Location: Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco, TX)
Team Records: Frisco RoughRiders (4-3 Tied for First Place in the Texas League South)... Springfield Cardinals (4-3 Tied for First Place in the Texas League North)
Streak: L1
Last 10: 4-3
Homestand: 0-1
2012 Series Record: 2-0-0
2012 Record against Springfield: 2-2
All-Time Record against Springfield: 48-43
Record on April 13 since 2003: 1-6
Starting Pitchers: Barret Loux (1-0 0.00 ERA) vs. Trevor Rosenthal (0-1 2.25 ERA)
'Riders Fall to Springfield: Frisco gave up runs in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings and fell to the Springfield Cardinals 5-1 on their home opener. Frisco had some chances, but two double plays hit into killed any potential rally late in the game.
De Los Santos start: Problems with inconsistency have plagued Miguel De Los Santos through his time with Frisco. At times he can seem dominant and at other times it seems like he can't find the strikezone at all. Thursday was one of the latter, while his start before was more of the former. De Los Santos threw 58.3% of his pitches for strikes and got a swing and miss (when the batter swung) rate of 18.2%. In his start before, he had thrown 67.5% of his pitches for strikes and got a swing and miss rate of 44.1%. It was his second time pitching against Springfield and they swung at pitches 5% less of the time than they had in their start before. Overall, his final line was: 4 1/3 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs (all earned), 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts.
The Speed Demon: Leury Garcia went 2 for 3 at the plate in his Dr. Pepper Ballpark regular season debut and hit a triple and scored the lone run as well for Frisco. Garcia has two triples now in the first seven games giving him a projected total of 40 triples. It's highly unlikely that he will keep that pace up, but it does show one thing... Garcia can fly. The infielder is batting .250 on the year so far and isn't likely to continue his .458 slugging percentage, but he is an interesting player to watch.
Top Prospecgt Struggles Continue: It's far too early to get worried, but Jurickson Profar is struggling at the plate on the early goings. Profar went 0 for 3 with a walk and a sombrero (3 strikeouts) at the plate on Thursday. He has been a slow starter before and AA was a jump for him, so it's not surprising to see him struggling on the early goings. Profar has swung at 40.7% of the pitches thrown at him so far, which is the lowest on the team of the players with 20 or more PA. Guilder Rodriguez, who has 17 plate appearances, is the only one lower than Profar on the roster regardless of plate appearances. Profar also has only swung and missed at 9.8% of the pitches. Only Chris McGuiness and Jared Prince have a lower percentage of the regular starters.
A First for Olt: Mike Olt had one hit on Thursday, but it was a first for him in full season ball. In the 6th inning, Olt hit a wind aided flyball that ended up landing at the wall. By the time the ball was in, Olt was standing at third base and had driven in Leury Garcia for the only run of the game. Olt's triple was his first in full season pro ball. He hit one for the Spokane Indians (short season-A ball) in 2009.
Boasting Boscan: Wilfredo Boscan had one of his best outings in a while and arguably his best with the RoughRiders. Boscan gave up 2 hits and struck out 4 over 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Boscan did not issue a walk either. Through two outings this season, Boscan has thrown 68.3% of his pitches for strikes, achieved a 31.4% swing and miss rate, and has thrown first pitch strikes to 62.5% of the batters that he has faced. His 3.417 pitches per plate appearance are the best in Frisco's bullpen.
How Do You Keep Kolten Off Base?: Springfield Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong has gotten off to an impressively hot start. The 2011 first round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals has gotten on base at least twice in 6 of Springfield's first seven games this season, including all six that he actually started in. Wong, a Hawaii native, is batting .440 with a .517 OBP for the season. He has 4 extra base hits and 4 walks so far.
Former 'Riders on the Mound
RHP Tommy Hunter (Baltimore Orioles) @ Toronto Blue Jays
LHP Matt Harrison (Texas Rangers) @ Minnesota Twins
Minor League Baseball Platinum Sombrero Count: 1
Minor League Baseball Golden Sombrero Count: 38
Minor League Baseball Sombrero Count: 323
As always...
A special thanks to any blog followers from Lee's Summit, MO!
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