TEXAS RANGERS MINOR LEAGUE HIGHLIGHTS AND NOTES
JULY 17, 2014
ROUND ROCK EXPRESS Pacific Coast League (AAA) 48-47 T2nd Place 1.5 GB
PHIL KLEIN: The 25-year-old has tossed 8.2 scoreless inning with 15 strikeouts and just 3 walks over his first 5 relief appearances with Round Rock…he has multiple strikeouts in all 5 outings with the Express…the 6-foot-7, 230-pound Klein has limited opponents to a .145 average (20-138) and no home runs in 29 relief appearances between Round Rock and Frisco this season…Klein, a Youngstown State University product, was selected in the 30th round of the 2011 June draft and signed by Roger Coryell.
NEWS AND NOTES: OF Jared Hoying represented Round Rock in the Triple-A All-Star Game last night in Durham and went 0-for-2 as a defensive replacement…RHP Spencer Patton, who was acquired from Kansas City yesterday, struck out the only batter he faced in the 2nd inning…Round Rock trainer Jason Roberts was also on the PCL staff…J.P. Arencibia ranks among the Pacific Coast July leaders in both home runs (T3rd, 5) and RBI (T2nd, 16) and leads the PCL with 41 RBI since joining the club on May 21…RHP Jon Edwards has whiffed 9 of 24 (37.5%) batters faced in his first 3 relief appearances with the Express…LHP Michael Kirkman has a 0.42 ERA (1 ER/21.1 IP) over his last 18 relief appearances…Kirkman has allowed just one unearned run in last 9 appearances (11.1 IP) with 11 strikeouts against 3 walks…OF Michael Choice has reached safely via hit or walk in 4 of his first 5 games with the Express at .316 (6-19) with 2 doubles, a home run, 3 RBI, and 2 walks…C/1B Brett Nicholas batted .375 (9-24) in his last 7 games of the first half.
FRISCO ROUGHRIDERS* Texas League (AA) 13-12/53-41 3rd Place/2nd Half 3.0 GB
JERAD EICKHOFF: RHP Jerad Eickhoff has logged 4 straight quality starts, going 3-1 with a 2.77 ERA (8 ER/26.0 IP) and 22 strikeouts against 4 walks…the 24-year-old leads the Texas league with 92 strikeouts and ranks among the leaders in WHIP (5th, 1.14) and innings (8th, 102.0)…Eickhoff was selected in the 15th round of the 2011 June draft out of Olney Central College in Illinois…Eickhoff is slated to make his next start for the ‘Riders tonight vs. Corpus Christi.
NEWS AND NOTES: The ‘Riders clinched a postseason berth with a first half division championship and currently sit a half game behind Midland (54-40) for best overall record in the Texas League…RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez is 2-0, 1.26 (2 ER/14.1 IP) over his last 3 starts, with opponents batting .173 (9-52) in that stretch…RHP Keone Kela had his scoreless streak stopped at 16.0 innings with an unearned run Monday at San Antonio…opponents were just 4-for-50 (.080) with 21 strikeouts during the streak…RHP Randy Henry has a 9.0 inning scoreless streak over his last 5 outings…LHP Will Lamb has allowed runs in just 2 of 10 appearances with Frisco, recording 11 strikeouts in 10.1 innings of work…OF/1B Jim Adduci is batting .318 (7-22) with a double, triple, home run, and 6 RBI through 6 games of a rehab assignment…C Geovany Soto is hitting .368 (7-19) through the first 6 games of his rehab assignment…C Tomas Telis collected a season-high 4 hits on Monday at San Antonio and is currently batting .303, 2nd in the Texas League…OF Jake Skole is batting .304 (14-46) with 3 doubles and 4 RBI though his first 12 games in July…during the week of July 22, the Texas League will celebrate the life and legacy of former player and coach Mike Coolbaugh at every park, with Frisco honoring Coolbaugh on July 25.
MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS* Carolina League (High-A) 15-12/59-36 2nd Place/2nd Half 2.0 GB
NICK WILLIAMS: The 20-year-old is batting .361 (31-86) with 8 doubles, 2 triples, 5 home runs, 21 RBI, 7 walks, and 20 runs scored over 21 games since returning from the disabled list on June 24…Williams, who won the most recent Carolina League Player of the Week award, has multiple hits in 4 of his last 8 games at .412 (14-34)…he ranks among the CL leaders in batting (3rd, .322), total bases (3rd, 152), RBI (5th, 57), doubles (T5th, 23), and home runs (T6th, 10)….Williams was selected in the 2nd round of the 2012 June draft and signed by Jay Heafner.
NEWS AND NOTES: The Pelicans own the best overall record in the Carolina League and have 8 more wins than any other club…LHP Andrew Faulkner lowered his CL-best ERA to 2.08 in Myrtle Beach’s victory at Winston-Salem last night…Faulkner had his 18.0-inning scoreless streak stopped in the 3rd inning last night, but has gone 5-0 with a 0.62 ERA (2 ER/29.0 IP) and 26 strikeouts over his last 5 starts…OF Lewis Brinson has hit safely in 5 of his first 7 games with the Pelicans with a double, home run, and 6 RBI…Brinson has combined to bat .370 (37-100) over his last 26 games with Myrtle Beach and Hickory…INF Christopher Bostick is batting .305 (18-59) with 4 doubles, 2 triples, and 5 RBI over his first 15 games in July…INF Luis Mendez is batting .406 (13-32) over his last 9 games…RHP Jose Leclerc has worked 11.1 scoreless innings over his last 9 appearances, with opponents batting .086 (3-35) during the scoreless streak…Leclerc is averaging 13.2 SO/9.0 IP this season.
HICKORY CRAWDADS South Atlantic League (A) 57-39/16-11 3rd Place/2nd Half 2.0 GB
NEWS AND NOTES: Hickory has gone 31-12 (.721) since May 31 and currently resides in 3rd place in the South Atlantic Northern Division, 0.5 games out of first…OF Jairo Beras is batting .362 (34-94) with 7 double, 4 home runs, 6 walks, and 15 runs scored over his last 24 games with the Crawdads…since June 12, Beras ranks 10th in the SAL in batting…OF Nomar Mazara belted a pair of home runs in Hickory’s 7-2 win over Lakewood on Wednesday to raise his season total to 15, 2nd in the SAL…Mazara is batting .280 (56-200) with 12 doubles, 2 triples, 12 home runs, 51 RBI, 31 walks, and 41 runs over his last 52 games since May 16…19-year-old Travis Demeritte still leads the SAL in home runs with 19…C Kellin Deglan has 21 RBI in his last 18 games, 3rd-most in the SAL since June 24…OF Ryan Cordell is batting .400 (12-30) over his last 7 games to raise his season average to .336…RHP David Ledbetter tossed 5.0 scoreless innings for the win yesterday vs. Lakewood and has now worked 8.0 scoreless innings in 2 games/one start since rejoining the Crawdads…LHP Felix Carvallo has allowed just one unearned run over his last 5 relief appearances (13.1 IP), recording 14 strikeouts against just 5 walks in that stretch.
SPOKANE INDIANS Northwest League (SS) 22-11 1st Place 2.0 GA
NEWS AND NOTES: Spokane has a 2.0 game lead in the North with 5 games remaining in the first half…the Indians rank 2nd in the Northwest League with a .282 average and have 4 of the top 5 averages in the league…INF Jose Trevino ranks among the NWL leaders in both RBI (2nd, 27) and home runs (T3rd, 6)…INF Seth Spivey has hit safely in 22 of 26 games this season and leads the NWL with a .377 average…OF Luke Tendler is batting .435 (20-46) with 6 doubles, 3 home runs, and 15 RBI over his last 11 games to raise his season average to .364, 3rd in the NWL…C Marcus Greene has reached via hit or walk in 25 of 27 games this season, batting .318 (28-88) with a team-high 19 walks…OF Eduard Pinto is batting .467 (21-45) over his last 10 games…RHP John Fasola has converted all 3 save chances and owns a 0.82 ERA (1 ER/11.0 IP) with 19 strikeouts and zero walks…RHP Richelson Pena has gone 4-1 with a 2.78 ERA (10 ER/32.1 IP) over 7 starts and ranks among the league leaders in both wins (T1st, 4) and ERA (4th).
AZL RANGERS Arizona League (R) 14-4 1st Place 6.0 GA
NEWS AND NOTES: INF Josh Morgan has hit safely in 14 of 17 games at .338 (22-65), 9th in the AZL…RHP Luis Ortiz has 3.0 scoreless innings with 3 strikeouts over his first 2 starts…LHP Brett Martin had 6.0 scoreless innings in his first 4 games/one start and has totaled 12 strikeouts in 6.2 innings overall…RHP Luke Lanphere has compiled a 2.37 ERA (5 ER/19.0 IP) with 24 strikeouts in his first 6 games/5 starts…OF Oliver Caraballo is batting .400 (12-30) with 2 doubles, a triple, a home run, and 7 RBI over his last 10 games.
TRANSACTIONS
JAMES SIGNED: LHP Chad James has signed a minor league contract and been assigned to Myrtle Beach…James, 23, was a first round selection (18th overall) of the Miami Marlins in the 2009 June draft and was released by the club during spring training in March…the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder had spent the season with Evansville of the Frontier League and went 3-0 with a 2.63 ERA (7 ER/24.0 IP) and 41 strikeouts over his last 4 outings with the club…in his last start on July 9, James tossed a 7.0-inning no-hitter with 14 strikeouts vs. Traverse City.
LHP Martire Garcia promoted to Frisco from Myrtle Beach.
