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Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (5/16)

Neil Ramirez, Joe Wieland, Robbie Ross, Carlos Melo, Richard Alvarez, Geuris Grullon, Juan Grullon, Eziquiel Rijo, Miggy De Los Santos, Guillermo Pimentel (the one Texas already has), Leury Garcia, Tomas Telis and Cristian Santana haven’t even played yet.

Think about that.

Triple-A: @ Oklahoma City 3, Portland 2

The RedHawks jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after two innings and held on as the bullpen delivered five innings of one-run ball after taking over for a sloppy-but-lucky RHP Luis Mendoza (1.93 ERA) who surrendered one run on three hits and five walks and a wild pitch through the first four.

LF Julio Borbon (.277 / .333 / .340) doubled and scored in the first inning before going on to post a 3-for-4 performance while SS Joaquin Arias and CF Brandon Boggs (.261 / .397 / .315) each went 2-for-4.

RHP Warner Madrigal (1.65 ERA) recorded his third save for Oklahoma City, fanning two in a perfect ninth. Madrigal has a K/9 over 10, a K/BB over 3.00 and a WHIP below 1.00 over his last 10 outings, spanning 12.2 innings.

Double-A: @ Corpus Christi 7, Frisco 2

RHP Clayton Hamilton (0-2; 3.68) gave up six runs, five earned, on nine hits through five and the Riders bats were silenced. C Manny Pina (.400 / .452 / .600) belted a solo shot, his fifth homer of the year, in a 1-for-4 effort and 3B Adam Fox went 2-for-3 giving Frisco their only multi-hit performance.

Corpus ran out LHP Polin Trinidad and 1B Justin Smoak (.339 / .461 / .516) went hitless in four trips. Not a coincidence. Smoak is hitting just .216 / .256 / .297 against Texas League southpaws.

Advanced-A: @ Visalia 7, Bakersfield 4

The Rawhide got to starter RHP Kennil Gomez (1-3; 5.73) for six runs on six hits in five innings. 2B Matt Lawson (.306 / .346 / .452) led the Blaze lineup with a homer, a walk and an RBI sac fly in four trips.

CF Engel Beltre (.227 / .277 / .320) went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a walk from the two hole, where he is hitting .318 / .375 / .500 (as opposed to .208 / .257 / .283 as the leadoff man). More than halfway through May, Beltre is hitting .342 / .405 / .447 during the month.

Class-A: Lake County 8 @ Hickory 7 (12 Innings)

The Crawdads lost when RHP Mark Hamburger (1-3; 2.40) surrendered a run on two hits in 1.2 innings of relief. RHP Jake Brigham (3.67 ERA) had second straight somewhat rough outing — five runs, three earned, on five hits, a walk and two plunks, but punching out six in four innings — after beginning the year with five dominant outings. Sleepers CF David Paisano and SS Jacob Kaase each went 3-for-6.

That out of they way, let’s get to the important stuff. LHP Martin Perez (2.84 ERA) allowed two runs on four hits and a walk, striking out five in as many innings.

Perez has a K/9 of 10.39. His K/BB is 3.6. His WHIP is 0.98. He’s holding Sally League hitters to a .191 batting average and righties are hitting just .169 / .214 / .325 against him. He’s allowed just two homers and gets 1.55 grounders for every fly ball. When opponents somehow manage to maneuver a runner into scoring position, Perez holds their hitters to a .125 / .148 / .208 line.

Having turned 18 one week before the season started, Perez is the youngest pitcher in the league and the third youngest player in a league where the average age is over 22. He’s officially too good to be true.