As part of a weekly Texas Rangers Minor League summary, SBNDallas will be highlighting some of the most notable (and most forgettable) individual performances for the week. Check out the week 4 entries after the jump.
3 Up
(Myrtle Beach Rotation Edition)
Robert Erlin
14IP, 2H, 2ER, 1BB, 14K
Barret Loux
11.2IP, 8H, 3ER, 2BB, 17K
Joe Wieland
6IP, 2H, 0ER, 0BB, 13K
This trio has absolutely decimated the Carolina league so far, but this last week may have been the most impressive for all three. Erlin's on an absolutely ridiculous streak, giving up 4 hits and 1 walk over his last 21 innings, while striking out 24. Over the course of the young season, he's managed to maintain a ridiculous 0.50 WHIP. I mentioned this in last week's review, but Erlin needs to be challenged with a promotion sooner rather than later.
Unfortunately, Erlin may have to wait until after Joe Wieland gets the call. Wieland is 2nd in the Carolina league in strikeouts, which is no small feat considering he's competing against the likes of Drew Pomeranz (a former Rangers draftee), Jake Odorizzi and, well, his Myrtle Beach teammates. Wieland rebounded nicely from his lone bad start of the season by striking out 13 Potomac Nationals, coming close to the Myrtle Beach single-game record of 14K's set by Braves phenom Julio Teheran.
Many Rangers fans were delighted when Barrett Loux rather fortunately (maybe not for him) fell into their lap and the massive 6'5" 215lb righty has not disappointed so far. Loux's not exactly young for this level (he turned 22 in April), but he and his heavy low 90's FB has maintained an 11 K/9 and a strong groundball ratio so far. As with the other two, it's already starting to look like he needs to be promoted to be properly challenged.
3 Down
Miguel De Los Santos
7.1IP, 14H, 13ER, 5BB, 11K
Miggy De Los Santos was a guy I was quietly optimistic about headed into the season. He struck out an absurd 14 hitters per 9 innings with Hickory last year, and the hope was that the swing-and-miss stuff would carry him through a jump to AA. De Los Santos, to his credit, is still managing to strike hitters out at a fantastic rate, but his control problems (5.4 BB/9) have overshadowed most of the positives so far. Although he features arguably the best secondary pitch in the Rangers' system (a ridiculous change-up that he leans heavily on), De Los Santos has struggled to be consistently effective with any of his other pitches.
Wilfredo Boscan
Demotion to A+ Myrtle Beach
Boscan was promoted after 1 start in Myrtle Beach, and after looking out of his depth for 22 innings with Frisco, was sent right back down. Boscan's been a sleeper prospect for what feels like years, with his excellent command and groundball tendencies being the primary points of interest. However, he has a history of being fairly hittable, and this problem surfaced in a big way with Frisco. This is hardly a deathblow to Boscan's prospect status, but it does represent an unfortunate stumbling block. We'll see how the Rangers utilize him with the crowded Myrtle Beach rotation.
Jake Skole
3/21, 1 2B, 1BB, 5K
I hesitated to include Skole, as he's still extremely raw, and is bound to experience poor stretches as the Rangers try to refine his swing and plate approach. As with his Hickory teammates Jurickson Profar and Kellin Deglan, it's unfair to really bash them based on 1 weeks (or, really, 1 seasons) worth of results. Ideally you'd like to see some of Skole's power (and his power tool graded out favorably among scouts) begin to develop in-game, but with a guy as inexperienced as Skole, patience is a virtue.