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Double play.

Before your next RoughRiders game, visit one of four state parks less than 75 minutes from Riders Field. Scan the QR code or visit tpwmagazine.com/frisco for more info.

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Luisangel Acuna

POSITION: INFIELDER | DOB: 3/12/02 | HEIGHT: 5’10” | WEIGHT: 181

HOMETOWN: CARACAS, VENZUELA

A middle infielder from Venezuela, Acuña split time between High-A and Double-A last year, hitting .317 with Hickory and making the trip to Double-A in August. Spending time at both second base and short, Acuña played 37 games down the stretch and was a critical part of the title run in 2022. Acuña scored twice in the Texas League Championship Game, including the go-ahead run in the 10th inning. The 21-year-old is the younger brother of two-time Silver Slugger and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña.

Dane Acker

POSITION: RHP | DOB: 4/1/99 | HEIGHT: 6’2” | WEIGHT: 189

HOMETOWN: COLLEGE STATION, TX

Acker finished his college career at the University of Oklahoma and was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 4th Round in 2020. He was traded to the Texas Rangers before his professional debut and is now in his third season with the Rangers organization. Acker recorded a 2.11 ERA at High-A Hickory this season before his call-up to Frisco on July 3rd.

Robby Ahlstrom

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 6/19/99 | HEIGHT: 6’3” | WEIGHT: 195

HOMETOWN: PLACERVILLE, CALIF.

Ahlstrom was traded to the Rangers from the New York Yankees before he ever appeared in a professional game. He played college ball at the University of Oregon until 2021, when he was drafted in the seventh round. He started this year with High-A Hickory in his second pro season, posted a 3.90 ERA before his promotion to Frisco on July 19th.

Aidan Anderson

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 3/12/02 | HEIGHT: 6’1” | WEIGHT: 195

HOMETOWN: BEAUMONT, TX

Twin brother of former RoughRiders pitcher Grant Anderson, Aidan joined the RoughRiders in the same week that Grant made his Major League debut with the Rangers. Aidan was signed out of McNeese State University by the Phillies and spent 2019 through 2022 in their system before being released before the 2023 year and signed by the Rangers. The Beaumont, Texas native began the season with High-A Hickory before joining Frisco.

Jax Biggers

POSITION: INFIELDER | DOB: 4/7/97 | HEIGHT: 5’11” | WEIGHT: 175

HOMETOWN: MISSOURI CITY, TX

Biggers was beckoned back to Texas in 2018 when the Rangers selected him in the eighth round. Originally from Missouri City, Texas, Biggers spent a year at Cisco Junior College in Texas and two years with the Arkansas Razorbacks, making the College World Series at the Junior College level and the Division-I classification. Biggers made his RoughRiders debut in 2021 and hit .281 for Frisco in 2022. With a birthday on April 7, Biggers will spend most of this season as a 26-year-old in his fifth season of pro ball. He has played every position for Frisco except pitcher and catcher.

Reid Birlingmair

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 11/13/96 | HEIGHT: 5’10” | WEIGHT: 210

HOMETOWN: NORMAL, ILL.

Drafted by the Athletics in 2018, Birlingmair is now five years into a professional baseball career out of the University of Illinois at Chicago. After getting released by Oakland in 2022, Birlingmair joined an independent baseball team in Fargo, ND, where he won the league championship. The Rangers signed him partway through the 2023 season and in July, Birlingmair made it to Double-A for the first time in pro career.

Noah Bremer

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 5/13/96 | HEIGHT: 6’5” | WEIGHT: 206

HOMETOWN: BERKELEY, CALIF.

Four years into his professional baseball career, having just reached the Double-A level in 2021 with the Frisco RoughRiders, Bremer learned that offseason he would need Tommy John surgery and miss the 2022 season. Bremer rehabbed at the Texas Rangers’ spring training complex in Surprise, Arizona, and made his return to the RoughRiders on June 23, 2023. He got the start against Springfield in Frisco, going 2.1 innings, and then entered in relief in San Antonio on June 28 to toss a 1-2-3 inning.

Hever Bueno

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 11/23/94 | HEIGHT: 6’2” | WEIGHT: 179

HOMETOWN: MESA, ARIZ.

Bueno pitched for the RoughRiders in 2021, posting a 4.28 ERA over 32 games. He pitched 30 games for Round Rock in 2022. He was drafted out of Arizona State in 2016 in the ninth round and has logged over 175 innings in his professional baseball career.

Matt Bush

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 2/8/86 | HEIGHT: 5’10” | WEIGHT: 193

HOMETOWN: SAN DIEGO, CALIF..

Matt Bush has a career 3.75 ERA in six seasons in the big leagues. The first overall selection in 2004, Bush came up in the Padres and Rays organizations before signing a contract with the Rangers in 2015. He pitched in 12 games with the RoughRiders in 2016 and made his MLB debut with Texas later that season. Bush also pitched with Frisco in 2019, spent time with the Brewers in 2022 and 2023, and now is in his second stint with the Rangers organization this season.

Evan Carter

POSITION: OUTFIELDER | DOB: 8/29/02 | HEIGHT: 6’4” | WEIGHT: 190

HOMETOWN: ELIZABETHTON, TENN.

Carter couldn’t play for the Rangers farm in 2020 when he was drafted in the second round, but once he debuted in 2021, Carter wasted little time to rack up hits. He notched an .825 OPS with Single-A Down East and had slightly better numbers at the High-A level in 100 games last year before getting the Double-A call-up in September. Carter went 9-for-21, not including his three hits in the clinching game of the 2022 Texas League Championship Series, the last of which was a two-RBI single in the 10th to make the difference in the 7-5 win. He checks in as the No. 2 prospect in the Rangers organization and will turn 21 when the RoughRiders host Corpus Christi on August 29. The 6-foot-2 left-hand hitter has defensive versatility, playing all three outfield positions in his minor league tenure.

David Garcia

POSITION: CATCHER | DOB: 2/6/00 | HEIGHT: 5’11” | WEIGHT: 201

HOMETOWN: CARACAS, VENZ.

Hailing from Caracas, Venezuela, Garcia is a switch-hitting catcher who has been in the Rangers organization since he was 17. Now 23, Garcia is playing for Frisco for a second year after starting 58 games behind the dish a season ago. He recorded a career-best .993 fielding percentage while adding 11 doubles, a triple and five homers.

Ryan Garcia

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 1/24/98 | HEIGHT: 6’0” | WEIGHT: 180

HOMETOWN: ARCADIA, CALIF.

The Rangers plucked Garcia out of the Southern California area in 2019, drafting the Pasadena native and UCLA Bruin in the second round. He missed 2020 due to COVID and 2021 due to “Tommy John” Surgery, but returned in June of 2022 after a nearly three-year hiatus. He pitched well in his return, registering a 2.31 ERA in Single-A Down East before making it to High-A Hickory for 10 innings without an earned run. Entering 2023, Garcia had pitched 61.2 innings in his professional career, allowing just 36 hits.

Josh Hatcher

POSITION: INFIELDER | DOB: 9/3/98 | HEIGHT: 6’2” | WEIGHT: 200

HOMETOWN: ALBANY, GA.

Drafted in 2022, Hatcher is still early in his time in the Texas Rangers organization. He was born in Albany, Georgia and went to high school in nearby Leesburg, eventually playing four years at Mississippi State. After winning the College World Series in 2021, Hatcher returned to his home state and played for Kennesaw State in 2022. The Rangers selected him in the 10th round after the season and Hatcher made it up to the Double-A level in June of 2023.

Trevor Hauver

POSITION: OUTFIELDER | DOB: 11/20/98 | HEIGHT: 6’0” | WEIGHT: 205

HOMETOWN: CHANDLER, ARIZ.

Hauver was a Yankees farm hand in 2021 after New York selected him in the third round in 2020. Just 66 games into his pro career, he was sent to Texas in the Joey Gallo trade. He made it to Frisco last year and recorded a .924 OPS once he joined the RoughRiders for the final month of the season. Hauver played for Arizona State, where he was primarily a left fielder but also made appearances at first and second base and right field. He has similarly moved around in the minors, mostly playing second base with the Yankees organization and was transitioned to left field with the Rangers organization in 2022.

Liam Hicks

POSITION: CATCHER | DOB: 6/2/99 | HEIGHT: 5’11” | WEIGHT: 185

HOMETOWN: TORONTO, ONT., CANADA

Hicks was batting .311 for the High-A Hickory Crawdads this season before filling a need at catcher in May for the RoughRiders. He hit a home run in his first game with Frisco in 2023, followed by a grand slam the next week. He hails from Toronto and came to the U.S. to play for Mineral Area College in Missouri, followed by two years at Arkansas State. The Rangers drafted him in 2021 in the ninth round.

Scott Kapers

POSITION: CATCHER | DOB: 11/27/96 | HEIGHT: 5’11” | WEIGHT: 198

HOMETOWN: WALKERTON, IND.

A 17th-round draft pick out of Valparaiso University, Scott Kapers made his Frisco debut last year after posting an .816 OPS at High-A Hickory. He notched 61 at-bats with the RoughRiders in the final month and a half of the 2022 season, homering three times in the regular season and drawing 10 walks. He capped off 2022 with a tremendous effort in the Texas League Championship Series, homering twice in the same game at Riders Field to help Frisco take a 1-0 lead over Wichita. He is the only player in RoughRiders franchise history with a multihome run game in the playoffs.

Antoine Kelly

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 12/5/99 | HEIGHT: 6’5” | WEIGHT: 205

HOMETOWN: CHICAGO, ILL.

Antoine Kelly is in his fourth year of pro ball and his second with the Frisco RoughRiders. Kelly could have signed with the Padres out of high school when he was drafted in the 13th round, but went to Wabash Valley College in Illinois for one season and was selected in the second round in 2019 by Milwaukee. He was traded in August 2022 when the Rangers sent former RoughRiders pitcher Matt Bush to the Brewers. Kelly is 23 years old and went to high school just outside of Chicago at Maine East High.

Nick Krauth

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 9/6/99 | HEIGHT: 6’3” | WEIGHT: 170

HOMETOWN: CONCORD, CALIF.

A 6-foot-3 right-handed pitcher, Krauth crossed from one corner of the country to the other before settling down with the Rangers organization. Originally from Concord, California, Krauth transferred from New Mexico to UConn. A terrific start to the 2020 college season — one earned run in 24.2 innings — was enough to get a deal with the Rangers after the NCAA season was cut short. He spent 2021 with Down East, 2022 with Hickory, and elevated to Double-A for the first time this season. Krauth posted a 4.60 ERA in his first two pro seasons. Krauth will celebrate his 24th birthday on September 6, during Frisco’s final homestand of the regular season.

Jack Leiter

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 4/21/00 | HEIGHT: 6’1” | WEIGHT: 205

HOMETOWN: SUMMIT, NJ

The No. 2 overall selection of the 2021 MLB Draft, Leiter made his pro debut last year with the Frisco RoughRiders. About three years younger than the average Double-A player, Leiter struck out 109 batters in 92.2 innings. Strikeouts are nothing new for Leiter, who tied for first in the nation with 179 punch outs in his last season with Vanderbilt. His father is Al Leiter, a three-time World Series champion and two-time All-Star pitcher. Al had an MLB no-hitter in 1996 and Jack followed his father’s footsteps with a college no-hitter in his first SEC start in 2021.

We’re on a mission to donate $1 million to local food banks to fight food insecurity. How can you help? Get your next loan from ITCU, or open an account and use a debit or credit card to purchase the things you’re already buying, and we’ll donate a portion of income to local food banks in our communities.

Remember, $50K will go to food banks if a Riders player hits the “Home Run for Hunger” sign in or after the 5th inning. Go Riders!

Triston Polley

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 12/20/96 | HEIGHT: 6’0” | WEIGHT: 190

HOMETOWN: INDIANAPOLIS, IN

The Indianapolis native stayed near home to play for Indiana State and made the most of his four years with the Sycamores. By his senior year in 2019, Polley was the opening day starter for his home-state team and posted a 2.84 ERA. He was the starting pitcher in ISU’s first NCAA Tournament victory in 24 years. A week later, the Texas Rangers called his name in the 16th round. In the four years since, Polley has gone 16-5 and posted a 4.63 ERA with Frisco when he got called up in June and pitched in 26 games in a RoughRiders uniform.

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