For the Frisco RoughRiders, the accolades continue to pour in as their parent club, the Texas Rangers, has named four new recipients for their monthly Minor League Player of the Month awards.
C Tomas Telis—Defender of the Month
In baseball, efense is an often overlooked skillset. Rare are the players that excel both with the bat and the glove. RoughRiders catcher Tomas Telis is one of those players. Currently third in the Texas League with his .309 batting average, he has also managed to throw out almost 30% of would-be base stealers.
Telis is the type of player that gives the opposition fits as he can change the game at the plate, as well as shutdown the running game with his arm.
3B Joey Gallo—Player of the Month
Truth be told, Joey Gallo’s award should be termed “Player of the Month(s)” since the power-hitting third baseman has taken home this award for the third consecutive time, dating back to last season. Or maybe they should just call it the “Joey Gallo Award.”
Gallo’s power is so otherworldly, it’s difficult to find a context within which to place it. Consider this: in just 47 at-bats in Double-A, Gallo is tied for the third most home runs on the team, with six. The leader, Ryan Rua, has 10 long balls but it has taken him 257 at-bats to reach double digits—just under six times as many ABs as Gallo has had.
Now with 13 Double-A games under his belt, Gallo has seen a drop in his batting average from Myrtle Beach to Frisco. However, his power numbers stayed right about the same. At .255/.375/.660, I feel certain that this won’t be Gallo’s final award of the 2014 season.
RHP Alex “Chi-Chi” Gonzalez—Pitcher of the Month
At 6’5″ tall, Joey Gallo casts a large shadow both literally and figuratively. However, Chi-Chi Gonzalez has faired well with the ‘Riders since he jumped from High-A Myrtle Beach to the Frisco RoughRiders late last month.
Gonzalez has yet to allow a home run, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio of 11:2 shows that he is not afraid to throw strikes. He is undoubtedly going to take some licks, but Gonzalez has shown the poise and stuff to learn from his mistakes while shoring up any weaknesses. Should he continue his ascension, while staying on the right said of the learning curve, Gonzalez might be on the fast track to the big leagues.
RHRP Phil Klein—Reliever of the Month
Of the three aforementioned RoughRiders, Phil Klein is a relative unknown. However, if the 6’7” right-handed reliever continues to dispatch of Texas League hitters with ease, he could quickly become a household name.
At 3-0 with a miniscule 0.81 ERA, Klein has stepped into the ample shoes of recently promoted former ‘Riders closer Matt West. Tough against left-handed batters (.171 BA against), Klein is almost unhittable against righties (.119 BA against). If he can manage to reduce his walk rate (he’s allowed 14 free passes in 33 1/3 IP), don’t be surprised to see him as a possible September call up for the Texas Rangers.
