TL1 Frisco RoughRiders

Riders Game Notes - 11:00 at Midland RockHounds - May 17, 2016

Published on May 17, 2016 under Texas League (TL1)
Frisco RoughRiders News Release


Riders: RHP Yu Darvish (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

RockHounds: RHP Joey Wagman (---, -.-- ERA)

Today's game can be heard on the RoughRiders Radio Network at Ridersbaseball.com/media, online and on mobile devices via TuneIn Radio, or on the MiLB First Pitch App. The Dr Pepper Pregame Show with Ryan Rouillard begins at 10:25 p.m. prior to the first pitch at 11:00 a.m. with game coverage from Nathan Barnett and Steve Goldberg. Today's Dr Pepper Pregame Show guest is RoughRiders infielder Garrett Weber.

LAST TIME OUT:

Erasing an early deficit, the RoughRiders scored three runs in the third inning, two unearned, to move ahead for good...RYAN CORDELL hit a solo homer in the eighth to put Frisco ahead by a pair, and JOSE LECLERC shut the door in the ninth for the save, despite a near-game-ending fly out for the final out...REED GARRETT tossed five innings and allowed just two runs, only one of which was earned, on two hits and a pair of walks for his first win...CODY PALMQUIST faced the minimum in three innings, allowing only a single.

YU READY FOR DARVISH?:

Right-handed pitcher YU DARVISH re-joins the Riders today as he continues his Major League rehabilitation assignment. The three-time American League All-Star is slated to throw five innings or about 75 pitches in his fourth Minor League start (second with Frisco).

BUSH IN THE BIGS:

After being on the Riders roster from Opening Day until Thursday, Matt Bush was promoted straight to the Major Leagues on Friday. The right-handed pitcher has worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings for the Texas Rangers in two relief appearances against the Toronto Blue Jays.

STARTING SERIES STRONG:

With a win last night, the Riders now have a 9-2 record in series openers this year. The only two blemishes were one-run defeats, in last Saturday's 4-3 loss to Midland and Thursday's 6-5 loss to Corpus Christi. The Riders have won six of their first 10 series, including two sweeps of Northwest Arkansas and San Antonio.

RIDING INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS:

Frisco's 24-12 record is the best through 36 games in team history, one game ahead of the 2008 RoughRiders who were 23-13 at this point. The 2008 squad finished with an 84-56 record and lost to Arkansas in the Texas League championship series.

GOING STREAKING:

RYAN CORDELL has been off to a great start in 2016, including a Texas League Player of the Week and Player of the Month honor. Although his 17-game hitting streak came to an end May 2, he continued his on-base streak to an MiLB-leading 35 games Monday and reached twice in the win. Dating back to the final three games of 2015, he has reached base in 38 straight contests.

VIEW FROM THE TOP:

In addition to Cordell's impressive on-base streak, he also leads the Texas League in numerous categories. With a solo home run in the eighth inning yesterday, Cordell passed Midland's Matt Chapman for the league lead in home runs (10) and Ryon Healy for the lead in RBI (35). Cordell also tops the the league in runs scored (31) and leads all of Minor League Baseball in slugging percentage (.719).

STRIKEOUT FEVER:

After striking out 180 hitters in the first 23 games (7.8 SO/9 IP), Riders pitching has amassed 113 punchouts in the last 13 games (8.7 per game). In addition, three starters have set career-highs in single-game strikeouts recently (VICTOR PAYANO, 13; SAM WOLFF, 10; CONNOR SADZECK, 9).

BULLING DOWN THE HOUNDS:

While Midland has found some success scoring early, the Riders bullpen has made the going tough late in games. In the first five games against the Hounds, Riders relievers have combined to allow just three runs on 12 hits in 23 innings (1.17 ERA), while walking just five and striking out 23. On the season, the Riders bullpen holds a 2.34 ERA.

HOW SWEEP IT ISN'T:

After losing all four games to Corpus Christi in the last series, the RoughRiders were swept for the first time this season. It was the first time Frisco had been swept since losing three games to Midland in the final series of last year (September 5-7).

CUT THEM SOME SLACK:

Reliever RYNE SLACK saw an impressive stretch come to an end in the eighth inning of Saturday's game. The southpaw began the season with 14 1/3 scoreless innings between April 8 and May 8 until the Hooks finally tagged him for two runs yesterday. Going into last night, Slack had also not allowed a hit in 11 2/3 innings of work. His .068 opposing average is still the best in the Texas League.

"ONE"-DERFUL IN CLOSE GAMES:

Despite leading the Texas League in run differential (+40), Frisco has played in 11 one-run contests, winning seven, over the last 19 games. The Riders have an 8-5 record in games decided by one run this year and are 4-1 in games decided by two runs.

HOME IS WHERE THE 'PEN IS:

Right-handed pitcher JOSE LECLERC has made a marked improvement since transitioning from the starting rotation to the bullpen. Leclerc had an ERA of 7.88 in two starts but has allowed just two earned runs in 12.0 innings of relief, good for a 1.50 ERA.

KINER CAN CATCH:

RoughRiders utility man ISIAH KINER-FALEFA has found a new skillset, and it comes from behind the plate. The 21-year-old is catching for the first time in his career this season, having made seven starts behind the plate. The new position has worked incredibly well for Kiner-Falefa, who has caught the last four baserunners who have attempted to steal on his watch. He had not allowed a passed ball for the first five games until allowing one in the first game of Friday's doubleheader.

RANGER DANGER:

The RoughRiders aren't the only Rangers affiliate with a winning record. Overall, the Rangers farm system is 94-54 (.635), which is the second-best winning percentage among all Minor League systems behind Cleveland. Every full-season affiliate in the organization won yesterday and has a record above .500, good for first-place in their respective divisions, as Class A-Advanced High Desert enters the day at 26-12, Class A Hickory is 25-12, and Triple-A Round Rock is 19-18. Round Rock was recently ranked the fifth-best Minor League team (any level) by MLB.com's Jim Callis.

TOP OF THE CLASS:

The RoughRiders enter the season with six players ranked in either Baseball America or MLBPipeline.com's Rangers Top 30 Prospects. LEWIS BRINSON, the No. 2 prospect in Rangers' farm system according to MLBPipeline.com and Baseball America, returns to Frisco. He appeared in 28 games for the Riders last season, hitting .291 with six home runs and 23 RBI before being promoted to Round Rock. Brinson is joined by five other players named in the lists- RYAN CORDELL (No. 15 in MLB, No. 11 in BA), RONALD GUZMAN (23, 29), JOSE LECLERC (25, 21), SAM WOLFF (26, NR), and CONNOR SADZECK (27, 26).

OPPOSING STARTER:

Signed by the Oakland Athletics as a free agent to a Minor League contract on July 30, 2014, Joey Wagman makes his 2016 RockHounds debut today...The right-hander made one appearance for Midland a year ago but spent most of the season in A-ball...Wagman was originally selected by the Chicago White Sox out of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in the 17th round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft, but was released on April 9, 2014...The Athletics signed Wagman after he spent 12 games, 11 starts, with the Rockford Aviators of the independent Frontier League...He offers a four-pitch mix, throwing an 87-88 mph fastball, curveball, slider, and a changeup

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Texas League Stories from May 17, 2016


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