Rangers hitters on the farm hit a bit today

It’s a rebuilding year, so we should pay more attention to the farm than the major league team anyway, right?

Getting the pitchers out of the way first, John King made his high-A debut today and did well. 6 IP, 2 walks, 1 K, 1 run allowed, 54 strikes out of 81 pitches. Obviously, even though he’s a ground ball guy, you’d like more Ks, but hey, 1 run in 6 innings is 1 run in 6 innings. Demarcus Evans struck out 2 in 2 IP in relief of King, walking 2 unintentionally and 1 intentionally but allowing no runs, lowering his ERA to 1.15. I think we will see Evans in Frisco at some point this year, but his control hasn’t been as sharp as it was last year, and the team will likely want to see some improvement there before moving him to AA.

Anyway, the bats. That’s where there’s more fun lines today. Down East played two today, and combined, Leody Taveras went 3 for 8 with a homer, bringing his OPS up to 812 for the season, which I will take from a 20 year old plus defensive CF in high-A. Anderson Tejeda went 3 for 7 with and HBP and a home run, and despite a bad recent slump, has a 789 OPS. Sam Huff went 2 for 6 and has a 946 OPS since moving to the Carolina League.

Hickory got blown out, but Sherten Apostel, who has scuffled in his full season debut, picked up a double. Jonathan Ornelas played both outfield and shortstop today and homered in 5 plate appearances — he is now sporting an 881 OPS.

Frisco shortstop Michael Deleon has 3 hits today and is now slashing .299/.357/.359. He’s a quality defensive shortstop, and while it seems like he’s been around forever, he’s still just 22.

And for Nashville, Zach Granite, Delino DeShields, Willie Calhoun and Carlos Tocci all had two hit days. Calhoun is now slashing .294/.408/.550. His time is coming, soon.