210GAMEDAY.COM | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
Taylor Barber is a grad student from Argyle, Texas. He previously played at Northeast Texas Junior College.
The 6-foot-2 infielder has played in 14 of UTSA’s first 37 games, starting five. He is batting .280.
*stats from goutsa.com
The San Antonio Missions won their first game game since September 2019, beating the Corpus Christi Hooks 8-3 on opening night in Corpus Christi.
The return to action meant fun to a sold out but socially distant crowd. For minor league players, it means a return to the journey they hope leads to the major leagues.
Missions starting pitcher Reiss Knehr went five innings and allowed two runs to get the win. He gave up three hits and struck out five batters with three walks.
Robbie Podorsky, the No. 9 batter in the Missions’ batting order, led the team with four hits and scored twice. Cather Juan Fernandez had three hits, CJ Abrams, the team’s top prospect, had two. In all, seven different Missions batters had hits as the Missions out-hit the Hooks 13-4.
The 5-foot-11 outfielder has played in 10 of UTSA’s first 37 games, starting seven. He is batting .318.
*stats from goutsa.com
CJ Abrams and Eguy Rosario were both part of 2021 big league spring training with the San Diego Padres.
The two young infielders spent February and March with the Padres’ stars and first team in Peoria, Arizona.
When the San Antonio Missions open the season tomorrow, things are in place for Abrams and Rosario to be anchoring the middle of the San Antonio defense.
The Missions released their 2021 opening day rosters today. Abrams, ranked the No. 2 prospect in the Padres organization, and Rosario, ranked No. 18, are both on the list.
Abrams is a 20-year-old shortstop from Georgia and a first-round pick by the Padres in the 2019 draft coming out of high school. He is 6-foot-2 and bats left-handed.
Abrams played in 32 games in rookie league and two games in Single A in 2019 and batted .393 with three home runs and 22 RBIs.
Rosario is a 21-year-old second baseman from the Dominican Republic and bats right-handed. He has played in the minors and winter league since being a 16-year-old in 2016.
Rosario spent three games with the San Antonio Missions in 2018 after being called up from High-A. In 2019, he batted .278 in High A in seven home runs and 72 RBIs in 122 games.
The Missions’ roster also includes five pitchers from the Padres’ top 30 prospects.
Right-hander Reggie Lawson is the top rated Padres pitching prospect on the Missions’ roster at No. 8.
Right-handed Missions pitcher Efrain Contreras is No. 16 on the Padres’ prospect list.
Right-handed pitcher Mason Fox is No. 22 on the Padres’ prospect list.
Right-handed pitcher Jordan Humphreys (no, not the former Longhorns receiver) is No. 24 on the Padres’ prospect list.
Lefty Osvaldo Hernandez is No. 29 on the Padres’ prospect list.
The Missions open the season Tuesday night in Corpus Christi, weather permitting.
All prospect rankings from MLB Pipeline at mlbcom
The 5-foot-10 transfer from Wichita State has been UTSA’s second catcher this season and played in seven games so far, starting six. He is batting .267.
*stats from goutsa.com
The 5-foot-11 infielder has played in 16 of UTSA’s first 37 games this season, starting 13. He is batting a team-high .362 with 14 RBIs.
*stats from goutsa.com
The San Antonio Missions open their season on the road Tuesday against the Corpus Christi Hooks.
The Missions and Hooks will play a six-game series running through Sunday.
The Missions are the Double A farm club of the San Diego Padres. The Hooks are the Double A farm club of the Houston Astros.
Here is a link to a story with the Hooks’ preliminary roster:
cchooks.com
Here is a link to the Missions’ preliminary roster on the team’s website:
samissions.com
Rosters are preliminary, but at least give us some idea of who we have a chance to see this season. The Missions’ list includes two pitchers on the Padres’ 40-man roster:
Jordan Humphreys
Reggie Lawson
The Hooks’ list includes three Astros top prospects:
Pedro León, utility
Hunter Brown, pitcher
Grae Kessinger, infielder
Rice won the first two games on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. UTSA won the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader 12-6. The Roadrunners scored 24 runs in 14 innings over the last two games.
UTSA had 18 hits on Sunday with four extra-base hits including a home run by Chase Keng. Griffin Paxton and Jonathan Tapia had four hits each, Ian Bailey had three and Dylan Rock and Keng both had two hits.
UTSA starting pitcher Simon Miller (3-1) went five innings and got the win. The freshman right-hander from Canton, Texas, allowed one run on three hits and struck out three batters.
Arturo Guajardo was the first UTSA reliever, going 2 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out five. Daniel Garza finished the eighth inning. Luke Malone struck out two batters as he pitched the ninth inning.
The Roadrunners’ next Conference USA series is on the road next weekend against UAB. UTSA’s final conference home series is May 7-9 against Old Dominion.
UTSA reliever Hunter Mason entered the second game in the third inning and dominated Rice the rest of the way. The senior from Boerne Champion held Rice scoreless over the final 4 2/3 innings to get the win. He allowed one hit with six strikeouts and one walk.
Rice’s first two pitchers struggled in a big way in UTSA’s victory. The Roadrunners scored five runs before recording their first hit. UTSA’s first six batters got on base on three walks and three hit-batters to score three runs. On what should have been the first out of the frame, UTSA scored two more runs on an error to go up 5-1.
UTSA led the rest of the way.
Roadrunners starting pitcher Kobe Jaramillo looked solid the first two innings before being pulled in the third. By avoiding the walks and hit batters that plagued Rice, Jaramillo left the game with UTSA leading by four runs.
Rice won the first game 5-4, rallying late after UTSA built a 4-2 lead.
UTSA and Rice wrap up the series with a 1 p.m. game Sunday at Roadrunner Field.
The game was the opener of a four-games series. UTSA and Rice play a 2 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.
Rice’s Justin Dunlap singled to lead off the sixth inning, went from first to third on a throwing error on a grounder, and scored the go-ahead run on a ground out.
Rice reliever Brandon Deskins pitched the final five innings to earn the win. He held UTSA scoreless on four hits with eight strikeouts and no walks.
Jonathan Tapia led UTSA with two hits, two runs and two RBIs. He had a two-run double to left-center and also scored in the fourth inning, when the Roadrunners scored three times to take a 6-5 lead.
