Results tagged ‘ Round Rock Express ’
Prospect Uniformed: Rangers Shortstop Jurickson Profar with Spokane, Hickory and Frisco
You know who this guy is. You saw him in Prospect Flashback. Now…
Here is Profar at Class A Short-Season Spokane (2010), Class A Hickory (2011) and Double-A Frisco (2012) in advance of potentially his first assignment to Triple-A Round Rock, where would begin but perhaps not stay too long this month. Click on any picture to begin a slideshow. For all past editions of Prospect Uniformed, head here.
Interview Outtakes: Rangers Slugging Prospect Mike Olt Answers Five Questions About Playing The Hot Corner
(Alex Yocum-Beeman/Frisco RoughRiders)
MiLB.com will soon publish the fourth part of my nine-part series on top-ranked prospects who are also top-rated defenders. The piece focuses on Rangers slugger Mike Olt (bio, stats here), the second-ranked third base prospect in all of baseball. In terms of interview extras — answers that didn’t make it into the story but are significant nonetheless — see below. Enjoy.
On his adjustment from college to pros defensively in 2010: “It took me a while in [Class A Short-Season] Spokane to get the feel of a wood bat every day. You deal with hot summer days and the ball coming off aluminum bats [in college], and your first reaction is different with a wood bat. Once I got adjusted to that, same deal. The [Rangers] wanted to make sure everything was correct form-wise and they liked what they saw.”
On his strengths as a third baseman in 2013: “What I take pride in is I’ve gotten a lot better at [fielding] slow rollers and in-between [hops], hard-hit balls with short hops — those are plays that came easy, but I worked a lot to get better at.”
On what he needs to improve at third: “Cutting down my path to the ball, trying to cut some distance. Sometimes I can get a little bit lazy and sit back on a ball instead of really attacking it, so that’s something I always have to keep working on. That just comes with my instincts of reading the ball off the bat.”
On watching incumbent Adrian Beltre play the position in 2012 and this spring: “He makes everything look easy. He makes tough, tough plays look easy. He does it everyday. He’s very consistent, and that’s what makes him a good baseball player. He’s very controlled. He doesn’t try to hurry throws. Everything he does is smooth, and that’s something I have tried to incorporate, because when I got up to [Texas], things kind of got rushed a little bit, so now it’s really just slowing the game.”
(Alex Yocum-Beeman/Frisco RoughRiders)
On learning other positions with Beltre blocking him: “Last year, my main focus was third base because that’s where I knew I was going. I knew I was going to [Double-A] Frisco, playing third base. Now this year, my focus is working on my weaknesses [at first base and right field]. I’m going to continue to work at third base, but I’m definitely going to put more effort into learning other positions and being more versatile. I would love to play third base full-time, but I’ll be ready for whatever happens.”
Lost and Found: Rangers Prospect Barret Loux
Lost: When I was a pup reporter covering the D-backs in 2010, details were hard to come by regarding why Arizona drafted Texas A&M’s Barret Loux sixth overall in June then cast him aside in July. We learned this: After agreeing in principle to sign for $2 million, Loux failed his physical with tearing in his labrum and question marks about his elbow.
Found: Long story made shorter, Loux was made a free agent and latched on with his home-state Rangers. He rested that much-maligned right arm over the winter, then performed solidly in his first pro season. Then, at age 23, he was even better in his second.
2011: 8-5 W-L, 3.80 ERA and 127-to-34 K-to-BB ratio in 109 IP spanning 21 G at Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach
2012: 14-1 W-L, 3.47 ERA and 100-to-41 K-to-BB ratio in 127 IP spanning 25 G at Double-A Frisco
So Loux was lost, now he is found. Now, about the Rangers’ returns: A very superficial look at the numbers — his complete player page is here — shows that Loux’s repertoire didn’t make the jump with him to the Texas League. Yes, he won his first 10 starts (and his first 11 decisions) on his way to being named the circuit’s Pitcher of the Year… but while his inning total was +18, his strikeout total was -27. Of his fastball, changeup, curve, and slider, scouts see four pitches that, at their peak, are merely average. Still, average pitchers with average stuff have carved out important roles in the Majors. Will Loux follow suit? His ability to keep the ball both in the strike zone and the yard bodes well. He’ll turn 24 the week of next year’s Opening Day and will be facing the arduous Pacific Coast League for the first time. This blog estimates that he comes out fine on the other side — but as nothing more than a rotation’s fourth starter and, perhaps more likely, as a middle reliever. So there’s no way to fault the D-backs — or the Rangers — in the case of the seemingly recovered Loux.
2013: ??? at Triple-A Round Rock
Shawn E. Davis/MiLB.com
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