Start me up: a look at the Texas League’s best starters and rotations
With how well Riders starting pitching has been dealing lately, it got us wondering how Frisco’s rotation stacks up against the other seven in the Texas League.
BEST ROTATIONAL DEPTH: It’s hard to make a case against Northwest Arkansas here. The Naturals are smoking the league with a starter’s ERA of 3.01. The five active starters (Zach Lovvorn, Christian Binford, Miguel Almonte, Corey Ray and Matt Tenuta) have combined for 10 quality starts in their first 18 outings). Take out Tenuta and the Naturals are even stronger, posting a rotation ERA of 2.17. The Royals-affiliated club has bounced back nicely after starting 3–7, going 8–2 in the last 10 games to reach a mark of 11–9.
BEST 1–2 PUNCH: While Northwest Arkansas poses a tough rotation all the way through, if we’re strictly looking at a 1–2 punch, Arkansas’ Andrew Moore and Max Povse are a formidable duo. The two are a combined 4–2 with a 1.79 ERA (11 ER in 55 1/3 IP) in nine outings. MLB.com ranks the two one after the other in the Mariners system, with Moore tabbed as the fourth-best prospect and Povse fifth.
Moore dealt six more strong innings last night and now it’s Povse’s turn tonight in what should be a great battle between him and Springfield starter Jack Flaherty.
Speaking of Flaherty…
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BEST ARM: Flaherty is the early frontrunner for Texas League Pitcher of the Year. He’s opened the year 4–0 with a Texas-League leading 0.33 ERA (!). The Riders experienced Flaherty’s dominance firsthand on Opening Day and he hasn’t slowed down since. He won’t turn 21 until the offseason, making his start all the more impressive.
WHERE THE RIDERS STAND: Even if it doesn’t rank atop the Texas League statistically, the Riders still have one of the league’s most formidable rotations. All five guys have been throwing well lately and if they keep going on the same track they’ve been on lately, there’s no reason they couldn’t finish the season as one of the best rotations in the circuit.
Furthermore, the dominance displayed by the bullpen early on has solidified the overall pitching staff as one of the league’s best. Frisco pitching enters the day with a 3.86 ERA, good for third in the league.
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TONIGHT’S GAME: Riders at Corpus Christi, 7:05 p.m.
PROBABLES: RHP Ariel Jurado (1–2, 6.10 ERA) vs. RHP Akeem Bostick (Double-A debut)
WEBCAST: MiLB.TV
AUDIO: RidersBaseball.com, TuneIn Radio and the MiLB First Pitch App
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- Ryan
Baseball term of the day: Hippodrome — A fraudulent baseball game in which the winner is determined beforehand; a rigged contest.
(term from The Dickson Baseball Dictionary)
