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Rice Baseball: 2021 MiLB Owls end of June update

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While several Rice Baseball alums are producing at the highest level, others are working their way up the ladder. Here’s the latest on the MiLB Owls.

Triple-A

Jon Duplantier (Diamondbacks) made two appearances with the Reno Aces before called back up to the big leagues, where he stayed for a couple of weeks, making four appearances, before being placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained middle finger. He hasn’t made an appearance at either level since. Collectively, Duplantier had a 13.15 ERA with the Diamondbacks before he was sent down. Duplantier’s teammate, Kevin McCanna, remains on the injured list. He has yet to make an appearance this year.

Jordan Stephens (Indians) has been a steady hand out of the pen. He allowed three runs in his first relief outing of the season, rebounding nicely with a 1.42 ERA in his 10 subsequent appearances. He holds a season ERA of 3.38 and is averaging 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

At the plate, Tristan Gray (Rays) has been picking up steam. He tallied seven hits and four RBI over a six-game series with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp this week. He’s hitting .212 for the season with five extra-base hits. His OPS is .646 and he’s collected eight RBI.

Double-A

Recently named the No. 3 hottest pitching prospect in baseball by Baseball America, Glen Otto (Yankees). That’s the kind of thing that happens when you have outings like this:

Otto has a 3.96 ERA this season. He’s struck out 83 batters in 52.1 innings pitched and owns a .958 WHIP.

Ford Proctor (Rays) has gotten off to a slow start. He’s hitting .168 this season in 38 games, well below his career .295 average. He’s still found a way to get on base, drawing 28 walks, lifting him to a .333 on-base percentage

More: Check out the most recent MLB Owls Pro Update

Ricky Salinas (Indians) made the jump to Double-A this month. Salinas has made six appearances since the jump. He has a 4.30 ERA in those outings, striking out 36 batters across 29.1 innings.

Single-A

Matt Canterino (Twins) hasn’t appeared in a game since the end of May, currently residing on the injured list. Before he stepped off the rubber, Cantero was dealing, striking out 35 of the 68 batters he faced, posting a staggering 17.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

Evan Kravetz (Reds, High-A) joined his former teammate on the injured list in mid-June. Prior to that, Kravetz had started his season with a 1.64 ERA across six games, striking out 33 batters in 22 innings, averaging 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s only allowed 10 hits.

More: Check out the most recent summer ball update

Dane Myers (Tigers, Low-A) is on his third team of the season, starting the year in Low-A before making the jump to Double-A and moving back to High-A. Across all three leagues, he’s hitting .283 in 75 plate appearances, collecting six extra-base hits. He has a .867 OPS.

Trei Cruz (Tigers, High-A) has started to get going after a slow start to his pro career. He held a .105 average after his first 17 games but has since raised it to .164, currently riding a four-game hitting streak. His first triple of the season helped jump-start the rally.

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Rice Baseball: 2021 Summer Ball – June update

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Current, former and incoming Rice baseball players are participating in Summer Ball leagues around the country. Here’s the latest on those Owls.

First a quick note on rosters. I’ve tracked down all players that I could find with listed statistics, but I know there are others playing ball this summer. If you come across information on anyone else associated with Rice baseball playing summer ball, please send it my way. You can leave it in the comments or send it to me some other way. Thanks!

Hitters

There’s been no slowing down the pair of Owls currently laying the wood in the Valley Baseball League. Austin Bulman is third in the league with a .386 average across 17 games, only one spot above his teammate, Nathan Becker, who is fourth with a .368 average.

Bulman’s done his damage with the long ball while Becker has churned out more singles (17) than games played (16). Guy Garibay isn’t far behind them in the California League, keeping his average near the .300 mark in the early portions of the season.

Four of the seven Rice hitters have an average of .294 or better through 10+ games. That’s an encouraging development from where things stood last summer when it was essential just Garibay and Becker showing any sort of consistency at the plate.

Hitting Stats

Pitchers

We saw flashes from freshman Matthew Linskey in limited innings with the Owls this spring. He’s kept that going into the summer, coming out of the gates with three impressive showings for the Walnut Creek Crawdads of the California League. He’s allowed one hit over 8.1 innings, a staggering line.

Dalton Wood and Jared Planks also had positive debuts. Apart from Linskey, nobody has worked that many innings in the young season, so there’s plenty of time for each to progress as the season marches on.

Pitching Stats

*All stats as of July 23 taken from league and team websites.

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Rice Baseball: 2021 MLB Owls update – June 26

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The 2021 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are busy on the mound and at the plate. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls from this week.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon had a few important moments at the plate this week after missing a few days the prior week. He riding a modest four-game hitting streak, with a couple of extra-base knocks in the Angels’ weekend series against the Rays. That includes this long ball off Andrew Kittredge.

Through June 26, Rendon is hitting .232 with 15 extra-base hits, 20 walks and 36 strikeouts. His OPS is .665 and he’s collected 33 RBI.

Brock Holt – Texas Rangers

Holt played in a handful of games this week and was productive when given his opportunities, including the below bloop single which would become the game-winning run against the A’s on Wednesday. It was Holt’s first RBI since June 9.

Through June 26, Holt is hitting .231 with nine extra-base hits, 15 walks and 24 strikeouts. His OPS is .648 and he’s collected 12 RBI.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

Duffey made two appearances this week, working a 1.2 inning hold on Sunday against the Rangers, his longest out of the season since working two complete innings on May 16 against the A’s. He followed that up a shorter three-batter stint on Tuesday, being credited with 0.2 innings pitched, one strikeout, one hit and a walk.

Through June 26, Duffey has a 3.81 ERA with a 1.376 WHIP. He’s averaging 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

Lucas Luetge – New York Yankees

Luetge continues to be one of the more reliable assets in the Yankees’ pen, working a combined 4.0 innings this week over the course of three appearances, allowing just one hit to the 15 batters he faced and no runs.

Through June 26, Luetge has a 2.37 ERA with a 0.947 WHIP. He’s averaging 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

J.T. Chargois – Seattle Mariners

Chargois came in to face one batter on two separate occasions this week. He got outs in each instance, stranding a few inherited base runners along the way. He owns a 2.00 ERA in the month of June.

Through June 26, Chargois has a 2.18 ERA with a 0.677 WHIP. He’s averaging 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings.

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Rice Baseball: 2021 MLB Owls update – June 19

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The 2021 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are busy on the mound and at the plate. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls from this week.

Anthony Rendon – Los Angeles Angels

Rendon has missed a few games this week with a triceps injury but was able to avoid the injured list. He made his return to the lineup on Saturday.

Through June 19, Rendon is hitting .236 with 13 extra-base hits, 19 walks and 30 strikeouts. His OPS is .668 and he’s collected 30 RBI.

Brock Holt – Texas Rangers

Holt reached base safely in each of his three games this week, extending his streak to eight consecutive starts in which he’s reached base. He’s become a regular at third base for the Rangers, flashing his leather in this still shot below.

Through June 19, Holt is hitting .235 with eight extra-base hits, 14 walks and 24 strikeouts. His OPS is .667 and he’s collected 11 RBI.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

Duffey made two appearances this week, allowing one unearned run and three hits over a pair of innings. He’s allowed a run in three of his last four outings but has kept his ERA hovering in the low 4’s. H earned his second save of the season on Friday against the Rangers,

Through June 19, Duffey has a 4.15 ERA with a 1.385 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Lucas Luetge – New York Yankees

Luetge was active this week, working 3.2 innings in the span of six days. He pitched two scoreless innings against the Phillies last Sunday, throwing 28 pitches, the most he’s thrown in a single appearance since a four-inning outing against the Rays on April 16.

Through June 19, Luetge has a 2.65 ERA with a 0.857 WHIP. He’s averaging 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

J.T. Chargois – Seattle Mariners

Chargois worked five innings this week over three games, all wins for the Mariners. He collected six outs in back-to-back outings for the first time this season, including a season-best three strikeout appearance against the Twins on Monday.

Through June 19, Chargois has a 2.25 ERA with a 0.700 WHIP. He’s averaging 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

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Rice Baseball: “Dreams do come true” for Jose Cruz Jr.

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Rice baseball officially welcomed Jose Cruz Jr. as its 22nd head coach, a moment that sparked hope and excitement in the Owls’ fanbase.

Flanked by his family, Jose Cruz Jr. was officially welcomed as the 22nd Rice baseball head coach on Tuesday evening. Donning a No. 22 jersey just like his playing days, the newest Owl coach flashed a familiar smile, delivering a confident, almost whimsical remark: “Hey, dreams do come true.”

In his introductions, athletic director Joe Karlgaard was crystal clear regarding the significance that Cruz has already had on South Main, calling him “one of the architects” that built Rice baseball into an Omaha-caliber program. Cruz didn’t stray far from his roots in his return to Houston, and in Karlgaard’s own estimation, “there weren’t many people who’d seen more Rice baseball games over the past five or six years than Jose.”

Cruz will have a much closer view the next time he walks through the gates of Reckling Park. For the time being, he’s been on the phone with his team. He already knows a good portion of the roster from his time around the ballpark. Now he’s going deeper, sharing his vision and talking about what he intends to build at South Main.

As for his coaching style, Cruz tipped his cap to former Houston Astros’ manager and current Detroit Tiger skipper, AJ Hinch for his teaching in recent months, saying he’s learned a lot from Hinch and others over his career in baseball.

More: Roost Podcast – Rice baseball to hire Jose Cruz Jr.

When it comes to how Cruz intends to run the ship, he plans to draw from several of those lessons learned along the way. “There’s some old school to it.” Cruz said of his coaching philosophy, “but it’s more of a modern style.” He went on to add that he’s “not going to be a big yeller about stuff”, stressing instead that he’ll focus on development and giving his players “the best possible opportunity” for success.”

With the pleasantries exchanged and opening remarks nearly finished, Cruz still wore his resolute smile. “We’re going to be closer to what we’re talking about being here at Rice,” he said, looking expectantly toward the future. A day both Jose Cruz Jr., and the Rice baseball family, are eager to embrace.

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