and a walk at the plate. Odubel Herrera went 2 for 4 with a RBI. Jake Skole went 1 for 4 with a grand slam homerun. Kellin Deglan went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and a RBI in the game. Roman Mendez got the win after giving up 2 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run in 6 innings. He struck out 2 batters as well.

Minor League Performance of the Night:

Alex Colome of the Charlotte Stone Crabs (Tampa Bay Ray's high-A) tied a career high in strikeouts with 10 when he pitched 7 shutout innings against the Jupiter Hammerheads. Colome gave up 3 hits, 0 runs, and 1 walk as well in the start. On the season Colome has given up 24 hits and 10 walks in 24 2/3 innings pitched, while striking out 25 batters. He was rated as the #9 prospect in the Ray's system entering 2011 by Baseball America.

As always...

Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/pressboxchatter 
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

Friday, April 29, 2011

Game 21: Frisco RoughRiders (Wilfredo Boscan) @ Corpus Christi Hooks (Xavier Cedeno)

Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Whataburger Field (Corpus Christi, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (7-13 6 games back in the Texas League South)... Corpus Christi (8-12 5 games back in the Texas League South)
Streak: Won 1 in a row
Last 10: 3-7
Series Record: 1-5-0
Record against Corpus Christi: 1-3
Starting Pitchers: Wilfredo Boscan (1-2 7.63 ERA)... Xavier Cedeno (1-3 7.88 ERA)


What to Watch for on the Mound: The Riders face Corpus Christi on the road for the first time this season and send Wilfredo Boscan to the mound for the 5th time to face Xavier Cedeno, who also takes the mound for the 5th time this year... Wilfredo Boscan looks to rebound from a tough start against Corpus Christi at home on Sunday. Boscan lasted 4 1/3 innings in the start and gave up 7 hits, 3 walks, and 7 runs (4 earned). So far on the season, Boscan has been inconsistent. He started with a solid start, then got roughed up in his 2nd start, then had a solid start in the 3rd start, and a rough start again the 4th time. So by theory, he would be on his solid outing now, however we will see what happens. Through 4 starts, Boscan has given up 23 hits and 6 walks in 15 1/3 innings pitched. He has struck out 12 batters as well... Xavier Cedeno went against Boscan on Sunday and had a solid outing as he went 5 innings, gave up 7 hits, 0 walks, and 2 runs. He picked up his first win of the year in the start. However, Cedeno had gotten roughed up in his previous 2 outings as he gave up 13 hits and 4 walks in the 2 starts in just 6 innings. On the season, Cedeno has given up 24 hits and 8 walks in 16 innings with 9 strikeouts.

Riders Snap Losing Streak: After losing 5 in a row and 12 of their previous 15 games, the Riders were glad to get a win on Thursday against San Antonio. Frisco took a 4-1 lead after the top of the 7th, but gave up a run in the bottom of the 7th and then 2 in the 8th. After going to extra innings, Frisco scored a run on a bases loaded walk in the 10th inning to go up 5-4, which they eventually won by.

Pimentel's Best Outing: Carlos Pimentel came into the game with 3 losses on the year and 4 losses in 4 career starts for Frisco, but he was at his best on Thursday when he gave up 4 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run over 6 innings. He also struck out 6 batters, which tied for the most he's had at any level above rookie ball. It was his longest start since July 15th, 2010. He threw 89 pitches and 58 went for strikes.Unfortunately, the bullpen blew his chance at his first AA win, but the no decision is at least a step in the right direction.

Patience Is a Virtue: The RoughRiders offense had 7 hits in the game, but maybe more importantly, they took a season high 6 walks in the game and reached base 2 other times via their 18th and 19th times being hit by a pitch this season. Two of the walks came in the 10th inning, when Tommy Mendonca and Jonathan Greene drew back to back walks, the latter of which scored the game winning run. With the 6 walks, the Riders season total to 47. They moved up from 2nd lowest in minor league baseball to tied for 4th lowest, which is an improvement.

Osuna is Back: Renny Osuna was activated from the DL and back in the lineup for the first time since April 14th, and he went 2 for 5 in the game with 2 key RBI to help the team win. The 2 hits were his 200th and 201st hits as a Rider, which brings him to within 118 of Steve Murphy's franchise record 319 hits. Osuna is hitting .304 (7 for 23) on the season for the Riders.

New (and Old) Rider in Town: Tyler Tufts was also part of the roster moves made yesterday. The right handed reliever was promoted from Myrtle Beach to Frisco on Thursday after the Riders placed Corey Young on the DL. Tufts pitched for Frisco late last year and posted a 2.50 ERA in 14 appearances. Tufts had appeared in 6 games for the Pelicans this year with a 1.35 ERA for them.

Around the Ranger's System:

Round Rock (AAA) scored 4 runs in the 7th and 8th innings to tie the Memphis Redbirds, but gave up a run in the 10th inning to fall 6-5 to Memphis. Brian Barden went 2 for 4 against his former team. Chad Tracy went 1 for 5 with a 2-run homerun in the 7th inning. Michael Kirkman made the start for the Express and struggled in it. He gave up 9 hits, 4 walks, and 4 runs in 5 2/3 innings with 2 strikeouts. He also hit a batter. Zach Phillips took the loss after giving up 2 hits, 1 walk, and a run in 1 1/3 innings pitched.

Myrtle Beach (high-A) fell to the Potomac Nationals 8-6. The Pelicans had 12 hits in the game, 6 of which came from Santiago Chirino (3 for 4) and Jared Bolden (3 for 4). Bolden added a RBI and the two hitters combined for 3 runs. Michael Olt went 1 for 4 with a walk and 2 RBI. Ryan Strausborger, their star from Wednesday, went 0 for 5 at the plate. Robbie Ross was the starter for Myrtle Beach and for the first time this year he gave up a run. Ross gave up 8 hits, 1 walk, and 6 runs in 4 innings. He struck out 2 and gave up 2 extra base hits. Kasey Kiker gave up 3 hits, a walk, and a run in 2 innings of relief, while he struck out 2 batters.

Hickory (low-A) was defeated 10-1 by the Augusta Greenjackets. Carlos melo started and gave up 2 hits, 7 walks, and 4 runs (3 earned) in 4 innings. He struck out 4 batters. Randol Rojas pitched 3 innings in relief and gave up 5 hits, 0 walks, and 4 runs. He also struck out 4 batters. Top prospect Jurickson Profar went 1 for 3 at the plate with a triple and a walk. He is 4 for 14 with 3 walks since returning from an injury. Tomas Telis went 2 for 4 with a solo homerun as well. Jake Skole added a 1 for 3 day with a walk.


Minor League Performance of the Night: 

Some have said that the current Kansas City Royal's system may be one of the best ever. On Wednesday, a trio of prospects in Omaha showed why. In a 7-0 shutout of the Iowa Cubs, three Storm Chasers shined above all others. Third baseman Mike Moustakas went 2 for 5 at the plate with 2 homeruns and 4 RBI. First baseman Eric Hosmer went 4 for 5 with a double, homerun, and 2 RBI. And starting pitcher Danny Duffy gave up 1 hit and 0 walks in 6 shutout innings on the mound. He struck out 8 batters. He needed only 79 pitches to get through the 6 innings of work.


As always...

Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/pressboxchatter 
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Game 20: Frisco RoughRiders (Carlos Pimentel) @ San Antonio Missions (Anthony Bass)

Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Nelson Wolff Municipal Stadium (San Antonio, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (6-13 7 games back in the Texas League South)... San Antonio Missions (13-6 1st place in the Texas League South)
Streak: Lost 5 in a row
Last 10: 2-8
Series Record: 1-5-0
Record against San Antonio: 0-3
Starting Pitchers: Carlos Pimentel (0-3 8.49 ERA)...Anthony Bass (3-1 3.97 ERA)


What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco Sends Carlos Pimentel to the mound for the 4th time this season in hopes of salvaging a game in the series, while San Antonio sends Anthony Bass to the mound for the 5th time in hopes of a 2nd straight sweep over the Riders at home... After getting roughed up a bit in his first two starts of the year, Carlos Pimentel was sharper in his last start on Saturday when he held the Corpus Christi Hooks to 3 runs (2 earned) over 5 2/3 innings pitched. Pimentel gave up 5 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 3 batters in the start. He still suffered his 3rd loss to start the year, and 5th consecutive loss dating back to 2010. In 4 career starts for Frisco, Pimentel has yet to get his first AA victory. Pimentel brings an 8.49 ERA into his 4th start of the year, as well as a WHIP of 2.14 and a FIP of 5.69.... Anthony Bass, ranked the 22nd prospect in the Padre's system by Baseball America, will make his 4th trip to the mound this season. Bass was the fortunate pitcher who happened to be on the mound when San Antonio won 21-8 over Midland on Saturday. Bass gave up 9 hits and 6 runs (5 earned) in 5 innings in the start and received the win in the game. He struck out 5 batters and did not walk anyone. Bass has given up 23 hits and 5 walks in 22 2/3 innings pitched this season. He also has struck out 15 batters and has a 1.24 WHIP and 4.83 FIP for the year. Last year, Bass made 27 starts in high-A and went 8-7 with a 3.13 ERA and 2.91 FIP. The 23 year old was a 5th round pick by the Padres in the 2008 draft.

Strong Start for Miguel De Los Santos: At times Miguel De Los Santos has looked like a dominant force on the mound for the Riders, and Wednesday night he was dominant throughout the entire start. In fact, he was so dominant that he reached uncharted waters. For the first time in his career, D eLos Santos went 7 innings, as his previous high was 6 innings on August 23rd, 2010. Despite getting his 3rd loss of the season in the 2-1 loss, De Los Santos pitched well enough to win on most nights. He made it through 7 innings, matched a season low in walks with 1, and struck out a season high 10 batters. His only mistake was a 5th inning pitch to Cody Decker who hit his league leading 8th homerun of the season. It was the only time in the 7 innings that De Los Santos allowed a baserunner past 2nd base and was the only extra base hit for San Antonio all game. Of the 10 strikeouts, 7 were swinging.

De Los Santos finished with a line of: 7 IP 4 H 2 R/ER 1 BB 10 K 2 GB-7 FB 94 pitches-63 strikes.


Bianucci/Mendonca Stay Hot: Michael Bianucci and Tommy Mendonca have been excellent hitters in the middle of the order, and once again on Wednesday they did their part. The 3-4 hitters combined to go 5 for 8 in the game with 5 singles and a RBI. A 3 for 4 day for Mendonca raised his batting average to .361 and he's 13 for his last 29 (.448) with 6 extra base hits and 6 RBI. Bianucci started the season ridiculously strong, cooled off for a few games, but is back in a big way. With a 2 for 4 day, Bianucci is 10 for his last 24 with 4 RBI and 2 extra base hits. He also added a stolen base in the loss on Wednesday.


Lack of Hits with RISP Hurt the Riders: One of the things that is really magnified in close games like a 2-1 loss is how important it is to drive in baserunners when you have the chances. And on Wednesday, the Riders had plenty of chances to go around, but could not capitalize on having baserunners. They pounded out 10 hits and walked 2 batters, yet could only get the 1 run in the 1st inning home. This coming despite having men in scoring position in the 1st (scored), 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 8th. They went 1-2-3 in only 2 innings, the 6th and the 9th. Bad luck and too many baserunning errors hurt the team. In the 2nd inning they had a leadoff double by Jonathan Greene, but that was eliminated when David Paisano, the next batter, lined into a double play. They had a walk and a single in the 4th, but nobody reached 2nd due to Paisano being picked off of 2nd. Guilder Rodriguez had a 1 out single in the 7th, but was picked off as well.

Discipline Tracking: The Riders got 2 walks on Wednesday from Jose Ruiz and Jonathan Greene, giving them 10 in their last 9 games now and 20 in their last 13 games. It also gave the team 41 walks now on the year, which is now the 2nd lowest total in minor league baseball behind the Lynchburg Hillcat's 36 walks.

Losing Streak: Frisco's 5 game losing streak is their longest since early August in 2010 when they lost 6 in a row. Dating back to last year, the Riders have now lost 7 in a row in San Antonio. Since winning 3 of the first 4 games, Frisco is now 3-12 since then and have dropped 5 series in a row. 


New Rider in Town: Infielder Travis Adair was promoted from the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (high-A) to Frisco on Wednesday. Adair, 23, was hitting .365 for Myrtle Beach with 5 doubles and 2 homeruns in 16 games. His dad is Rick Adair, who used to be a pitching coordinator for the Rangers according to the Newberg Report  Travis was drafted in the 13th round by the Atlanta Braves in the 2008 draft.

Old Time Baseball at Dr. Pepper Ballpark: If you're around the DFW area and you're looking for something to do this weekend, well come out to Dr. Pepper Ballpark on Saturday. The Riders are playing host to the Legends of Vintage Baseball Showdown. You can read more about it on the Rider's website at this link .

Around the Ranger's System:

Round Rock (AAA) had the day off. Next game is tonight on the road against the Memphis Redbirds.

Myrtle Beach (high-A) split a double header with the Potomac Nationals. They defeated Potomac 6-3 in the first game, but gave up a run in the 9th inning to lose 4-3 in the second game.

Barret Loux had his best start of the year for Myrtle Beach in game one as he went 5 innings, gave up 4 hits, 1 run (earned), did not give up a walk, and struck out 7 batters. All 4 hits were singles and Loux got 4 groundouts to 3 flyouts in the start. Leury Garcia went 2 for 4 at the plate with 2 doubles and Ryan Strausborger went 2 for 4 with 2 homeruns, 5 RBI, and 2 runs. Michael Olt went 1 for 3 with a double in the game. The Pelicans finished game 1 with 6 extra base hits.

Kennil Gomez started for Myrtle Beach in the second game and went 3 innings in the start. He gave up 6 hits, 3 runs (all earned), 3 walks, and struck out 4 batters. As if 2 homeruns wasn't enough already, Strausborger chipped in a 3rd homerun on the day in game 2 as he went 1 for 3 with 2 RBI and a walk as well. Leury Garcia went 1 for 4 in the game, while Zach Zaneski went 1 for 3. Jared Bolden went 2 for 2 with a walk in the 2nd game after going 2 for 3 with a RBI in the first game. Johan Yan took the loss after giving up a run in the 9th inning. His line was: 3 IP 3 H 1 R/ER 0 BB 3 K, so still a solid relief outing.

Hickory (low-A) gave up a run in the top of the 11th inning, but scored 2 in the bottom of the 11th to defeat the Augusta Greenjackets 3-2 in 11 innings. Matt Thompson, who had struggled with command to begin the year, made the start for Hickory and was dominant. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, gave up 3 hits, 1 walk, 1 run (earned), and struck out 10 batters in the no decision. Odubel Herrera went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk in the game for the Crawdads. The double came in the 11th and helped set up the win. Jurickson Profar went 0 for 5 at the plate with a run scored, and Teodoro Martinez went 2 for 5.

Minor League Performance of the Night: 

Jean Segura came into the year rated by Baseball America as the 3rd best prospect in the Los Angeles Angel's system behind Mike Trout (#2 in baseball) and Tyler Chatwood (MLB), and on Wednesday Segura did a little bit of everything to help the Inland Empire 66ers defeat High Desert in California League (high-A) play. Batting leadoff for Inland Empire, Segura went 3 for 6 with 2 homeruns (his first 2 of the year), 4 RBI, 2 runs, and stole 2 bases. Segura is now batting .364 with 2 homeruns, 8 steals, a .417 OBP, and a .962 OPS. He's also batting .370 over the last 10 games and is batting .450 with runners on base.

As always...

Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/pressboxchatter 
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Game 19: Frisco RoughRiders (Miguel De Los Santos) @ San Antonio Missions (Matt Buschmann)

Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Nelson Wolff Municipal Stadium (San Antonio, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (6-12 6 games back in the Texas League South Division)... San Antonio Missions (12-6 1st place in the Texas League South division)
Streak: Lost 4 in a row
Last 10: 2-8
Series Record: 1-4-0
Record against San Antonio: 0-2
Starting Pitchers: Miguel De Los Santos (1-1 6.59 ERA)... Matt Buschmann (1-1 6.32 ERA)

What to Watch for on the Mound: The Riders send De Los Santos out to the mound for the 4th time this season, while San Antonio sends out Matt Buschmann to the mound for the 4th time as well... Miguel De Los Santos struggled with command in his last start last Friday night, but he was able to get his first AA win as he pitched 5 shutout innings, gave up 1 hit, and walked 5 batters. De Los Santos added 4 strikeouts in the victory. He has walked 5 or more in 2 out of his 3 starts this season, something he did three times all of last season for Bakersfield. Still, over his last 2 starts, he has managed to allow just 3 hits in 9 innings pitched... 27 year old right handed pitcher Matt Buschmann will be making his 4th start of the season and 19th career appearance against Frisco, including his 11th start against them. In his time against Frisco, Buschmann is 3-6 with an ERA of 3.84 and a WHIP of 1.22. He has struck out 51 Riders in 70 1/3 career innings. In his last start on Friday against Midland, Buschmann went 5 solid innings, gave up 3 hits, 2 runs (both earned), walked 3 batters, and struck out 5. He got a no decision in a loss where Midland scored 5 runs off of Missions relief pitching to win 7-6. For teh season, Buschmann has given up 15 hits and 7 walks in 15 2/3 innings pitched. He has also struck out 10 batters. His win on the season came in San Antonio's 23-10 clobbering of Tulsa. Buschmann helped himself in that game by going 2 for 4 with a homerun with the bat.


Brigham Stays Consistent: Perhaps the most consistent starter so far for Frisco, Jacob Brigham had another outing, his fourth consecutive, where he gave up 3 earned runs in 5 innings. He also gave up 3 earned runs for a 5th straight game dating back to his last start of 2010. Brigham added 6 strikeouts, walked 3 batters, and allowed 4 hits. He was in line to get his 2nd victory after the offense scored 3 in the top of the 6th, but the Riders gave up 3 runs in the 8th inning and lost the game 6-5.

Middle of the Order: Despite the 6-5 loss to the Missions on Tuesday morning, the Riders middle of the order was lethal against Missions pitching. Michael Bianucci, Tommy Mendonca, and Jonathan Greene combined to go 5 for 13 with 5 extra base hits and a hit by pitch. Bianucci had a controversial double (more on that later), a homerun, and 2 RBI. Tommy Mendonca had 2 doubles, and Greene added a double of his own.

Riders Hit Attack: It wasn't only the middle of the order that was putting on a hit parade against Missions pitching on Tuesday. Engel Beltre went 2 for 5 at the top of the order, while Jose Ruiz and David Paisano both chipped in 2 hits of their own. Overall, every hitter except for Davis Stoneburner got a hit for the Riders and every batter in the lineup reached base at least once.

Controversy and Craziness: It appeared as if the Riders would take a 7-6 lead in the 9th inning when Michael Bianucci hit a ball that would have given Frisco the lead on a 3-run homerun. Instead, the umpires changed the ruling to a ground rule double, which allowed only 1 run to score, and Frisco to remain down 6-5. San Antonio recorded the final out. Frisco manager Steve Buechele and pitching coach Jeff Andrews were eventually ejected from the game for arguing the call. However, it got even crazier when fans taunted the players and things got out of control. Trash cans and bats thrown into the stands and back at the players later and 3 fans were taken away in handcuffs. For more on the story and pictures of everything, check out this article

Hit by Pitches: Jonathan Greene was hit by a pitch for the 3rd consecutive game on Tuesday and it also marked the 10th game out of 18 possible games that a RoughRider batter has been hit by a pitch in. It also was the 17th hit by pitch of the season for Frisco hitters, which is highest in the Texas League by far and one of the highest team totals in minor league baseball.

Discipline Among the Worst: Another game, another day with 1 walk by Riders batters. Frisco has walked 8 times in their last 8 games and 18 times in their last 12 games. They are the only team in the Texas League with less than 50 walks, as they have 39 walks. Only one team in AA has less walks than the Riders, and that is the Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants) of the Eastern League, who have 38 team walks. Perhaps to go even further to illustrate the point, Frisco has the 3rd lowest walk total in minor league baseball on offense out of 120 teams. Richmond (AA) and the Lynchburg Hillcats (Atlanta Braves) of the Carolina League (high-A), who have 34 walks, are the only two teams with less than Frisco.

Control Issues: At the same time that the offense has struggled to take walks, the pitching staff leads the Texas League in walks given out. The Riders had a better day with 4 walks given up on Tuesday, which is below their season average of 4.4 BB/9, however they still have issued the 2nd most walks in AA baseball. And Miguel De Los Santos takes the mound tonight averaging 7.2 walks per 9 innings pitched, although hitters have just 5.9 hits off of him per 9 innings, and he has 11.2 strikeouts per 9 innings.

Arkansas Postponed Again: Severe storms continue to pound the midwest and Arkansas once again had their game postponed on Tuesday. They are supposed to have a double header on Wednesday and the chance of rain looks very low tonight for Little Rock, Arkansas, so hopefully they will be able to get the double header in. They have had just 2 games over the past week. We hope that people were able to stay safe in Arkansas as the tornadoes have caused a lot of damage there.


Around the Ranger's System: 

Round Rock (AAA) lost 9-3 to the Oklahoma City Redhawks with all 9 runs coming in the 2nd inning. First baseman Koby Clemens, son of Roger, hit 2 homeruns in the 2nd inning for Oklahoma City. Former Riders Craig Gentry, Joey Butler, and Robbie Diaz combined to have 5 of Round Rock's 8 hits in the loss. Seth McClung, Chris Mobley, and Yoshinori Tateyama combined for 7 1/3 innings of shutout relief after Derek Hankins gave up 9 runs (5 earned) in 1 2/3 innings.

Myrtle Beach (high-A) had their game against Potomac postponed due to rain. Double header scheduled today.

Hickory (low-A) scored 8 runs in the last 3 innings to defeat the Augusta Greenjackets 9-1. Jurickson Profar went 2 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base in his first game back since the injury. He also did make a throwing error. Odubel Cabrera went 1 for 5 with a homerun, his 2nd in the last 3 games. Jonathan Roof went 2 for 4 with a a double, a homerun, 5 RBI, and 2 runs. Jake Skole went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored as well. Justin Grimm had one of his best starts for Hickory. He went 5 2/3 innings, gave up 5 hits, 1 run, walked 2 batters, and struck out 8. He also had a balk in the outing. He left the outing with no runs given up, but with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd. Zach Osborne got the win (his 2nd) for Hickory after giving up a single to the first batter he faced in the 6th inning and getting his first blown save. Jorge Marban closed out the game for Hickory with a scoreless 9th inning.

Minor League Performacne of the Night:

Colorado Rockie's prospect Charlie Blackmon had a pretty good season in the Texas League in 2010, but he has clearly enjoyed hitting in the Pacific Coast League, a league with just a few hitters parks, quite a bit more than in the Texas League. On Tuesday, Blackmon went 3 for 5 with 2 homeruns, 5 RBIs, and a walk for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox in a 17-3 bashing of the Las Vegas 51s. Colorado Springs had 24 hits in the game, including a 5 hit day from catcher Jordan Pacheco and a 4 hit day from third baseman Ian Stewart. Blackmon, however, had 2 homeruns and led the team in RBIs. On the season, he is batting .354 with a 1.119 OPS. Last year for the Tulsa Drillers Blackmon hit 11 homeruns in 337 AB's. This year for the Sky Sox, Blackmon already has 6 homeruns in just 82 AB's. The 24 year old was a 2nd round pick by the Rockies in the 2008 draft. He has never repeated a level in the minor leagues and was listed as the 11th best prospect in the Rockie's system by Baseball America entering 2011.

As always...

Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/pressboxchatter 
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

Monday, April 25, 2011

Game 17: Frisco RoughRiders (Martin Perez) @ San Antonio Missions (Aaron Breit)

Time: 7:05 PM CT
Location: Wolff Stadium (San Antonio, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (6-10 4 games back in the Texas League South)... San Antonio Missions (10-6 1st place in the Texas League South)
Streak: Lost 2 in a row
Last 10: 3-7
Series Record: 1-4-0
Record against San Antonio: 0-0
Starting Pitchers: Martin Perez (1-0 1.38 ERA)... Aaron Breit (0-0 9.00 ERA)

What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco Sends Martin Perez out to the mound for the fourth time this season, while San Antonio will have Aaron Breit out on the mound for the sixth time this season, but for his first start... Martin Perez will look to continue his recent dominance against the best hitting lineup in the Texas League. Last time out, Martin Perez pitched the 2nd perfect game in Frisco RoughRider history and 5th in Texas League history. The game was shortened to 5 innings due to rain and tornatic weather in the Little Rock area, but it still counts in the record books. Perez faced 15 batters, and retired them all in a row. He struck out 3 batters in the game. Perez also takes a scoreless sreak of 10 innings into Monday. He has allowed just 6 baserunners over the scoreless streak while he has struck out 12 batters. This will be his third road start of the season for the 20 year old southpaw... Aaron Breit has made 5 appearances out of relief for the Missions, but he will be making the start on Monday for San Antonio. It will be his first minor league start since September 7th, 2009 in high-A. In 16 career relief appearances in the Texas League, Breit has allowed 30 hits and 23 walks in 21 1/3 innings pitched. He has recorded a 9.28 ERA in that time, but has yet to receive a decision. This season, Aaron has allowed 11 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings, with 7 strikeouts.

Boscan's Rough Outing: During a 10-2 loss to the Corpus Christi Hooks, Wilfredo Boscan gave up 7 hits, 3 walks, and 7 runs (4 earned) in 4 1/3 innings pitched. He struck out 3 and served up a 3 run homerun to T.J. Steele in the 3rd inning, one of 2 homeruns that Steele hit in the game.

Errors Galore: The Riders did not back Boscan well in the first inning, committing 2 errors. One of the errors was on a throw by Engel Beltre to try to throw out Wladimir Sutil from 3rd on a sacrifice fly. The throw hit Sutil and bounced away from catcher Jose Felix, which allowed J.D. Martinez to advance to 2nd base. The second came on at throwing error by shortstop Guilder Rodriguez on the very next play, which allowed Brandon Wikoff and J.D. Martinez to score and extended the inning. T.J. Steele, who reached on the Rodriguez error scored 1 batter later on a double by James Van Ostrand. After going 9 games without an unearned run to begin the year, the Riders now have given up 6 unearned runs in the last 7 games.

Greene Mashing: Jonathan Greene continued his surge with a 1 for 2 day where he reached base 3 times via a homerun, walk, and hit by pitch. Greene currently ranks 2nd in the Texas League in batting average behind San Antonio's James Darnell with a .429 batting average. The homerun, which hit off the video screen in left-centerfield, marked his 2nd homerun in 3 games and his 4th game with an extra base hit in the last 6 games.


Batting Order Struggles and Tears: With the struggles of the top of the order and the bottom order, the ability of the Riders to put strings together has been few and far between. After Sunday's game, The 1,2,7,8, and 9 hitters are all hitting .250 or worse, while the 3-6 hitters are all hitting .300 or better. It has made it difficult for the Riders to get the big inning going, outside of Friday's game.

Missions Hitting: The San Antonio Missions have been the best hitting team in the Texas League this year and it's really not close. We've already documented in some of the other posts about their 3 games with 21 or more runs. The Missions team OPS is 1.023, which is over 200 points higher than the next closest team in the league (Northwest Arkansas @ .806). The Mission's team batting average (.338) is higher than the Rider's team on base percentage (.336) and San Antonio's team on base percentage (.415) is almost as high as the Rider's team slugging% (.422). Needless to say, the Riders pitchers will have their work cut out for them the next 4 games, starting with the Ranger's top prospect Martin Perez tonight.

Profiling Jaff Decker: The San Diego Padre's 1st round pick (supplemental round) in the 2008 draft came into the 2011 season following a somewhat disappointing 2010 season. Decker started very slow in high-A in 2010 and finished with a .262 batting average, 31 extra base hits in 290 ABs, and an .874 OPS. Not great, but after he tore through the Midwest League and entered 2010 as the Padre's 4th best prospect, more was expected of him. Baseball America listed him as the 7th best prospect in the Padre's system entering this year and early on he's hit more like their best. Through 16 games for the Missions, Decker has hit .359 with 16 extra base hits (7 doubles, 2 triples, 7 homeruns), has 25 RBI, has walked 14 times, and brings a 1.340 OPS into the series with Frisco. And on top of that, Jaff is 21 years old.

Around the Ranger's System: 

Round Rock (AAA) lost 4-2 to Oklahoma City in Neil Ramirez's 3rd start for Round Rock. Ramirez gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings. He also struck out 3 batters and gave up a homerun on 82 pitches (48 strikes) in his first AAA loss. Joey Butler went 1 for 3 with a single, Robbie Diaz went 2 for 3 with 2 singles, and Chad Tracy went 0 for 3 with a walk. Beau Jones made his AAA debut by pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. He walked 2 batters, gave up 3 hits, and struck out 3.

Myrtle Beach (high-A) was defeated 3-2 by the Kinston Indians in a close game. Starting pitcher Ryan Kelly took the loss after he gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and 1 walk in 5 innings. He struck out 5 in the losing effort. Michael Olt went 1 for 4 with a double and a RBI. Leury Garcia went 2 for 4 with a triple and a RBI. Ryan Strausberger added 2 hits in 4 at bats and a walk as well. The Pelicans hitters went just 1 for 11 with RISP and left 8 on base. Kennil Gomez and Tyler Tufts pitched 3 scoreless innings of relief.

Hickory (Low-A) had the day off on Sunday.

Minor League Performance of the Night: 

Wilkin Castillo has been around a while in the minor leagues, but the 8 year minor league veteran probably hasn't had too many games like Sunday. Castillo went 4 for 5 in Gwinnett's 12-1 victory over Charlotte in International League (AAA) play and he drove in half of Gwinnett's runs. Wilkin hit a 3-run homerun, double, and plated 6 in the game. He scored a run himself as well. He finished a triple short of the cycle for the game and Gwinnett moved to 12-5 on the season as they sit 2.5 games up on Durham in the South division.

As always...

Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/pressboxchatter 
Follow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

A4VXBEN8QKK4

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Game 16: Corpus Christi Hooks (Xavier Cedeno) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Wilfredo Boscan)

Time: 4:00 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (6-9 3 games back in the Texas League South)... Corpus Christi Hooks (6-9 3 games back in the Texas League South)
Streak: Lost 1 in a row
Last 10: 3-7
Starting Pitchers: Wilfredo Boscan (1-1 7.36 ERA)... Xavier Cedeno (0-3 9.82 ERA)


What to Watch for on the Mound: Both teams send their starters out for the 4th time this year... Wilfredo Boscan brings a 7.36 ERA and 1.73 WHIP into his 4th start, although he has been solid in 2 of his 3 starts for the Riders. In his last outing, last Monday, Boscan went 5 innings and gave up 2 runs on 5 hits. He struck out 6 batters and did not issue a walk. He received a no decision due to the game lasting 15 innings before Frisco lost 4-3 in the bottom of the 15th. Boscan also gave up 2 runs and 5 hits in 5 innings in the Rider's season opener when he struck out 3 batters and walked 1. He got his first AA victory in that start. On the season, Boscan has given up 16 hits and 3 walks in 11 innings, while he has struck out 9 batters and given up 3 homeruns... Xavier Cedeno, on the other hand, has gotten hit pretty hard in all 3 of his starts. In his last start, Cedeno gave up 8 hits, 2 walks, and 5 runs in 4 2/3 innings. In his last 2 starts he has gone a combined 6 innings and has given up 12 runs (9 earned) on 13 hits and 4 walks. The 24 year old southpaw has given up 17 hits in 11 innings on the year with 8 walks to just 6 strikeouts. Last year Cedeno pitched out of relief with the Tulsa Drillers in the Texas League. He appeared in 28 games and had a 4.79 ERA. A 31st round pick in the 2004 draft by the Colorado Rockies, Cedeno has a career 4.68 ERA in 485 innings in the minor leagues.


Great Beginning, Bad Ending: The Riders looked like they would continue the offensive explosion that took place on Friday in Saturday's game when they loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning. But a sacrifice fly with Tommy Mendonca, a Jonathan Greene strikeout, and a Jose Ruiz ground out later and the Riders scored their only run of the game in a 3-1 loss to the Hooks. They didn't lack chances as they had runners on base in the 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 9th. They only got one player into scoring position after the 1st inning, however, which came on a double by Jose Ruiz in the 4th inning.

Pimentel Solid: While run support didn't exactly come for Carlos Pimentel, he did pitch well in the loss, at least much better than he had been. Pimentel allowed 7 baserunners (5 hits and 2 walks) in 5 2/3 innings, gave up 3 runs (2 earned), and struck out 3. He gave up a homerun as well to Wladimir Sutil.

Bullpen Good Again: Corey Young and Justin Miller combined for 3 1/3 innings of shutout relief in the 3-1 loss. That gives the bullpen a 0.79 ERA in the 3 game set with the Hooks. The only blemish was the 1 run that Ramon Aguero gave up in 0+ innings. Aguero was placed on the DL yesterday in the flurry of moves that affected the Riders.

More Discipline Struggles:  Riders did not walk again on Saturday night, which gives them 4 walks in their last 5 games, or 4 walks in their last 47 innings. To go further, they have 14 walks in their last 9 games spanning 79 innings at the plate. Michael Bianucci leads the team with 8 walks, but only 2 other players have at least 4 walks for the season and one of those, Joey Butler, is in AAA. The Riders have 35 walks for the season, which makes them in last place in the Texas League and 9 behind the next closest, Corpus Christi.

Flared up Moments: There was a moment of tension in last night's game between the Riders and Hooks when reliever Corey Young hit Jon Gaston to leadoff the top of the 8th inning. Gaston threw the bat down and appeared to be ready to charge the mound before the home plate umpire was quick enough to get in front of him and calm him down. Both dugouts were warned after the incident, but it could make for an interesting Sunday game.

Lightning Show: The baseball game wasn't the only interesting thing for the fans that did stick around amid the storms in the area, specifically to the west where tornado warnings were in affect in counties to the west. The game was never delayed, but the lightning was certainly a spectacle in the game. Outside of a couple down pours it ended up being a pretty nice night if you find weather and baseball fascinating.

Around the Ranger's System:

Round Rock (AAA) managed just 3 hits in a 5-0 loss to the Oklahoma City Redhawks. Jordan Lyles made the start for the Redhawks and shut the Express down for 7 strong innings. Lyles gave up 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 3. Michael Kirkman made the start for Round Rock and went 5 innings. Kirkman gave up 8 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts in his first start since being sent down by the Rangers. Former Riders Endy Chavez, Craig Gentry, and Joey Butler supplied the hits for Round Rock with 1 each.

Myrtle Beach (high-A) tagged the Kinston Indians pitching for 16 hits and 11 runs in an 11-2 victory. Michael Olt went 2 for 5 with a double and 2 RBI in the game. Six Pelicans hitters manged 2 or more hits and 8 of the 9 hitters had a RBI in the game. Chris McGuinnes went 2 for 4 with a RBI and 2 walks. Joe Wieland got his 1st win of the season as he pitched 7 shutout innings for Myrtle Beach. Wieland gave up 6 hits, struck out 6, and did not walk a batter. Wieland now has 23 strikeouts to 3 walks in 19 innings for the season. Kasey Kiker pitched the final 2 innings and gave up 2 unearned runs, allowed 1 hit, walked 3, and struck out 2.

Hickory (low-A) used a 6 run 1st inning to help towards a 9-4 victory over the Hagerstown Suns. Andrew Clark hit a 1st inning grand slam and went 2 for 5 in the game. Joshua Richmond went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and 2 runs in the game. Odubel Herrera added his 1st homerun of the year as part of a 2 for 5 effort. Tomas Telis went a rare 0 for 5 in the game and Jake Skole went 1 for 3 with 2 walks. Roman Mendez made the start for the Crawdads and went 5 innings, gave up 8 hits, 2 walks, 1 run, and struck out 6 batters. Zach Osborne pitched 3 shutout innings for his 3rd hold of the year.

Minor League Performance of the Night:
Although it's become quite ordinary, it has to go to the San Antonio Missions. The Missions once again had an offensive explosion. For the third time this season in just 15 games, they scored 20 or more runs. This time they beat the Midland Rockhounds 21-8. They were up 18-3 after 5 innings. 3 runs in the 9th inning gave them 21 for the game. One game after going 0 for 5 with 5 strikeouts, Jaff Decker hit 2 homeruns and drove in 7 runs for the Missions. For the third time this season, Jaff and Cody Decker hit homeruns in the same game. Kyle Phillips went 5 for 6 with a homerun, 3 RBI, and 3 runs in the game. Five Mission's hitters had at least 3 hits and every hitter had at least a hit. The 9-1-2 hitters combined for 14 RBI in the win. 7 of the 9 hitters in the Missions lineup have at least a .310 batting average on the season. They have now scored more than 20 runs against 3 different teams in the Texas League. They scored 23 against Tulsa, 26 against Northwest Arkansas, and 21 against Midland. The 70 runs combined is more than the Hooks and Travelers have scored for the season and more than what 45 total minor league teams have scored for the season.

As always...

Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/pressboxchatterFollow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Game 15: Corpus Christi Hooks (Kyle Greenwalt) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Carlos Pimentel)--- TV GAME

Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (6-8 3 games back in the Texas League South)... Corpus Christi Hooks (5-9 4 games back in the Texas League South)
Streak: Won 1 in a row
Last 10: 3-7
Starting Pitchers: Carlos Pimentel (0-2 13.50 ERA)... Kyle Greenwalt (0-1 6.10 ERA)

What to Watch for on the Mound: Both team's starters look to rebound from getting beat around pretty well in both of their first two starts... Carlos Pimentel got knocked around in his last outing last Sunday when he gave up 5 hits, 3 walks, and 6 runs (5 earned) at Arkansas. In his last home start (April 11), Pimentel pitched well through 3 innings before giving up 2 singles and 2 doubles in a 3 run 4th inning and went single, single, wild pitch, hit by pitch to open the 5th inning before getting pulled. Pimentel has given up 14 hits and 4 walks in 6+ innings this season and he's been hit particularly hard by right handed batters who are hitting .500 against him on the season. Of course left handed hitters are also hitting .400 against him, so nobody has been an easy out... Kyle Greenwalt has not gotten hit around quite as hard as Pimentel, but he has given up 7 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings pitched, while 12 hits and 2 walks have come against him. Rated as the 24th prospect in the Astros system by Baseball America, Greenwalt will be making his first career start against Frisco. Opponents hit .332 against Greenwalt last year when he pitched for Lancaster (California League), and they hit .278 against him in 2009 when he pitched for Lexington (South Atlantic League). Command has always been Greenwalt's strength as he has given up 100 walks in 398 2/3 career innings in the minor leagues (2.26 BB/9).

Rider's Offensive Explosion: The Riders pounded out a season high 19 hits in front of a sellout crowd on Friday night and tied a season high with 11 runs in the shutout victory. The Riders had 4 homeruns as a team, which also was a season high, and their 11-0 win marked the largest margin of victory since an 18-4 win over the Springfield Cardinals on July 4, 2009. The Riders the same amount in the game, that they had in the previous 4 games combined, and their shutout was their 2nd in 3 games.

A New Team Leader on Board: Tommy Mendonca came into Friday night's game 2 for 13 (.154) on the year against left handed pitchers. He then went 2 for 2 with 2 opposite field homeruns in his first 2 at bats against Dallas Keuchel. The 2 homeruns gives him 6 on the season, which now leads the team and his 3 RBI in the game gives him 14, which also leads the team. Mendonca has shown that everything great with him comes in twos. His first 2 homeruns came in back to back days, then his next 2 homeruns came on the doubleheader a week ago, and on Friday night he hit 2 in one game. In the game, Mendonca had 2 hits, 2 runs, and 2 homeruns. He has 3 homeruns on Friday's and 3 homeruns on Saturday's this year.

Hits And RBI All the Way Around: Every Rider contributed in the game on Friday, whether it be by hits (8 of the 9 Riders had at least 2 hits) or RBI (7 of the 9 Riders had a RBI). In the end, every player either had 2 hits, or a RBI, and in the case of 6 of them it was both.

Greene Monster: Jonathan Greene didn't start all that much in the first week of the season. He only played in 2 of the team's first 6 games. But, with his play in the last week, one could go out on a 100% limb that he's earned himself a starting role on the team for as long as he is here. Greene is 10 for his last 19 with 2 doubles and a homerun. On Friday, he went 3 for 4 with a homerun and reached on a walk as well. His batting average now sits at a team high .444 and his OPS is a team high as well, at 1.167.

First Win for De Los Santos: Command was still an issue at times for Miguel De Los Santos, who sat in the low 90s for most of the start, but it's hard to argue with the results as De Los Santos gave up 1 hit (an infield single by Jimmy Paredes to open up the 4th inning) and threw 5 shutout innings. He walked 5 batters and struck out 4 to earn his first victory in AA. In 13 2/3 innings this season, De Los Santos has given up 9 hits and walked 11 batters. He has given up 3 hits over his last 9 innings.


More Bullpen Dominance: Adalberto Flores extended his scoreless streak to 9 innings with 2 shutout innings of relief in the win and Fabio Castillo added a pair of 2 shutout innings of his own. Together they gave up 5 baserunners over the 4 innings with 3 strikeouts.

First TV Game of the Year: Be sure to tune into TXA 21 tonight for the first Frisco RoughRiders TV game of the year! The RoughRiders radio broadcaster, Aaron Goldsmith, will be joined by Jason Cole, who runs the Lonestar Dugout (the Texas Ranger's scout.com website) for all 10 of the TV games this season.  For a schedule of all of the Riders TV games, check out this page.

Around the Ranger's System: 

Round Rock (AAA) scored a run in the top of the 9th inning and held on to beat the Oklahoma City Redhawks 2-1. Shortstop Luis Cruz supplied the difference for the Express with 2 solo homeruns in the game. Chad Tracy went 1 for 4 and Craig Gentry went 1 for 3 in the game. The Express were 1 for 1 with RISP, something you don't see very often in a game, let alone in a game where the 2 runs were via solo homeruns. Outfielder Endy Chavez was thrown out at home on the lone hit with RISP, however. Seth McClung allowed 1 run, 1 hit, and walked 4 batters in 5 innings, while Zach Phillips and Mark Lowe combined for 4 shutout innings of relief. Zach Phillips now has a 1.74 ERA in 7 appearances for Round Rock.

Myrtle Beach (high-A) shutout the Kinston Indians by a 10-0 score. Robbie Ross gave up 3 hits and 2 walks in 5 2/3 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts. He is now 2-0 on the season with a 0.00 ERA. Johan Yan and Chad Bell preserved the shutout with 3 1/3 perfect innings of relief. Travis Adair went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, a homerun, 4 RBI, and 3 runs in the blowout victory. Leury Garcia went 3 for 5 in the game with a double and a RBI. Third baseman Michael Olt went 1 for 4 with a run scored. 

Hickory (low-A) got blown out by the Hagerstown Suns 17-1 as Baseball America's top prospect Bryce Harper went 3 for 3 with a double, a homerun, 6 RBI, 2 walks, a stolen base, and 3 runs. After a slow start, Harper is still hitting .306 with an OPS nearing 1.000. As for the Crawdads, well 2 pitchers pitched a scoreless inning Ryan Rodebaugh and Colby Killian. Carlos Melto took the loss after giving up 1 hit, 5 walks, and 5 runs in 1 1/3 innings pitched. Hickory's defense didn't help, as the team committed 5 errors in the game, which led to 3 unearned runs. Tomas Telis went 1 for 4 at the plate with the lone RBI. Jonathan Roof went 1 for 4 at the plate. Teodoro Martinez and Odubel Herrera each went 1 for 4 at the plate as well.

Minor League Performance of the Night:

There were plenty to go around on Friday night, including Harper's night, but Asheville's Kyle Parker probably had the biggest night of the group. The Colorado Rockie's 1st round pick in 2010 out of Clemson, Kyle Parker went 4 for 6 in Asheville's 13-12 walkoff win over Lakewood, including a double and a grand slam. In all, he was a triple short of the cycle, drove in 7 runs, scored 3 runs, including the winning run in the 9th inning after opening the inning with a single. On the season, Kyle Parker is batting .412 with 5 extra base hits in 10 games and 11 RBI. He has a 1.081 OPS so far on the season.

As always...

Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)
Station to Watch the Game on: TXA 21

Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/pressboxchatterFollow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

Friday, April 22, 2011

Game 14: Corpus Christi Hooks (Dallas Keuchel) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Miguel De Los Santos)

Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (5-8 3 games back in the Texas League South)... Corpus Christi Hooks (5-8 3 games back in the Texas League South)
Streak: Lost 1 in a row
Last 10: 3-7
Starting Pitchers: Miguel De Los Santos (0-1 10.38 ERA)... Dallas Keuchel (1-0 1.29 ERA)


What to Watch for on the Mound: The Riders and Corpus Chrisit play the 2nd game in a 4 game series and the two teams send pitchers going in opposite directions to the mound... Miguel De Los Santos started out his 1st start dominantly before having a 4th inning and he was eventually pulled with 2 outs in the 5th inning. In his 2nd start, he walked 5 batters and gave up 2 hits in 4 innings. He did strikeout 5, but also gave up 6 runs (1 without him on the mound). Now De Los Santos carries a 0-1 record with a 10.38 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP into his 3rd start of the year. He has struck out 13 batters in 8 2/3 innings pitched and has given up 6 hits. Fortunately for De Los Santos, the team he is facing is a team that won't walk a lot, so this is a start that could set up very well for him to pitch dominantly.... On the other end, you have Dallas Keuchel, a 23 year old southpaw from Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 2 starts, Keuchel has given up 2 earned runs, 9 hits, and hasn't issued a walk in 14 innings pitched. He also has struck out 8 batters and has gotten 25 groundouts to just 4 flyouts over the 2 starts. In his last start, Keuchel allowed only 4 hits and 1 run in 8 innings while he got 19 strikeouts (5) or groundouts (14) out of the possible 24 outs. It should also be noted, that Keuchel made his AA debut against Frisco last year and in 2 starts against them held Frisco to 5 runs in 13 1/3 innings pitched (3.37 ERA), while he struck out 11 batters and gave up 5 walks.

Offensive Struggles: In the Riders 5-2 loss to the Corpus Christi Hooks, Frisco continued to struggle at the plate, accumulating just 6 hits, all singles, and 1 walk in the game. As a team, the Riders have now walked 12 times in their last 7 games and 3 times in their last 3 games, spanning 29 innings. They have also scored 6 runs in those 3 games/29 innings, which include 2 losses.

Double B-s Are Cold: Engel Beltre and Michael Bianucci started the season on a tear. Through the team's first 6 games, Beltre batted .238, but had a .333 OBP and .619 SLG% (.952 OPS) thanks in part to a double and 2 triples in 24 plate appearances. Michael Bianucci was hitting a staggering .333 with a 1.125 SLG% and 1.510 OPS after his first 26 plate appearances thanks to 4 homeruns and 5 total extra base hits. The team averaged 5.83 runs per game over the first 6 games with Bianucci batting 4th, Butler batting 3rd, and Beltre batting 2nd. Since then, however, Engel Beltre has gone into a tail spin with 0 extra base hits and Bianucci has hit 1 extra base hit (a homerun) over his last 30 plate appearances. Bianucci is batting .200 over that span.

Engel Beltre
Batting #1: 7 for 30 .233/.281/.233/.514 7 singles 2 walks 1 steal
Batting #2: 5 for 21 .238/.333/.619/.952 2 singles, 1 double, 2 triples, 1 walk, 1 steal
Batting #3: 1 for 4 .250/.250/.250/.500 1 single 0 walks 1 steal

Michael Bianucci
Batting #3: 4 for 22 .182/.308/.182/.490 4 singles, 4 walks, 1 steal
Batting #4: 9 for 27 .333/.400/1.148/.1.548 3 singles, 1 double, 5 homeruns, 3 walks

Tommy Mendonca Continues to Roll: With another 2 for 4 day and a RBI, Tommy Mendonca is now 10 for his last 20 with 5 RBI during the time. He is now tied with Bianucci for the team lead in RBIs with 11 and has his season average up to .319 with a .934 OPS. He has struggled against left handers this season, however, with a .154 batting average (2 for 13).

Speaking of RBIs: With a double in the top of the 3rd to score Jimmy Paredes, J.D. Martinez extended his RBI streak to 9 games. The RBI was his 19th of the season in his 13th game and the 2 doubles in the game were his 6th and 7th of the year. 

Ross Seaton's Performance: When Ross Seaton was pulled after 7 innings he had a streak of 13 Riders hitters in a row retired. The 2008 3rd round pick came in with a 12.86 ERA, but left the outing with a 7.71 ERA after giving up 2 earned runs in 7 innings. He walked only 1 batter, allowed only 4 hits, and struck out 3 batters in the game.

Barnes Reel and Bad Luck for Guilder Rodriguez: Speaking as someone who grew up in St. Louis, Brandon Barnes, the Corpus Christi Hook's centerfielder, certainly brought back images of Jim Edmonds in the game on Thursday when he hit an opposite field homerun in the 2nd inning to put the Hooks on top 1-0 at the time. Then later in the bottom of the 5th, he robbed Guilder Rodriguez of what would have been easily a double with a diving catch in left centerfield. Twice in the game Guilder Rodriguez hit flie balls that probably went at least 370, maybe 380 feet, and were caught. For someone without a lot of power, the two hits were as well as I've seen him hit balls and with no avail as both were caught by Barnes.

Around the Ranger's System:

Round Rock (AAA) pounded out 15 hits in a 6-3 victory over Oklahoma City. Joey Butler went 2 for 5 with a double at the plate. Chad Tracy reached base 3 times with a 1 for 3 day and 2 walks. The Express went 6 for 13 with RISP in the game. Derek Hankins got the win after going 7 innings, and he gave up 7 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, and struck out 4. Yhency Brazoban got his 1st save of the season with 2 scoreless innings.

Myrtle Beach (high-A) gave up 5 runs in the 5th inning and lost 6-2 to the Kinston Indians. Barret Loux got the loss as he went 4+ innings, gave up 3 runs (2 earned), walked 2 batters, and struck out 5. He gave up 5 hits in the game as well and all were singles. Michael Olt went 0 for 3 with a sacrifice fly in the game. Ryan Strausborger led the Pelicans with 2 hits (in 3 at bats) in the game. He had a double, RBI, run, and a walk. Myrtle Beach hitters went 1 for 9 with RISP in the game.

Hickory (low-A) took both games of a doubleheader against Hagerstown. They won the first game 8-5 and the second game 7-6 with 2 runs in the top of the 7th inning. Tomas Telis went 2 for 4 with a homerun in the first game and added another RBI in the 2nd game despite an 0 for 4 game. Odubel Herrera went 1 for 3 with a 2 out RBI in the 1st game, and then went 2 for 3 with a double, RBI, and 2 runs in the 2nd game. Jonathan Roof went 1 for 2 with a double, 2 RBI, a walk, and 2 runs in the 1st game and went 1 for 3 with a RBI in the 2nd game. Justin Grimm got the win in game 1, but gave up 5 walks, 4 hits, and 5 runs (4 earned) in 6 innings in game one. He also struck out 5 batters. Zach Osborne got his first save of the year in the first game. Matt Thompson got the start in the second game and gave up 1 hit, 6 walks, and 5 runs (4 earned) in 3 1/3 innings while he struck out 5 batters. Randol Rojas got the win in the 2nd game after giving up 1 unearned run in 2 2/3 innings of relief. Joseph Van Meter got his 1st save of the year to close out game 2.

Minor League Performance of the Night

On most nights Yasmani Grandal's (Bakersfield Blaze- Cincinnati Reds high-A affiliate) 4 for 4 night with a double, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 5 times reached base, and 3 run game would be the performance of the night, let alone of his own league. But on Thursday, Kent Walton of the Stockton Ports (Oakland Athletics high-A affiliate) outdid even Grandal's night by hitting for the first cycle of 2011. Walton went 4 for 5 at the plate in a 13-10 win over the lancaster JetHawks with 2 RBI and 2 runs. Walton flew out in the 2nd, before he hit a 2-run homerun in the 4th, a single in the 6th, a double in the 8th, and a leadoff triple to start the top of the 9th. Stockton scored 6 times in the top of the 8th thanks in part to a grand slam by Max Stassi, which gave them a 13-7 lead at the time. Lancaster scored 3 in the bottom of the 8th, but couldn't come back to defeat Stockton.

As always...

Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)

Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/pressboxchatterFollow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Game 13: Corpus Christi Hooks (Ross Seaton) @ Frisco RoughRiders (Jacob Brigham)

Time: 7:00 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (5-7 3 games back in the Texas League South)... Corpus Christi Hooks (4-8 4 games back in the Texas League South)
Streak: Won 1 in a row
Last 10 games: 3-7
Starting Pitchers: Jacob Brigham (1-0 5.40 ERA)... Ross Seaton (0-0 12.86 ERA)

What to Watch for on the Mound: Both the Riders and Hooks face a division opponent for the first time this season and each pitcher makes their 3rd start of the season...

Jacob Brigham takes the mound for the Riders coming off his first AA win in his last outing. He hasn't dominated in either start, but Brigham has been consistent in the two starts. In each start he's gone 5 innings, given up 5 hits, and 3 runs. In his last start, he gave up 4 walks and struck out 4 batters. Both of his starts came against the Springfield Cardinals. On the season, Brigham has allowed 10 hits, walked 5 batters, and struck out 11 hitters in 10 innings pitched...

21 year old Ross Seaton on the other hand, has struggled so far on the season, although his last start was a bit better than his first start. Despite carrying a 12.86 ERA into the third start of the season, however, Seaton has yet to get the loss in a game. The 2008 3rd round pick has given up 16 hits in 7 innings this season, while allowing just 1 walk and recording 8 strikeouts. In his last outing, Seaton went 5 innings, gave up 9 hits, 4 runs, walked 1 batter, and struck out 5. Seaton had a solid first year in the minor leagues in 2009 as a 19 year old for Lexington (low-A), when he went 8-10 with a 3.29 ERA in 24 starts. He struck out 88 batters and allowed just 39 walks in 136 2/3 innings. Last year, however, Seaton struggled to an ERA of 6.64 and a 6-13 record in 28 starts in the offensive minded California League.

Bianucci/Mendonca duo: Coming into the day, Michael Bianucci and Tommy Mendonca are tied with the Double Decker duo in San Antonio for the most homeruns by a pair of hitters in the Texas League with 9. Bianucci is tied with Cody Decker with 5 homeruns for the league lead and Tommy Mendonca and Jaff Decker are tied at 4.

Running Games: One of the interesting things to watch in the series this weekend will be the running game of Corpus Christi vs. the catchers of Frisco. Jose Felix has had 2 baserunners attempt steals against him this year, and both have been successful. Corpus Christi have 3 of the top 4 players in steals in the Texas League on their team and the trio has been successful in 21 of their 24 attempts. The other interesting thing will be how the Riders handle running against the Hook's catchers, who have allowed 10 stolen bases in 13 attempts.

RBI Man: Corpus Christi's outfielder, J.D. Martinez comes into this series with an 8 game RBI streak. He is hitting .341 on the year, including .435 with runners on and .467 with RISP.  Martinez leads the Texas League in RBI and is 3rd in the minors in RBI right now. Martinez has 12 more RBIs than the next closest player on the team.To put it this way, no Rider has more than 11 RBI right now, let alone 12 more than the next closest.  Martinez has driven in a run in 10 of the 12 games that Corpus Christi has played.

Battle Over Who Will Give In: Both teams, the Riders and Hooks, struggle at the plate with discipline. Frisco has walked 32 times as a team, which is the lowest in the Texas League. Corpus Christi is 2nd worst, however, with 34 walks. Both team's pitching staffs, however, are among the worst in the league in giving up walks, as well. So it will be interesting to see which side of the ball for both teams struggles the most over the next 4 games. The Riders hitters have walked only 19 times over their last 70 innings at the plate, including just 1 time over their last 20 innings.

Defensive Difference: If there is one thing that could separate the games between these two teams it is the defensive play. Frisco comes into the series with just 4 errors and a .991 fielding%, both of which are best in the Texas League. The Corpus Christi Hooks have committed 13 errors and a .974 fielding%, both of which are at the bottom of the league. Now, errors and fielding% doesn't tell the whole story, but it does help explain why the Riders have a league low 1 unearned run, while the Hooks have given up a league high 13 unearned runs. Neither team's catchers have given up a passed ball through 12 games.

Around the Ranger's System: 

Round Rock (AAA) held off a late rally from Oklahoma City to win 5-3. Of the 8 runs combined in the game, 6 of them were scored in the 8th and 9th innings. Chad Tracy went 2 for 4 at the plate with a double and 2 RBI. Esteban German continues to hit the ball well as he went 3 for 4 with a double and a walk. He's batting .368 on the year. Joey Butler went 1 for 4 at the plate with a strikeout. Zach Jackson got the win as he went 8 1/3 innings pitched, gave up 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, and struck out 5. Cody Eppley got the final 2 outs for his 3rd save.

Myrtle Beach (high-A) scored a run in the 8th inning to tie the game and defeated Winston Salem 5-4 in 12 innings. Michael Olt went 0 for 3, but walked 3 times as well. Chris McGuinness who played for Frisco late last year, went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and 2 walks. The Pelican's 8th and 9th hitters, Santiago Chirino and Travis Adair, went a combined 6 for 12 with 2 runs, a double, and a RBI. Myrtle Beach went just 4 for 17 with RISP in the game and left 14 on base as a team total. Robbie Erlin started for Myrtle Beach and gave up 4 hits and 4 runs (3 earned) in 5 innings. He walked 1 batter and struck out 3. Joseph Ortiz (3 innings), Kennil Gomez (3 innings), and Kasey Kiker (1 inning) combined for 7 shutout innings of relief. Former Rider Kiker, who didn't walk a batter, got his first win of the season for the Pelicans. 

Hickory (low-A) scored 4 in the 6th and 3 in the 8th to turn a 3-1 defecit into an 8-3 victory over the Hagerstown Suns. Jake Skole went 2 for 4 with a triple, a walk, and 2 runs. Tomas Tellis went 2 for 4 with a double, 3 RBI, and a walk. Josh Richmond, Odubel Herrera, and Christian Villanueva combined to go 7 for 15 with 2 doubles, a triple, 3 RBI, and 4 runs. Jonathan Roof, who has been playing in for Jurickson Profar while he's hurt, went 3 for 4 with a run in the 9th spot. Nick Tepesch, who got the start for Hickory, gave up 9 hits and 3 runs in 4 innings. He struck out 3 batters and did not issue a walk. Colby Killian got his 2nd win, as he combined with Ryan Rodebaugh for 5 shutout innings of relief.


Minor League Performance of the Night

John Ely (Albuquerque Isotopes- AAA affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers) struggled in his first start of the season in AAA for the Albuquerque Isotopes, but on Wednesday night he brought his best stuff to the table in the second game of a double header. Ely took a no-hitter to the last hitter of the 7th inning before giving up a double to Marquez Smith. Still, he got the final out and settled for a 1 hit shutout, where he walked 4 batters and struck out 7. Albuquerque defeated the Iowa Cubs 3-0 to split the double header. John Ely got the win and lowered his ERA through 2 starts to 3.46.

As always...

Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)

Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/pressboxchatterFollow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Notes on an Off Day

Next Game: Tomorrow (Thursday) @ 7:00 PM CT
Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Rider's Record: 5-7 (3 games back in the Texas League South)

Perfection!: When the Riders-Travelers went into a rain delay (originally due to lightning, later due to a tornado warning in Little Rock) people at the ballpark and the teams involved probably did not realize that they were part of history. Well they had an idea that history could be made, but likely not so early. Martin Perez had set down 15 straight to open the game, and that is all he would see as the game was finished after 5 in a 1-0 Riders win. As the Riders Insider Blog noted, Martin Perez's perfect game was the 2nd in Frisco Roughrider's history and 5th in Texas League history. Perez struck out 3 batters in the 5 innings and now has set down 16 in a row dating back to his previous start and has thrown 10 consecutive scoreless innings.

Southpaw Pitching Duel: After getting off to a bit of a rocky start in the 1st inning, Travelers starter Trevor Reckling also had a streak of his own going. In the game, the final 23 batters were retired spanning from the bottom of the 2nd through 2 outs in the top of the 6th when the game went under a delay. Reckling gave up 3 hits and a run in the 1st, then gave up 2 hits in the 2nd, and set down 11 straight after that. He also had gotten 8 ground balls to 0 flyouts in the game.

No-Hitters: The game brought back memories of another no-hitter in recent years that Frisco had, which happened in the first game of a double header against the San Antonio Missions. So the no-hitter was also not a 9 inning no-hitter, but was a 7 inning no-hitter. The pitcher for Frisco was Matt Harrison, who is starting pitcher for the Rangers in tonight's game against the Angels. The ironic part of that game was that Harrison threw the no-hitter in the first game and then Frisco managed 1 hit and 0 runs in the 2nd game. 

Complete Games: With both Martin Perez and Trevor Reckling finishing the game on Tuesday night, they both became the first 2 pitchers to throw a complete game in the Texas League this season and Perez became the first pitcher in the Texas League to throw a shutout. Martin Perez also ranks 3rd among starting pitchers in the Texas League in ERA with a 1.38 ERA on the season.

Heating Up: Tommy Mendonca went 1 for 2 in the game and drove in the sole run in the game, on a single in the 1st inning to score Davis Stoneburner from 2nd base. Mendonca is hitting 8 for his last 16 with 1 homerun, 4 RBI, and a walk. He has struck out 3 times in that span as well. After going 0 for 9 in 2 games against Arkansas in Frisco a week ago, Mendonca went 5 for 13 against them over the last 3 games.

Time of Game: It should be noted that the time of the game was 1 hour and 14 minutes. That would have put the game on a pace for 1 hour and 51 minutes, which undoubtedly would have been the shortest 9 inning game of the season for Frisco.


Battle of the Bottom two teams: This coming matchup between Frisco and Corpus Christi will be a matchup of teams that currently are 5-7 and 4-8. Frisco is tied with the Springfield Cardinals for the 2nd worst records in the Texas League right now, and Corpus Christi owns the worst record. The Hooks major issues have been hitting, and specifically hitting for power. as they rank last in homeruns and slugging% in the Texas League. They also rank 2nd to last behind Frisco in the least amount of walks in the Texas League.

Around the Ranger's System: 

Round Rock (AAA) defeated the former affiliate of the Ranger's, Oklahoma City, 6-2 in the first meeting between the two teams since the changes. Express starting pitcher Neil Ramirez continued to pitch well as he gave up 1 unearned run in 5 innings, allowed 2 hits, walked 3 batters, and struck out 9. He also did hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. He got the win to move to 2-0 on the season and hasn't given up an earned run yet in 3 starts this season. At the plate, Chad Tracy went 1 for 4 with a walk and a run. Taylor Teagarden went 2 for 3 with a double, triple, RBI, and a walk. Craig Gentry went 1 for 3 with a double, 2 RBI, got hit by a pitch, and scored a run. Round Rock as a team went 4 for 18 with RISP.

Myrtle Beach (high-A) beat Winston Salem 7-4 in their 2nd game of a 3 game set. Johan Yan got the win after pitching 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief as Myrtle Beach scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th to take the 7-4 lead and eventual win. Of the 9 hitters, 6 of them had 2 hits in the game, including third baseman Mike Olt who went 2 for 4 with a run. He continues to hit well for Myrtle Beach as he has a .415 batting average currently. Tyler Tufts recorded his 3rd save of the season for the Pelicans.

Hickory (low-A) had their game postponed due to rain. They are schedule to play a double header on Thursday against Hagerstown. Nick Tepesch, who was supposed to start on Tuesday will start for Hickory tonight.


Minor League Performance of the Night:

Normally, we would like to use games other than Frisco for this section since the Riders notes have already been explained, but you can't argue with perfection. Even if it's just 5 innings, Martin Perez saw 15 batters and retired them all. Of the 15 batters he faced, 10 of them were retired via either a strikeout or a ground out. In his third go around in AA, the 20 year old Perez seems to be turning the corner from potential into production. He has 12 strikeouts over 10 scoreless innings in his last 2 starts, has given up 4 hits, and walked 2 batters.

As always...

Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)

Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/pressboxchatterFollow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Game 12: Frisco RoughRiders (Martin Perez) @ Arkansas Travelers (Trevor Reckling)

Time: 7:10 PM CT
Location: Dickey-Stephens Park (Little Rock, AR)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (4-7 3 games back in the Texas League South)... Arkansas Travelers (6-5 1 game back in the Texas League North)
Streak: Lost 3 in a row
Last 10: 3-7
Starting Pitchers: Martin Perez (0-0 2.25 ERA)... Trevor Reckling (0-1 2.70 ERA)


What to Watch for on the Mound: Frisco and Arkansas send Perez and Reckling out to the mound for the 3rd time and the first time each pitcher will face the opposing team this season. Both pitchers are in their 3rd season in the Texas League, despite being 20 and 21 years old respectively... Martin Perez, the Ranger's #1 prospect according to Baseball America, had one of his best outings for Frisco to date in his last start. Perez went 5 strong innings, allowed 4 hits, 0 runs, walked 2, and tied a career high with 9 strikeouts. On the season, the southpaw has allowed 9 hits and 4 walks in 8 innings with 12 strikeouts. He didn't receive a decision in either of his first two starts... Opposing Perez will be another southpaw in Trevor Reckling. Like Perez, Reckling's 2nd start of the season was much better than his first. Reckling pitched 5 shutout innings against the Midland Rockhounds, and allowed 2 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 2 batters in the no-decision. On the season, Reckling has allowed 9 hits and 3 walks in 10 innings with 6 strikeouts.

Success the Second Time Around: A week ago Wilfredo Boscan got beat around by Arkansas on get-away day, as he allowed 5 runs and 6 hits in 1 inning. On Monday, Boscan went 180 by pitching 5 solid innings against the Travelers. He gave up 5 hits, 2 runs, struck out a season high 6 batters, and did not issue a walk. Unfortunately, he did not receive a decision as the game went 15 innings.

Flores on a Roll: Adalberto Flores started the season a bit rocky by giving up a double, single, and sac fly in his first inning of work. Since then, however, Flores has been as good as any Rider reliever. He pitched a second scoreless inning in that first outing and has made 4 other appearances since then. Since the first inning of his first game, Flores has pitched 7 scoreless innings and has allowed just 1 hit and 3 walks, while he has struck out 7 batters. On Monday, Flores came in at the beginning of the bottom of the 9th inning and pitched 3 perfect innings with 2 strikeouts.


Getting the Strikeout: In the middle of the tremendous work by Riders pitchers on Monday was their ability to get the strikeout. Riders pitchers struck out Travelers hitters 16 times. In the 5th and 7th Riders pitchers struck out the side.

Stonecold: Davis Stoneburner batted .297 in 10 games in 2010, however, he hasn't had quite the success in 2011 that he did in the short time in 2010. A 1 for 6 day on Monday lowered his season average to .194, a team low for regulars. He has shown a bit more pop with 3 extra base hits in the 10 games this year, but his OPS is still .654 for the season.

Discipline Issues: On Monday in the 15 inning game, Riders batters walked just 1 time in 58 trips to the plate. The 1 walk matched a season low, which also happened on April 8th and 14th, both against Springfield. They also struck out 11 times, which matched a season high, also done on April 12th against Arkansas. Over the last 5 games, Riders hitters have walked just 11 times, while they have struck out 41 times, which means they have struck out 3.72 times for every walk during that stretch. They have seemed to miss Butler's bat since he was promoted to AAA, as the Riders averaged 3.5 walks per game with him, and have averaged 2.2 walks since he was promoted. Butler had walked 4 times in 6 games.

Bulls-eye On the Riders?: Frisco RoughRiders batters were hit by pitches 3 times on Monday, which brought their season total to 14 through 11 games. That puts them on pace to be hit 178 times, which would shatter the previous Riders high of 77 in 2004. Davis Stoneburner leads the team with 4 hit by pitches, which puts him on pace for 51 hit by pitches this season, which again would shatter the individual high set by Craig Gentry in 2009 with 16. At least one Rider hitter has been hit by a pitch in 7 of the 11 games played this season.


Successful Steals vs. Unsuccessful Steals: No, we're not talking about Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mike Leake here, but instead about the Riders as a team. Riders players have stolen 13 bases in 15 attempts (86.667%). The success rate of Frisco is the best in the Texas League and is tied for the 2nd best in the three AA leagues of teams with at least 10 steal attempts (23 teams meet the criteria). The Texas Ranger's system in particularly seems to be successful in steals early on. The Ranger's minor league teams have combined to steal 61 bases in 75 attempts (81.33%). Sabermetricians have argued that the rate of success should be 75% or higher to break even in runs production. So by anyone's standards the Rangers minor leaguers have done a good job on the bases.

Pitching Woes: While the basestealing has been a success for Frisco, the pitching has not been one. Riders pitchers have a 5.67 ERA coming into Tuesday's game, which is the 3rd worst ERA in the Texas League. They also have walked tied for the 2nd most batters in the Texas League (50 in 98 1/3 innings pitched), and the team's 1.64 WHIP is worst in the league.

Mistake: "Chatter from the Pressbox" will admit there was a mistake on yesterday's preview. The Riders gave up an unearned run on Sunday's game during Carlos Pimentel's 2 innings pitched. With a successful game on Sunday, the Jacksonville Suns were the last team standing. And last night, thanks to a passed ball by catching prospect Kyle Skipworth and an eventual run, the Suns gave up their first unearned run of the season. So, Frisco still is tied for the minor league lead in least amount of unearned runs.

Around the Ranger's System: 

Round Rock (AAA) defeated the New Orleans Zephyrs 3-1 to take 3 out of 4 from the Zephyrs. However, the story was not at the game when it ended, as the starting pitcher for the Express, Eric Hurley, was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons after he was hit in the right side of the head while fielding a comebacker. On the field, Craig Gentry went 2 for 3 with a RBI, walk, and stole a base. Chris Mobley picked up the win as he pitched 2 2/3 shutout innings in relief of the injured Hurley. Zach Phillips picked up a hold with 2 shutout innings of relief, and Yoshinori Tateyama closed out the game for his first save.

Myrtle Beach (high-A) defeated Winston-Salem 2-1 in a close game. Michael Olt, who was named the Carolina League player of the week last week, went 1 for 4 at the plate. Leury Garcia, Travis Adair, and Andres James all had 2 hits in the game. Joseph Wieland made the start for Myrtle Beach and went 6 innings, allowed 7 hits, 1 run, walked 1 batter, and struck out 7. Andrw Doyle got the win with 2 shutout innings of relief, and Trevor Hurley picked up his first save.

Hickory (low-A) beat Kannapolis by a score of 6-1. All, but one of Hickory's starting position players had a hit, and nobody had more than 1 hit in the game. Jake Skole went 1 for 5 with a run scored. Tomas Telis had a 1 for 3 game with a RBI on a sacrifice fly. Teodoro Martinez went 1 for 4 with a run, a walk, and stole 3 bases in the game. Roman Mendez made the start for Hickory and went 5 1/3 innings, allowed 4 hits, 1 run, walked 2, and struck out 4 batters.


Minor League Performance of the Night: 

Hagerstown starting pitcher Cameron Selik has had a good start to the season, even before Monday night's performance. The 23 year old 2010 22nd round pick out of Kansas by the Washington Nationals, hadn't given up a run in his first 2 starts spanning 10 innings. On Monday night, Selik again did not give up a run in 5 innings, allowed 1 hit, walked 1 batter, and struck out 11 in a 1-0 win over Lakewood. Unfortunately, the run didn't come until the 9th inning, as his team had as much trouble with the opposition as the opposition did hitting Selik. Hagerstown managed just 2 hits in the game. The game winning run was scored on a sac fly in the 9th by a hitter who happened to have pinch hit earlier in the game for phenom Bryce Harper, who was the designated hitter for Hagerstown. In the game, Hagerstown pitchers struck out Lakewood hitters 18 times to just 1 walk.

As always...

Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)

Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/pressboxchatterFollow the Extra Bases Live Blog throughout the Game at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20100305&content_id=8685092&vkey=multimedia_t540&fext=.jsp&sid=t540
And Check Out the Riders Insider Blog for more Frisco RoughRiders info: http://ridersinsider.mlblogs.com/

Monday, April 18, 2011

Game 11: Frisco RoughRiders (Wilfredo Boscan) @ Arkansas Travelers (Garrett Richards)

Time: 11:00 AM CT
Location: Dickey-Stephens Park (Little Rock, AR)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (4-6 3 games back in the Texas League South)... Arkansas Travelers (5-5 1 game back in the Texas League North)
Streak: Lost 2 in a row
Last 10 games: 4-6
Starting Pitchers: Wilfredo Boscan (1-1 10.50 ERA)... Garrett Richards (1-0 6.00 ERA)

What to Watch for on the Mound: Both starting pitchers are facing the opposing team for the second straight time and are facing each other for a second consecutive time... Wilfredo Boscan took the loss last time out when the Travelers pummeled him and the Riders on "get away day". Boscan gave up 6 hits and 5 runs in 1+ innings pitched. He did not strike a batter out and allowed 2 walks. Boscan got out of moderate trouble in the 1st inning, but gave up 3 straight singles to open up the 2nd inning. A walk, grand slam (by Mike Trout), and a double later and Boscan was out of the game. Boscan pitched solidly in his first start though, as he allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk in 5 innings. This will be his first AA road start of the season... Garrett Richards, the Angel's #7 prospect according to Baseball America, got his first win in his last start, despite giving up 4 runs in 5 innings. He struck out 6 batters, allowed 3 walks, and 4 hits in the start. Despite a 6.00 ERA, opponents are hitting .219 against Richards and he has averaged 10 strikeouts per 9 innings. Surprisingly, it has been control that has been the issue for Richards, who has walked 7 batters in the 9 innings pitched. Last season he had 43 walks in 143 innings pitched (2.71 BB/9) between low-A and high-A.

Middle of the Order Attack: In the Rider's 8-5 loss on Sunday, the middle of the order provided plenty of fuel for an offensive attack. The 2-5 hitters,Davis Stoneburner, Michael Bianucci, Tommy Mendonca, and Jonathan Greene, combined to go 9 for 17 with a double, a homerun, 4 RBI, and 3 walks. Unfortunately, the rest of the team combined to go 3 for 24 in the game, including a 1 for 6 game from leadoff hitter and top prospect Engel Beltre.


First Homerun: After hitting 16 homeruns in 403 at bats for Bakersfield last season, Davis Stoneburner was probably getting tired of seeing the 0 next to homeruns for Frisco. He had gone homerless in his first 62 at bats for Frisco before knocking a 1st inning homerun to left field on Sunday. The homer gave Frisco an early 2-0 lead, which wouldn't last.

Struggles with RISP: Riders players had plenty of opportunities to drive in runners who were in scoring position on Sunday. Unfortunately, they weren't able to do it that often. Frisco as a team went 2 for 17 with RISP.

Getting Knocked Around: Carlos Pimentel is probably getting tired of seeing the Arkansas Travelers hitters. Fortunately for him, he won't see them for a while. Pimentel has made both of his starts against Arkansas and has given up 14 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings. The baserunners have resulted in a 3.00 WHIP early on and a 15 ERA. Travelers hitters are batting .467 against him with 6 extra base hits in 6 innings.

An Unlikely Source: The Arkansas Travelers hitters had 12 hits in the game on Sunday and most people would think #2 prospect Mike Trout would be doing the damage. Trout went only 1 for 5 in the game with a strikeout. Instead Arkansas got a large portion of it's offense from catcher Orlando Mercado who went 4 for 4 with 2 doubles. Mercado has started 5 games, 2 against Frisco and 3 against Midland. Against Frisco, Mercado is 6 for 8 with 2 doubles and a homerun. Against Midland, he is 2 for 13 with a RBI.

Second Chances are Nice: Fabio Castillo is a good reliever, but his debut in the 2011 season was about as ugly as an appearance can get. In just 1/3 of an inning he gave up 5 hits, 6 runs, and 2 walks without recording a strikeout. His second appearance was much better as Castillo gave up 1 hit and no runs in 1 2/3 innings pitched. He did not walk or strikeout a batter. He's also only 22 years old and had just been activated from the DL.

Battle Continues: Both Frisco and the Jacksonville Suns went another game without an unearned run, so we will wait at least another day before one of the two teams gives in (or gives up).

New Additions: In an effort to make the site better, three more pages have been added to this blog. One is the Riders transactions, where you can track to see where certain players have been promoted/demoted/placed on DL/etc. from the Riders. The other two are pages that will keep track of how the Riders players do against certain teams throughout the year. It's something that you won't find tracked on minor league websites, so this way you can see how players do against teams in their league.

Around the Ranger's System: 

Round Rock (AAA) blew a 5-0 lead in the 6th inning, but defeated the New Orleans Zephyrs in 10 innings 6-5. Chad Tracy went 3 for 5 at the plate with a homerun and 3 RBI. Former Rider Craig Gentry went 1 for 4 with a stolen base, while Joey Butler went 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts. Taylor Teagarden reached base twice with a single and a walk. Seth McClung pitched 4 scoreless innings with 5 strikeouts, while Zach Phillips blew his first save of the season, but was picked up by Cody Eppley who pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, striking out 3 batters.

Myrtle Beach (high-A) got a good start out of 21 year old southpaw Robbie Ross and defeated Lynchburg 8-2. Ross pitched 6 scoreless innings, as he allowed 4 hits, walked 3, and struck out 4. Michael Olt continues to mash at the plate, as he went 2 for 5 with a homerun and 2 RBI. He's batting .424 with an .848 Slugging%. Catcher Zach Zaneski went 3 for 5 at the plate with a homerun and 3 RBI as well. Kennil Gomez struck out the side in a scoreless 9th inning.

Hickory (low-A) defeated Kannapolis 12-3 to take 2 out of 3 in the series. Every hitter on the team had a RBI in the game as the offense had 12 hits and walked 8 times. Jake Skole went 1 for 5 at the plate with a walk and 1 RBI. Tomas Telis chipped in 2 hits in 5 at bats, including a double and 1 RBI. Kellen Deglan had a team high 3 RBIs in the game on a single and a sacrifice fly. Randol Rojas got the victory in the game as he pitched 4 innings of relief in the game. He struck out 5 batters and allowed 1 unearned run.

Minor League Performance of the Night: 
The Lexington Legends (low-A affiliate of the Houston Astros) came into Sunday's game (#11 of the season), averaging 5.5 runs per game on offense. On Sunday, the team totaled 18 runs on 20 hits. The big reason for that can be found in the middle of their order, where Chris Wallace and Telvin Nash could be found as the #3 and 4 hitters on Sunday. Whatever one did, the other tried to outdue and on Sunday they both hit 3 homeruns a piece, both went 5 for 6, both scored 4 runs, and both were a triple from the cycle. Unfortunately for Nash, he was the one that was hitting behind Wallace, so while Wallace accumulated 9 RBI, Nash only got to drive in 4 runs, 3 of those were of course himself. In total, the 2-4 hitters had 15 of the 18 RBI and 12 of the 18 runs scored. The Houston Astro's 1st round pick in 2009, Jiovanni Mier, was the #2 hitter in the game.

As always...

Station to Listen to the Game on: 1630 AM (KKGM)

Follow the Game Online at: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/league.jsp?sid=milb&lid=109
Follow Us on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/pressboxchatter