The Frisco RoughRiders have been having a nice season. The Rangers AA affiliate is packed with talent on the pitching and fielding side.
As they get some time off this week, I thought we would look at who has been impressive. We are also going to look at who will probably see a promotion to Round Rock or Arlington.
On a side note, if you have not been out to see the Riders play in 2022, you are really missing out. This team can pitch and also put up a ton of runs quickly.
Frisco Pitchers on the Rise
We’ll start looking at the rotation for the squad. This group has been striking out some opponents at a blistering pace. in 286 innings as a rotation the team has struck out 325 batters. That is 10.22 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched.
Some of the best strikeout guys have been:
Jack Leiter – 11.16 strikeouts per 9 innings
Avery Weems – 10.89 strikeouts per 9 innings
Zak Kent – 9.33 strikeouts per 9 innings
Cole Ragans – 11.47 strikeouts per 9 innings (now at Round Rock)
Cody Bradford – 8.73 strikeouts per 9 innings
Owen White – 9.76 strikeouts per 9 innings
Another nice thing about the rotation is their walks (3.82 per 9 innings).
As they are working on things at this level, the runs are a little high (6.13 runs per 9 innings pitched)
Obviously Leiter and White are not going to see the majors in 2022. Jack could wind up joining Ragans in Round Rock at some point.
Chase Lee was great at Frisco but has struggled at the next level. Nick Starr has a 2.08 ERA in 26 innings. Lucas Jacobsen‘s ERA is 2.45 in 14.2 innings. Triston Polly is posting a 2.92 ERA in 12.1 innings pitched.
At the Plate for the Riders
When talking about Frisco and success at the plate, the first player that comes to mind is Jonathan Ornelas. He is posting a slash line of .323/.370/.459/.829 with 9 homers and 42 RBI.
Blaine Crim has continued his hitting clinic at Frisco posting a slash line of .274/.340/.462/.802 with 13 homers and 52 RBI.
The player everyone has been talking about of late, and for good reason, is Dustin Harris. After a slow start, Dustin is posting a slash line of .261/.349/.468/.817 with 14 homers and 57 RBI.
Other players including J.P. Martinez (.824 OPS), Trey Hair (.835 OPS) and Kellen Strahm (.817 OPS) have also been a huge asset for the Riders.
Who will be Moving On Up?
This is always difficult to predict, as it depends on who the Rangers call up from AAA ball or who is needed in Arlington, but these are players that I think will be on the move soon.
On the offensive side I could see Ornelas, Crim, Foscue and Harris move up to the Express before the season is over. On the pitching side Grant Anderson, Nick Starr, and Ferney Ozuna could be moved soon.
The Second Half
The Riders should be competitive for the remainder of the season, even if they lose some of the players listed above. The Rangers farm system is the best it has ever been.
We still need to see what happens with the draft picks, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see newly drafted pitcher Kumar Rocker join Leiter in the Riders rotation.
Frisco is 45-42 overall for the season. They are 2 games behind the San Antiono Missions for first place in the Texas League South.
This is the minor league team to watch if you are in the DFW area. They are close and they are talented.
The front office staff also do a really fantastic job making the experience fun for fans of every age. Make sure and get out to Frisco sometime during the year to see the Rangers future in action.
