Frisco RoughRiders Week 6 Standouts
A look at some of the best performers for the Riders during their home series with Wichita.
It was a rough week for the Frisco RoughRiders, losing all five of their games against the Wichita Wind Surge.Â
Due to rain, the final game of the series was canceled and the Riders (13-19) will head into a home series with Amarillo (15-18) on a seven-game losing streak. The roster has experienced some changes, with players rising and falling through the Texas Rangers’ system ranks. And Rangers’ shortstop Corey Seager joined the club for three games during a rehab stint.
While Frisco is clearly struggling with its performances as a team — getting outscored 54-26 in the series — there were some bright spots in every aspect of the team.Â
With that, here are this week’s standouts:
Batter: INF Thomas Saggese .417/.417/.750/1.167
In a brutal week for the Riders, Thomas Saggese managed to break through with some major hitting performances. Saggese had a pair of four-hit games, going 10-for-24 on the week.Â
The 21-year-old hammered two homers and a pair of doubles to amass a team-high nine RBIs for the series. Saggese is hitting .380 for the month of May and becoming one of the more impactful offensive players on the roster.
Starting Pitcher: RHP Jack Leiter 5 IP, 8 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.80 WHIP
Don’t look now, but Jack Leiter is starting to figure things out. The 2021 No. 2 overall pick threw his second consecutive dominant outing, going five innings and tying his career-high eight strikeouts.Â
Although one run did score while Leiter was on the mound, it was unearned due to an error by catcher Scott Kapers (one of a team-record seven errors on Thursday). Leiter has now pitched 13 straight innings without allowing an earned run.
It’s been an underwhelming start to Leiter’s professional career, but he’s finding some footing for the first time since joining the Riders.
Relief Pitcher: RHP Theo McDowell 4 IP, 3 K, 2.25 ERA, 1.50 WHIP
Frisco’s bullpen suffered against Wichita last week. They lost their top arm — Grant Wolfram — due to a call-up to Triple-A after game one and struggled to stay consistent.Â
The best performances came from 24-year-old Theo McDowell. McDowell finished off Frisco’s Wednesday loss with 1 ⅓ clean innings. An eight-run deficit was already too much for the Riders to win, but the righty gave them a shot.
McDowell was called upon in the final game of the series, Saturday, and pitched 2 â…” innings. He did get caught by Yunior Severino for a solo homer in the sixth, but offered up the strongest work out of the bullpen for the week.
Utility: INF Luisangel Acuña .350/.480/.550/1.030
In the midst of a seven-game hitting streak, Acuña continues to be the most consistent player in Frisco’s lineup. He is one game from tying his longest hit streak of the season and this is his third streak of seven-plus games with at least one hit.Â
The 21-year-old is hitting a team-high .321 this year.
Acuña hit his third home run of the season on Thursday to go along with a double, two RBIs, four runs and five walks for the week. He has had fewer opportunities to score runners this week, with typical leadoff man Evan Carter struggling or missing from the lineup entirely.Â
The Riders begin their next series with the Amarillo Sod Poodles on May 16 at 11:05 a.m.