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May 03, 2006
Oklahoma Game Report
The Rangers’ Triple A affiliate Oklahoma Redhawks played the Round Rock Express on Tuesday night, and yours truly witnessed the games from Section 121, Row 4, Seat 1. A few observations from memory:
I hope I caught John Hudgins on a bad night. Hudgins allowed seven hits, including two homers, and two walks in three innings, and he just didn’t look like someone who could retire a Major League hitter. Against an undisciplined Express lineup (last in the Pacific Coast League in walks and next-to-last in strikeouts), Hudgins tried to keep everything down and succeeded to injurious extent. Far too many pitches crossed the plate ankle-high. The “experienced” Round Rock offense (“batting second: Joe McEwing!”) ignored the low stuff and pounded what Hudgins left in the zone. I don’t recall the radar gun exceeding 88 MPH.
Outfielder-in-training Jason Botts made a genuinely impressive sliding catch near the left-field stands with two out and runners on second and third. The Round Rock pitchers pounded him inside and forced him to hit everything off his wrists. He didn’t strike out but also didn’t reach base.
Vince Sinisi looks smaller than I expected. He roped a fastball to the opposite field, much to the delight of the Rice fans sitting near me, and generally appeared comfortable against AAA opposition.
21-year-old Joaquin Arias weighs 108 pounds and disappears when viewed from the side. Just as advertised: smooth and athletic in the field, very raw at the plate. A February note from the Dallas Morning News speculated as to whether Arias could fill in at shortstop for Texas should Michael Young suffer an injury. I can’t imagine Texas recalling Arias right now.
Justin Hatcher provided the game’s best moment as a ninth-inning pinch hitter when he plastered his first pitch over the left-field fence. Outfielder Luke Scott took one half-hearted step toward the fence and abruptly stopped.
The Redhawks have youth and several decent prospects, while the Express are old and nearly bereft of potential MLB talent. Round Rock’s starting lineup averaged 29 years of age with not a single player under 26. In fact, of the twenty starters in Tuesday’s game (nine hitters and the starting pitcher for each team), the youngest seven play for Oklahoma:
| Team | Name | Age |
DOB |
| OKL | Joaquin Arias | 21 |
Sep-84 |
| OKL | Vince Sinisi | 24 |
Nov-81 |
| OKL | Rashad Eldridge | 24 |
Oct-81 |
| OKL | John Hudgins | 24 |
Aug-81 |
| OKL | Nick Trzesniak | 25 |
Nov-80 |
| OKL | Laynce Nix | 25 |
Oct-80 |
| OKL | Jason Botts | 25 |
Jul-80 |
| RRE | Brooks Conrad | 26 |
Jan-80 |
| RRE | Charlton Jimerson | 26 |
Sep-79 |
| RRE | Humberto Quintero | 26 |
Aug-79 |
| OKL | Jace Brewer | 26 |
Jun-79 |
| RRE | Philip Barzilla | 27 |
Jan-79 |
| RRE | Brian Gordon | 27 |
Aug-78 |
| RRE | Luke Scott | 27 |
Jun-78 |
| RRE | Royce Huffman | 29 |
Jan-77 |
| OKL | Erubiel Durazo | 31 |
Jan-75 |
| RRE | Jesse Garcia | 32 |
Sep-73 |
| RRE | Joe McEwing | 33 |
Oct-72 |
| OKL | Jamie Burke | 34 |
Sep-71 |
| RRE | Alan Zinter | 37 |
May-68 |
Posted by Lucas at May 3, 2006 12:30 AM