Texas Rangers Minor League Top Performances of June

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Mar 21, 2015; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers right fielder

Nomar Mazara

(43) beats the tag of Milwaukee Brewers catcher

Martin Maldonado

(12) to score a run at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Rangers minor league system received a lot of praise entering 2015. It was widely considered a top 10 system with players such as Joey Gallo at the top of the list and many others that were ready to contribute at the big league level. While many have moved on to the majors as contributors this season, many more players remain behind and are still searching for their big break. While there are names that many people might know like Nick Williams and Luis Ortiz, there are other talented players who are performing at a high level.

Baseball fans today are paying more and more attention to the minor league teams and looking at future players for their team. With so many affiliates and so many players in a minor league system, it can be difficult to keep track of each of the team’s minor league best performances. Today, we are going to take a look at the best hitting and pitching performances from June for the top three farm teams.

Next: Round Rock Express

Triple-A Round Rock Express

Mar 8, 2015; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers left fielder Michael Choice (15) swings the bat against the Cleveland Indians during to a spring training baseball game at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Batter

After spending just one game with the big league club and striking out in his only at-bat, Michael Choice was sent back down to the Express to make room for another pitcher. The Rangers have a large number of MLB ready talent in the outfield and Choice is a casualty of this depth.

Choice started off the season slow, hitting .206/.275/.365 in April and followed it with a .222/.286/.378 slash in May. Choice finally turned it on in June and has made himself a potential replacement for this team if they needed an outfielder. Choice has hit .315/.358/.461 with nine extra base hits and 17 RBI in 95 plate appearances in June.

Even after his great month, Choice is hitting .249/.306/.400 with 23 extra base hits and 36 RBI for the season. With the injuries being suffered by the Rangers this season, the team needs as much talented depth as possible. Choice is nearly two years younger than the rest of the Pacific Coast League so the success he is having is a good sign. At just 25-years-old, fans would be smart not to give up on Choice as a potential role player in the future.

Mar 2, 2015; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff (56) poses for a portrait during Photo Day at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Pitcher

It was a busy month for starter Jerad Eickhoff, who started in six games and pitched 34 innings. He finished with a 2-0 record and a 2.65 ERA, striking out 31 while walking just 11. Eickhoff put up two shutout performances, with a six inning shutout performance and a two inning shutout five days later. In his last start on Tuesday, Eickhoff gave up four runs over 7.0 innings but struck out 10 batters without giving up a walk.

Eickhoff improved his season ERA from 5.48 to 4.55 with a great stretch in June. After 13 starts with the Express, Eickhoff has a 6-3 record with a 4.23 ERA in 76.2 innings. Eickhoff is in his fifth season with the Rangers since being drafted in the 15th round and is trying to find a spot in what is going to soon be a young, crowded rotation.

Solid performances from the bullpen came from Luke Jackson (2.13 ERA in 12.2 innings), Jimmy Reyes (0.77 ERA in 11.2 innings), and Francisco Mendoza (1.74 ERA in 10.1 innings).

Next: Frisco Roughriders

Double-A Frisco RoughRiders

May 17, 2015; Frisco, Tx, USA; A general view of Dr. Pepper Ballpark during the game between the Corpus Christi Hooks and the Frisco RoughRiders. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Batter

Drafted in the 4th round of the 2010 MLB Draft, infielder Drew Robinson has continued to show off his ability to reach base and his power. Robinson had his best hitting numbers for a single month so far this season, hitting .250/.406/.583 with seven home runs in in 25 games. While Robinson struck out 25 times in his 106 plate appearances, he managed to walk 19 times which is the reason for his high on-base percentage.

For the season, Robinson is now hitting .232/.373/.476 with 15 home runs and 44 RBI in 306 plate appearances. He has shown a lot of improvement from his time in AA and AAA last year where he combined to hit .198/.288/.376 with 12 home runs in his 407 plate appearances. In 100 less plate appearances, Robinson has drawn 10 more walks and has 57 less strikeouts.

At just 23 years old, Robinson still has time to show more improvement at the plate and could end up providing depth for a team that has been turning out top middle infielders prospects every year. If Robinson continues to hit like this he will be making his second appearance in Round Rock and will look to repeat the success he had in June.

Robinson was named the Texas League Offensive Player of the Week on MiLB.com for his performance last week for hitting .409/.480/.818.

Honorable Mention: Nomar Mazara hit .272/.333/.565 with seven home runs and 21 RBI in 25 games. Mazara will remain at the center of trade conversations for the remainder of the month with performances like he had this month.

Pitcher

With the graduation of Chi Chi Gonzalez to the majors, Jake Thompson has taken over as the top pitching prospect in the Rangers’ farm system. Thompson had a 10-5 record with a 3.12 ERA in 129.2 innings in 2014. He has followed that up with a 6-5 record and a 3.77 ERA in 74 innings so far in 2015. Batters are hitting .264/.333/.378 off him this season and he has given up just four home runs in 320 plate appearances.

In the month of June, Thompson had a 1-2 record but managed a 2.95 ERA in 21.1 innings over his four starts. His best start of the month came against the Tulsa Drillers on June 6 when he gave up just one run on seven hits across seven innings. Thompson has pitched in 14 games this season and kept a solid workload, having pitched over 85 pitches in eight of his last 10 games and has pitched over 100 pitches twice.

Thompson was part of what has been a great trade for the Texas Rangers. The Rangers gave up Joakim Soria in exchange for Thompson and Corey Knebel who was later used in a trade to acquire Yovani Gallardo, the Rangers best pitcher this season. Thompson will likely make an appearance in Round Rock this season and then start 2016 with them with hopes of making his first major league appearance by the end of 2016 as part of a rotation that could consist of Yu Darvish, Derek Holland, Martin Perez, and Gonzalez.

Next: High Desert Mavericks

Class-A Advanced High Desert Mavericks

Mar 3, 2014; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers outfielder Lewis Brinson against the Cleveland Indians in a spring training game at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Batter

Lewis Brinson is in his fourth season since being drafted 29th overall by the Rangers in 2012. Brinson was a top 100 prospect by Baseball Prospectus heading into the 2013 season and followed that up by hitting .237/.322/.427 with 21 home runs and 52 RBI in 122 games. Brinson went unranked in 2014 and responded by hitting .288/.354/.458 with 13 home runs in 89 games across two levels.

Brinson followed up a solid .275/.359/.435 April performance by hitting .304/.387/.554 in 22 games in June. He hit four home runs, drove in 12 runs, and scored 19 runs himself. High-A is the highest level he has been at in his career and will likely continue to climb the ladder at a rapid pace as he continues to develop his bat. Brinson, 21-years-old, is 1.6 years younger than the average player in the California League and is showing everything the team needs to see from him.

Mar 18, 2014; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Ryne Slack pitches in the tenth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Surprise Stadium. The Rangers won 7-6 in ten innings. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Pitcher

The Mavericks had 11 different pitcher pick up a win during the month of June with starting pitchers accounting for just four of those. Of the four starting pitchers with a win, three had just one win while one pitcher had three wins in his four starts. That pitcher with three wins was Richelson Pena who managed a 3-0 record with a 2.49 ERA in 21.2 innings. Pena gave up zero runs in two of his starts during the month and has decreased his overall ERA from 4.98 to 3.83.

The rest of the starting staff’s ERAs for the month were 6.11, 6.48, 7.50, and 6.35 and they combined for a 3-3 record in their 18 starts. Pena is finding success in his first season with the Maveracks and by the end of July will have made more starts than in any of his five seasons in the minors. He needs just 10 more innings to be the most innings he has pitched in a single season. Pena is getting stronger as the season goes on which is a positive sign for a team trying to keep a player as a starter for their whole career.

Honorable Mention: The bullpen for the Mavericks was strong with month, with standout Ryne Slack giving up just three runs in his 19.1 innings for a 1.40 ERA.

Next: Texas Rangers Continue to Fall in FanSided MLB Power Rankings

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