Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (6/17)

Posted on June 17th, 2009 6:17am by Mike Hindman
Filed under Baseball, Farm Report, Rangers prospects, Texas Rangers
Tim Smith with Clinton in 2008

Tim Smith with Clinton in 2008

Back in the early 90′s Rusty Greer came up through the Rangers system with a bunch of high-ceiling toolsy athletes like Terrell Lowery, Benji Gil, Desi Wilson, and Donald Harris. Nobody thought that Greer — whose arm was so suspect that they hid him at first base — would be the one guy in that group who would become a star in the majors.

Frisco LF Tim Smith reminds me a great deal of Greer. Aside from being a guy who outperforms ostensibly more talented players, he is a guy with an outstanding approach at the plate from the left side, enough power to hurt you, decent speed and a suspect arm (the result of a forearm injury in college that he didn’t rehab properly).

It’s clear now that Smith is going to hit against anybody, anywhere. He hit .459 in two years at Midland College and .333 in his one season at Arizona State. Last year with Clinton, he hit .300 / .359 / .450, ranking among the Midwest League’s top-10 in each category and finishing the season as the Midwest League’s hottest hitter in August, going .330 / .361 / .571.

This year, Smith picked up right were he left off in 2008. The Canadian hit .333 / .413 / .475 in 120 at-bats for Bakersfield before earning a promotion to Frisco two weeks ago. Since arriving in the Texas League, it’s been more of the same. After last night’s 2-for-4 outing that included a couple of walks, Smith is hitting .333 / .375 / .429 in 11 games for the RoughRiders.

In most systems, Smith’s production would make him a top-15 or 20 prospect, but here he’s mostly overlooked. He shouldn’t be.

Triple-A: Iowa 6 @ Oklahoma City 2

RHP Neftali Feliz (3-5; 4.04) faced one over the minimum through five shutout frames, surrendered one on a pair of doubles in the sixth and then gave up three more in the seventh before he could record the second out of the inning. The 21 year old left, having surrendered four runs on eight hits, no walks, one wild pitch and three strikeouts in six innings of work.

CF Julio Alberto Borbon (.301 / .358 / .371) delivered his 23rd multi-hit performance of the year, going 2-for-4 with a walk and his 18th stolen base of the year from the top of the RedHawks order. SS Joaquin Arias (.235 / .262 / .274) went 3-for-4 and drove in a run.

Double-A: Frisco 15 @ Midland 6

C Chris Gradoville (.250 / .284 / .281) led the RoughRiders’ 17-hit barrage with a 4-for-5 outing that resulted in three RBIs as his batterymate LHP Mike Ballard (1-3; 5.40) earned the victory by limiting the RockHounds to a pair of runs on seven hits and a walk through six.

SS Renny Osuna (.232 / .328 / .232) drove in three runs in a 2-for-5 performance while RF Mitch Moreland and 1B Chad Tracy each went 2-for-5 with a walk to drive in a run and LF Tim Smith (.333 / .375 / .429) went 2-for-4 with a pair of walks to drive in one while scoring three times.

Advanced-A: @ Lake Elsinore 8, Bakersfield 2

RHP Kennil Gomez (2-6; 4.92) gave up six runs, five earned, on eight hits and four walks, fanning four. Gomez, who has one of the liveliest fastballs in the system, is tied for sixth in the Cal League with 73 strikeouts this year (in 67.2 innings).

DH Eric Fry (.200 / .273 / .450 in five Cal League games) went doubled and tripled in four trips. CF Engel Beltre (.217 / .269 / .308 overall and .136 / .164 / .186 in June) went 1-for-5.

Class-A: @ Greensboro 5, Hickory 1

The Grasshoppers jumped on starter RHP Jake Brigham (2-3; 4.28) for three runs on four hits and no walks through the first four, during which Brigham fanned five.

Then they had to deal with Martin (2.91 ERA) for two innings. They got a single off him and drew two walks. And struck out six times. Perez is averaging 10.68 strikeouts per nine innings.

2B Jake Kaase (.264 / .308 / .421) went 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once from the top of the Hickory order.

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9 Comments to “Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (6/17)”
  • rob m. @ June 17th, 2009 at 8:22 am

    Mike. Didn’t you also say Max Ramirez would hit anywhere? :)

  • Bennie @ June 17th, 2009 at 8:38 am

    When Max is healthy he will hit anywhere.

  • David @ June 17th, 2009 at 8:46 am

    Not a bad outing for Neftali … I am concerned about the big dip in K’s this year though, and obviously his lack of a third pitch.

  • dave @ June 17th, 2009 at 9:07 am

    I think a cutter or slider would be a nice addition to Neftali’s repertoire.

  • utb @ June 17th, 2009 at 10:17 am

    Good work Mike.

    I’m happy to see that Borbon is beginning to work some walks into his game. The spread between his BA and OBP is widening and that’s a very positive development.

  • jb @ June 17th, 2009 at 10:22 am

    I now that minor league team wins and losses really don’t mean anything, but with the best farm system in baseball, you would think at least one of the rangers minor league affiliates would have a winning record.

    Mike, are you concerned with this at all?

  • scooper @ June 17th, 2009 at 12:48 pm

    @jb: one of the things about having the most talent in your minor league system is that you “test” or “challenge” your young players. The average age of most of our teams is below league average. Our “stars” are among the youngest in each of their leagues. It is not unusual for them to struggle when moving up in competition. Things should get better as the season progresses (although I’m more concerned with development than wins and losses).

  • Jackson @ June 17th, 2009 at 4:01 pm

    If Tim Smith can hit against anybody, anywhere, then he needs to be in Arlington where we have a roster filled with too many players who haven’t hit against anybody all year.

  • Da Blade @ June 18th, 2009 at 10:57 am

    Hindman, at some point before the All-Star break, please post your top 25 prospects in the Rangers system. The main reason is to see who is tradeable and who is not prior to the trade deadline. (Plus, I love lists!) Thanks.