NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Winn, Thompson Earn Double-A Central Recognition

October 6, 2021 - Texas League (TL) - Frisco RoughRiders News Release


FRISCO, Texas - Major League Baseball honored Bubba Thompson and Cole Winn as part of their Double-A Central Postseason All-Star Team on Wednesday. Thompson was named an All-Star as an outfielder while Winn took home the Pitcher of the Year award.

Winn spent the entirety of the 2021 campaign with the RoughRiders before being promoted to Triple-A Round Rock after the conclusion of the Double-A season. With the RoughRiders, the Longmont, Colorado native was one of the best pitchers in all of Minor League Baseball, going 3-3 with a 2.31 ERA over his 19 starts, striking out 97 to 26 walks over 78.0 innings. Where he truly excelled was limiting base runners. Among those who threw at least 70 innings in the minors, his .143 batting average against was the best in baseball while his WHIP (0.82) was third and his ERA was ninth. Including his time in Round Rock, Winn finished the season 4-3 with a 2.41 ERA. Winn is the No.3 overall prospect in the Rangers system by MLB.com while also placing No.60 on MLB.com's top 100 rankings.

Winn is the third RoughRiders pitcher to win Texas League/Double-A Central Pitcher of the Year, joining Blake Beavan (2010) and Barret Loux (2012).

Thompson had the best year of his minor league career, slashing .275/.325/.483 with Frisco. Thompson did his damage primarily from the leadoff spot in the Riders order, and played more games in center field than any player at any other position - except Matt Whatley at catcher (69 games to Thompson's 65). Thompson also found himself all over the Double-A Central leaderboards. He finished the year first in the league triples (nine), tied for first in extra-base hits (48), second in hits (118), tied for fourth in runs (73), fifth in doubles (23), seventh in steals (25) and 10th in slugging percentage (.483). Thompson ended the season as the Rangers No.28 prospect per MLB.com.

The centerfielder is the fifth RoughRiders outfielder to be named a Postseason All-Star in the league, alongside Craig Gentry (2009), Engel Beltre (2012), Nick Williams (2015) and Ryan Cordell (2016).

The rest of the Double-A Central Postseason All-Star Team:

MVP: M.J. Melendez (Northwest Arkansas)

Pitcher of the Year: Cole Winn (Frisco)

Manager of the Year: Ramon Borrego (Wichita)

Top MLB Prospect: Bobby Witt Jr. (Northwest Arkansas)

Catcher: M.J. Melendez (Northwest Arkansas)

First Base: Nick Pratto (Northwest Arkansas)

Second Base: Michael Busch (Tulsa)

Shortstop: Bobby Witt Jr. (Northwest Arkansas)

Third Base: Miguel Vargas (Tulsa)

Outfielder: Stone Garrett (Amarillo)

Outfielder: Bubba Thompson (Frisco)

Outfielder: Julio Rodriguez (Arkansas)

Designated Hitter: Ryan Noda (Tulsa)

Right-Handed Starter: Cole Winn (Frisco)

Left-Handed Starter: Jared Koenig (Midland)

Reliever: Darin Gillies (Arkansas)

For more information about the Frisco RoughRiders, visit RidersBaseball.com or call 972.731.9200.

Check out the Frisco RoughRiders Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Texas League message board...

Texas League Stories from October 6, 2021


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central