Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (7/6)

Back in April, a Rangers minor league blogger posed this question: Who is Mike Bianucci?

Bianucci as an Auburn Tiger

Now, more than two months later, most Rangers fans probably still couldn’t answer it. But that may be about to change. Bianucci was an 8th round pick by the Rangers in the 2008 draft after hitting 27 homers and driving in 96 runs over his final two seasons at Auburn. He made his pro debut in Spokane last year, posting an impressive line of .316/.386/.535 in 114 at bats. He was rewarded with a promotion to Class-A Hickory to start the year, where he has absolutely tortured South Atlantic League pitchers. A three-run homer yesterday (his 15th in 260 at bats) raised his OPS to a tidy 1.001 and the Rangers finally promoted him to Advanced-A Bakersfield. Bianucci has never been considered an elite prospect, but neither were Ian Kinsler or Chris Davis until they performed so well they became impossible to ignore. And if Bianucci keeps hitting like this, he’ll be hard to ignore for much longer.

Triple-A:

Game 1 – @ Oklahoma City 3, Omaha 2

The first game of the doubleheader was quiet at the onset. Rehabbing CF Josh Hamilton’s double in the bottom of the 4th was the first hit for either team and neither side scored until the 7th. The RedHawks sent a trio of veteran pitchers to the mound against the Royals, as 30-year-old RHP Willie Eyre (4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K) and 35-year-old RHP Bryan Corey (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K) both pitched brilliantly to no-hit Omaha through six. But it was 43-year-old RHP Orlando Hernandez who got the win despite allowing the Royals only two runs in two innings of relief.

Hamilton added a triple to his double for a 2-4 game and 1B Justin Smoak, hitting cleanup in his triple-A debut, struck out his first two times up but singled in the 7th and scored the tying run on a Casey Benjamin sac fly.

Game 2 – Omaha 4, @ Oklahoma City 1

The second leg was another low-scoring affair, but it got all it’s runs out of the way early. RHP Josh Rupe (4 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 BB) continued to struggle as a stater, raising his triple-A ERA to 6.92 and dropping to a 1-6 record. RHP Neftali Feliz (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) pitched for the first time since July 1, throwing two perfect innings out of the bullpen.

RedHawk bats managed six walks but only five hits, as 3B Esteban German recorded 60 percent his team’s base knocks with 3 singles. German is hitting .321 in 277 at bats. 1B Justin Smoak went 0-2 but walked twice and scored Oklahoma City’s lone run on a CF Greg Golson sac fly in the 2nd. DH Josh Hamilton was hitless but also walked in his final rehab game.

Double-A: Postponed due to rain. They’ll play two tonight.

Advanced-A: Stockton 5, @ Bakersfield 1

LHP Richard Bleier (7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K) continued his run of good starts with another solid performance, but three of the six hits he allowed went for extra bases and he earned his fifth loss of the year. LHP Corey Young (1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 1K), who entered the game having allowed just seven earned runs in 34 innings, struggled with his command and pitched the Blaze out of the game in the 8th.

Bakersfield could only muster four hits against Stockton’s pitching staff, and none went for extra bases. 1B Ian Gac had the Blaze’s lone RBI with a groundout that scored LF Jonathan Greene in the 6th.

Class-A: @ Hickory 9, Hagerstown 7

LHP Martin Perez, who turned 18 just three months ago, is very quickly becoming the Rangers’ top pitching prospect. When he took the mound yesterday against the Hagerstown Suns, he allowed a solo homer to the second batter he faced. He responded by striking out four straight and retiring seven in a row overall, not counting a runner that reached on an error. Perez finished his day having allowed just three hits, one walk, one run, and fanning eight in five innings. Oh yeah, and he throws a mid-90s fastball, a plus curveball, and has the makings of a plus change.

RHP Cody Eppley got the save despite allowing five runs in three innings of relief. RF Mike Bianucci went 1-2 with a three-run homer in his final game for Hickory. 3B Matt West and LF Cristian Santana each drove in a pair of runs and Santana stole his second base of the season to help Hickory to its fifth straight win.

Short Season-A: @ Spokane 4, Vancouver 0

Despite the impressive outing from Perez a level higher, the most dominating outing by a Ranger prospect came from ’08 2nd rounder Robbie Ross. Ross, a lefty who turned 20 two weeks ago, struck out a season-high ten batters while allowing four baserunners and no runs in five innings. But the Ks were a continuing trend for Ross, who’s fanned 34 batters in 20.1 innings, giving him a K/9 ratio just a tick over 15. Righty relievers Kyle O’Campo and Justin King also fared well, combining to allow one hit and strikeout five in four innings.

The game was tied 0-0 until CF Cody Podraza and C Vincent DiFazio each hit two-run homers in the bottom of the 8th.  2nd round pick Tommy Mendonca continued his slow start, going 0-3 with 2 Ks, though he walked once.

Rookie: @ AZL Angels 18, AZL Rangers 3

This game was ugly and didn’t waste much time in getting there. RHP Ezequiel Rio (2 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 2 BB) couldn’t even make it to the 3rd before the game got out of hand. The bullpen faired slightly better, but still allowed 10 runs over the next six innings.

The Rangers’ 1 through 4 hitters combined to go 1-18 with a single and eight strikeouts. 3B Ed Koncel’s two-run homer in the 4th was a rare bright spot in a game that saw the Rangers pummeled by the Angels in every facet of the game. Here’s hoping that’s not a preview of what’s to come tonight in Anaheim.