Rangers' best prospect performers of the week
Here’s a look at the top performances of the past week by Rangers prospects in the Minor Leagues:
Friday, Sept. 13: Hickory falls short in SAL championship
Class A Hickory just couldn’t come up with enough offense to extend the South Atlantic League finals and ultimately lost to Lexington in four games.
The Crawdads needed a win in Game 4 to take the series to a decisive fifth game, but lost 3-1 in walk-off fashion on Friday night.
Pedro Gonzalez, who hit a career-high 23 homers during the regular season, provided all of Hickory’s offense with a solo homer in the seventh inning. The Crawdads also received strong pitching performances from four pitchers -- Jesus Linarez, Hever Bueno, Kelvin Gonzalez and Tyree Thompson -- who combined to fan 11 over 12 2/3 innings. Friday's prospect stats »
Thursday, Sept. 12: Crawdads stay alive in South Atlantic League finals
The Hickory Crawdads staved off elimination in the South Atlantic League Championship Series on Thursday with a 5-1 victory over Lexington in Game 3 of the best-of-five finals.
Hickory struck first via Tyreque Reed’s RBI single in the third inning, and center fielder Miguel Aparicio added to the Crawdads’ lead with a two-run home run in the fourth. Reed hit a solo homer in the seventh, and then drove in his third run of the game in the ninth via a sacrifice fly to finish 3-for-4.
Ricky Vanasco (the Rangers' No. 25 prospect) paced the Crawdads on the mound by tossing 3 2/3 hitless frames. The 20-year-old right-hander was cruising before experiencing control problems in the fourth inning, when he issued three straight walks to load the bases after recording two quick outs. The Legends were unable to capitalize on the scoring opportunity, though, and Vanasco finished his outing with four walks and six strikeouts.
Jaxx Biggers scored two runs and reached base three times as part of a 2-for-4 performance. 2017 third-round pick Matt Whatley also reached three times, going 2-for-3 with a walk.
Nick Synder closed out the Crawdads’ win by tossing two perfect innings with three strikeouts. Thursday's prospect stats »
Tuesday, Sept. 10: Hickory down 0-2 in SAL finals
Class A Hickory’s offense mustered just three hits as it fell to Lexington, 7-0, in Game 2 of the best-of-five South Atlantic League finals.
Rangers No. 4 prospect Cole Winn, the club’s first-round pick (No. 15 overall) from the 2018 Draft, allowed four runs on six hits but still managed to complete five innings in his first postseason start. He threw 60 of 93 pitches for strikes, striking out six and walking three in the outing.
Pedro Gonzalez was the Crawdads’ lone offensive standout, going 1-for-2 with a double and two walks. Matt Whaley and Kole Enright recorded the team’s other two hits (both singles).
After dropping the first two games of the series, Hickory will need to win the next three games to claim the South Atlantic League title. Tuesday's prospect stats »
Monday, Sept. 9: Hickory falls short in Game 1
Ronny Henriquez, the Rangers’ No. 19 prospect, put together a quality start, but it wasn’t enough as Class A Hickory fell, 6-4, to Lexington in Game 1 of the South Atlantic League Championship Series. Henriquez, who pitched to a 4.50 ERA over 82 innings during the regular season, threw 52 of his 74 pitches for strikes and gave up two runs over six innings. The right-hander, whom the Rangers signed in 2017, also struck out seven and issued just one walk. Hickory will host Game 2 on Tuesday before the series shifts to Lexington for the remainder of the best-of-five series. Monday's prospect stats »
Saturday, Sept. 7: Apostel homers twice in playoff doubleheader
Sherten Apostel launched the first of his two homers of the day, a two-run home run in the first inning for Down East, which squeaked out a 5-4 walk-off win over Fayetteville in Game 3 of their Class A Advanced Carolina League semifinals. The Rangers’ No. 10 prospect went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and added a walk in the first half of Saturday’s doubleheader, which put Down East up 2-1 in the series. No. 2 prospect Sam Huff (No. 75 in MLB) went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and an RBI and Yohel Pozo ended things in the bottom of the eighth with the walk-off single.
Down East dropped Game 2 of the doubleheader, which evened up the series at two games apiece and sets up a deciding Game 5 on Sunday. Apostel connected on his second home run of the day, going 1-for-2 with a walk, but Down East only managed five hits as a team. Saturday's prospect stats »