(F)arm Double Feature: Caden Scarborough and David Davalillo

It was set to be a beautiful Thursday on the Rangers farm with 2 top 10 prospects, and a recent draft pick on the mound. Caden Scarborough taking the ball for Hub City in a matchup against the Rome Emperors (Braves High-A affiliate), Evan Siary making his 3rd start for Hickory against the Charleston RiverDogs (Rays Low-A affiliate), and last but not least, David Davalillo on the bump for Frisco against the Midland RockHounds, the AA affiliate of the artist formerly known as the Oakland Athletics. At least it was supposed to be a triple feature, but the weather in Hickory did not comply as their game ended up getting cancelled. The show does go on however, and it'll still be a very entertaining night with Scarborough and Davalillo on the bump.

The baseball gods smiled favorably upon me this inning with the staggered start times in Hub City and Frisco, so I'll be able to do full breakdowns of both games. Before we do, I'll get into some background on each player, and then getting into the inning-by inning pitch-by-pitch breakdown of each of their starts. Let's go ahead and get right into it. First up for the evening is Caden Scarborough.

Caden Scarborough

It was a bit of a turbulent start to the year for Caden Scarborough, as after June he had an ERA of 4.23, and had not yet had an outing where he pitched beyond the 4th inning. However, that was hardly concerning, as you could certainly see the flashes of the ++ traits that had the Rangers sign Scarborough for an over-slot $515,000 after drafting him in the 6th round of the 2023 draft. Scarborough was a pitcher who flew under the radar for most of his high school career, but the Rangers loved his projectable frame and were able to lure him away from his Dallas Baptist commitment.

After June is when Scarborough went on an absolutely torrid run. In July, he posted a 1.40 ERA and only allowed 3 runs, 3 walks, and had 23 strikeouts in 19.1 innings. In August, he posted back-to-back scoreless outings of 6 and 5 innings respectively which led to Scarborough earning Carolina League Pitcher of the Week honors before earning a promotion to A+ Hub City. He put on a show in his Hub City debut, striking out 9 in 5 innings, only allowing 1 hit and 1 walk. I would have loved to watch his last start as well, but the desolate wasteland known as Asheville does not have a broadcast in the big 2025. It was another good start for Scarborough however, striking out 6 in 4 innings, while allowing 2 hits and 1 walk. In the month of August, Scarborough logged 20 innings. He put up an ERA of 0.00, WHIP of 0.45, and struck out 27 while walking only 4 across both Hickory and Hub City.

Scarborough struggled mightily with command during his 2024 debut season, as he put up a 17% walk rate in his 10.1 innings; a season shortened by a strained lat issue. Coming into 2025 however, it was apparent that Scarborough was primed for a breakout year. He added 30 pounds to his 6-foot-5 frame, and it came with increased velocity on his fastball. He went from sitting around 89-91 to now regularly hitting 92-95 topping out at 97, and there's still more velocity to be had as he continues to fill out his frame. As far as movement goes, he gets 13" of induced vertical break on his fastball, as well as 15" of arm-side run. Scarborough's fastball shines due to his elite extension (6.7'), as well as the carry and run he's able to generate from his low release height (5.2'). He has a sweeper that can sometimes be inconsistent in shape, but it's improved tremendously over just this one season. He averages around 82 mph on the pitch, and it grades out above average with potential to be ++ and he's able to locate it very well. For movement, he gets -1" induced vertical break as well as 16" of horizontal break on the sweeper. His third pitch is a splitter that has been getting better and better as the year's gone on. He throws it around 84 mph, and he averages around 3" of induced vertical break and 10" of arm-side run on the pitch. His splitter has a bit of an inconsistent shape as to be expected, but there are moments where you really can see the depth he's able to achieve. At the moment it's more of a soft contact pitch vs chasing whiffs, but because of the arm speed Scarborough is able to generate, the potential is there and I'm excited to see where it goes from here.

Now, let's get into Caden's start tonight:

1st Inning

AB No. 1: 

Sequence: 
Fastball (0-1, Called Strike)
Fastball (In play, out)
Result: Groundout (3U)

AB No. 2:

Sequence:
Fastball (1-0, Ball)
Fastball (1-1, Foul)
Sweeper (1-2, Called Strike)
Fastball (2-2, Ball)
Fastball (2-2, Foul)
Sweeper (2-3, Swinging Strike)
Result: Strikeout (K)

AB No. 3: 

Sequence: 
Fastball (1-0, Ball)
Sweeper (1-1, Called Strike)
Sweeper (1-2, Called Strike)
Fastball (2-2, Ball)
Fastball (3-2, Ball)
Sweeper (In play, no out)
Result: Single

AB No. 4:

Sequence: 
Fastball (1-0, Ball)
Sweeper (1-1, Called Strike)
Fastball (2-1, Ball)
Sweeper (In play, no out)
Result: Single, runner advances to 2nd

AB No. 5:

Sequence: 
Fastball (0-1, Swinging Strike)
Fastball (0-2, Foul)
Sweeper (In play, out)
Result: Groundout (4-3)

Inning Totals: 
2/5 first pitch strikes | 21 pitches 14 strikes

Bit of an odd start here for Scarborough. He got 2 pretty quick outs, but then got a little unlucky with 2 hitters in a row reaching on soft contact, the latter of which not even making it out of the infield. Regardless, that's baseball and that's going to happen. What was really nice to see was that it was business as usual for Scarborough, and he very quickly got the 3rd out 3 pitches later. Sometimes when you have the ball not bounce your way it can be very easy to let it get to you, but it was nice to see that calm demeanor from Scarborough come through. Would prefer to see him get back on track with first pitch strikes next inning, but good start all things considered.

2nd Inning

AB No. 6: 

Sequence: 
Sweeper (0-1, Called Strike)
Fastball (1-1, Ball)
Sweeper (1-2, Foul)
Fastball (2-2, Ball)
Fastball (2-2, Foul)
Sweeper (In play, out)
Result: Flyout (F9)

AB No. 7:

Sequence: 
Fastball (In play, out)
Result: Flyout (F8)

AB No. 8: 

Sequence: 
Sweeper (1-0, Ball)
Sweeper (2-0, Ball)
Result: HBP

AB No. 9:

Sequence:
Fastball (0-1, Called Strike)
Fastball (0-2, Called Strike)
Fastball (0-2, Foul)
Fastball (In play, out)
Result: Groundout (4-3)

Inning Totals: 
3/4 first pitch strikes | 13 pitches 9 strikes

Good work here from Scarborough in the 2nd inning. So far his approach tends to be feed fastballs in the zone early, and then try and chase strikeouts with his sweeper to righties. To lefties, he seems to be more intent on getting sweepers in on the hands early and finishing with his fastball late. My favorite part about this inning was that Scarborough didn't get into any 3 ball counts. He got 2 quick outs again before he threw a back foot sweeper that ended up being a back knee sweeper, as he hit the batter to put a runner on with 2 outs. Once again, it was nice to see how Scarborough was intent on not allowing that to happen again and just fed 4 straight fastballs down the shoot trusting his stuff and challenging the hitter. Now certainly, that won't fly in higher levels and you'd rather not have the HBP in the first place, but this early in his career those are good things to see from a young pitcher.

3rd Inning

AB No. 10:

Sequence:
Fastball (0-1, Called Strike)
Fastball (0-2, Called Strike)
Sweeper (1-2, Ball)
Sweeper (2-2, Ball)
Fastball (2-2, Foul)
Fastball (2-2, Foul)
Sweeper (2-3, Swinging Strike)
Result: Strikeout (K)

AB No. 11:

Sequence:
Sweeper (1-0, Ball)
Fastball (1-1, Called Strike)
Fastball (1-2, Swinging Strike)
Fastball (2-2, Ball)
Sweeper (2-2, Foul)
Fastball (2-2, Foul)
Sweeper (In play, out)
Result: Groundout (6-3)

AB No. 12:

Sequence:
Sweeper (In play, no out)
Result: Single

AB No. 13:

Sequence:
Fastball (0-1, Called Strike) - Runner steals 2nd
Fastball (1-1, Ball)
Sweeper (2-1, Ball)
Fastball (In play, out)
Result: Flyout (F7)

Inning Totals:
3/4 first pitch strikes | 19 pitches 13 strikes

Another somewhat laborious inning for Scarborough similar to his 1st inning. He's doing well to make sure he wins the at bat, but credit to Rome because they're making him work for it. It could just be my eyes failing me, but I find it very odd that I haven't seen Scarborough throw any splitters tonight. If anything, maybe he's thrown a few that I've missed but it certainly can't be more than 3 that I missed. Stuff like that does happen at the minor league level sometimes, so it's nothing to really be concerned about. I'm definitely being somewhat unfair to Scarborough in my criticism of his efficiency, as even though he hasn't had any super quick innings, he hasn't had any innings or on-base traffic get out of hand.

4th Inning

AB No. 14:

Sequence:
Fastball (0-1, Swinging Strike)
Fastball (0-2, Swinging Strike)
Fastball (1-2, Ball)
Sweeper (2-2, Ball)
Fastball (2-3, Swinging Strike)
Result: Strikeout (K)

AB No. 15:

Sequence:
Fastball (0-1, Called Strike)
Fastball (1-1, Ball)
Sweeper (2-1, Ball)
Fastball (2-2, Swinging Strike)
Fastball (2-2, Foul)
Sweeper (2-2, Foul)
Splitter (3-2, Ball)
Fastball (3-3, Swinging Strike)
Result: Strikeout (K)

AB No. 16:

Sequence:
Sweeper (1-0, Ball)
Fastball (In play, out)
Result: Flyout (F7)

Inning Totals:
2/3 first pitch strikes | 15 pitches 9 strikes

Caden Scarborough has his first 1-2-3 inning of the night here in the 4th inning. Like everything tonight, it didn't come easy. Back-to-back deep counts that ended in strikeouts for Scarborough before getting a quick 3rd out to end the inning. Scarborough finally threw a splitter tonight, and the broadcast quickly confirmed my suspicion that he has thrown very few, if any tonight. I'm not too sure why since I really did like the shape on the one he threw, even if it was a ball. Maybe it's something, maybe it isn't. We'll likely find out next week. Scarborough finished this inning at 68 pitches and was taken out of the game at 65 pitches his last time out, so we'll have to wait and see if he gets to go back out for the 5th inning.

FINAL LINE:

4 innings
3 Hits
0 Runs
0 Walks
4 Strikeouts
68 Pitches || 45 Strikes (66.2%)
10/16 First Pitch Strikes (62.5%)

Well, that did end up being the end of Scarborough's night. It's not too surprising since the Rangers are very notably protective of their young arms' pitch counts, Scarborough especially since this is by far the most innings he's thrown in his professional career. Scarborough had pitched 84 innings on the season coming into tonight, so I'd expect a pitch count around ~65 for the rest of the season which is almost over anyway. All things considered, I thought it was a very solid outing from Caden Scarborough. It won't make headlines like his home debut, but I thought he did a lot of the little things very well tonight.

The biggest example of that being how he responded to a little bit of adversity early. He got a bit unlucky in the 1st inning with back to back hitters reaching on softly hit singles, but he did quite well to not let it get to him and just go right back to work and get that 3rd out. Another example being that I was a big fan that even in deep counts, he was focused on executing a good pitch. Sometimes when you get into long at bats, it can be tempting to try to add something extra onto a pitch like trying to throw harder or make it break more, but that often really does more harm than good. So that was something really nice to see from Scarborough tonight.

David Davalillo

Now onto David Davalillo, the Venezuelan right-hander took the ball for Frisco in his 10th start for the club since his promotion from High-A Hub City. As a refresher on Davalillo, signed out of Venezuela by the New York Mets in 2021 for $30,000, that deal ended up being voided 2 months later and the Rangers signed Davalillo for $10,000 in June of 2022. He spent 2 years playing in Rookie ball, aside from one start at Low-A Down East at the end of the 2023 season. Davalillo really burst onto the scene in 2024 when he put up a 1.88 ERA in 110.1 innings across Down East and High-A Hickory, striking out 113 and walking only 32. He carried that momentum into the 2025 season, and coming into tonight has thrown 97.2 innings across High-A Hub City and AA Frisco. Davalillo has struck out 113 and walked 26 to a tune of a 2.12 ERA, 2.74 FIP, and a 0.91 WHIP in those 97.2 innings. He's holding opponents to a staggering .180 batting average, along with a 29.3% K% and a 6.7% BB%.

Davalillo currently sports a six pitch mix. Prior to his promotion to Frisco, he throws a fastball, sinker, curveball, slider, and splitter. However, since he arrived in Frisco, he's introduced a cutter into his repertoire as well which has some promising early results to the tune of a 50% whiff rate during his first start. He throws both of his fastballs in the low to mid 90's, and they'll touch 96. His slider lives in the low 80's, and his curveball is in the mid to high 70's range. The splitter hovers in the mid 80's, and his new cutter is pretty consistently in the 89-91 range. Opinions of his best pitch can vary between who you ask, but most would agree that it's the splitter. Last year he generated a 58% whiff rate on that pitch alone, and after watching it, it's easy can see why. He does have a slightly inconsistent shape, as sometimes it can break glove-side, but he locates it very well and is able to throw it just over 1,000 RPMs (which is one of the causes for the rare glove-side break). Disgusting, some may call it.

1st Inning

AB No. 1: 

Sequence: 
Fastball (0-1, Called Strike)
Fastball (1-1, Ball)
Cutter (1-2, Called Strike)
Splitter (1-3, Swinging Strike)
Result: Strikeout (K)

AB No. 2:

Sequence:
Fastball (0-1, Foul)
Fastball (0-2, Foul)
Splitter (0-2, Foul)
Splitter (1-2, Ball)
Sinker (1-2, Foul)
Splitter (1-3, Swinging Strike)
Result: Strikeout (K)

AB No. 3: 

Sequence: 
Slider (1-0, Ball)
Slider (In play, out)
Result: Flyout (F7)

Inning Totals: 
2/3 first pitch strikes | 12 pitches 9 strikes

You really could not ask for a better 1st inning from David Davalillo. Very efficient start and his splitter is looking phenomenal tonight. He's working quickly and he's hitting his spots. I can't think of anything to criticize about this inning. Very good start, hope he keeps it going.

2nd Inning

AB No. 4:

Sequence: 
Fastball (1-0, Ball)
Cutter (1-1, Foul)
Slider (2-1, Ball)
Fastball (2-2, Foul)
Fastball (2-3, Called Strike)
Result: Strikeout (ꓘ)

AB No. 5:

Sequence: 
Fastball (0-1, Called Strike)
Slider (1-1, Ball)
Fastball (1-2, Called Strike)
Splitter (1-3, Called Strike)
Result: Strikeout (ꓘ)

AB No. 6: 

Sequence: 
Fastball (0-1, Called Strike)
Slider (0-2, Foul)
Slider (0-2, Foul)
Splitter (1-2, Ball)
Result: HBP

AB No. 7:

Sequence: 
Cutter (0-1, Called Strike)
Splitter (0-2, Swinging Strike)
Fastball (0-2, Foul)
Splitter (In play, out)
Result: Groundout (4-3)

Inning Totals: 
3/4 first pitch strikes | 17 pitches 13 strikes

Really good start for Davalillo here. Last time he faced these same RockHounds, he had 1 strikeout in 7 innings. Already with 4 strikeouts through 2 innings I don't foresee 7 innings in the cards tonight, but Davalillo has been locked in so far. Davalillo is doing a really nice job so far at mixing his pitches early. He really only had one "bad pitch" on the one splitter that got away from him on the HBP, but all his stuff looks very sharp tonight. If all of his pitches are working for him the rest of the way, I don't see it going particularly well for RockHound hitters tonight.

3rd Inning

AB No. 8: 

Sequence: 
Cutter (1-0, Ball)
Splitter (1-1, Called Strike)
Fastball (1-2, Called Strike)
Splitter (In play, out)
Result: Groundout (3-1)

AB No. 9:

Sequence:
Slider (1-0, Ball)
Splitter (2-0, Ball)
Slider (3-0, Ball)
Fastball (3-1, Called Strike)
Splitter (In play, out)
Result: Groundout (5-3)

AB No. 10:

Sequence:
Curveball (0-1, Called Strike
Splitter (1-1, Ball)
Curveball (1-2, Called Strike)
Curveball (2-2, Ball)
Fastball (3-2, Ball)
Slider (4-2, Ball)
Result: Walk

AB No. 11:

Sequence:
Splitter (0-1, Called Strike)
Curveball (0-2, Foul)
Fastball (In play, run)
Result: Double, 1 run scores

AB No. 12:

Sequence:
Curveball (1-0, Ball)
Fastball (1-1, Called Strike)
Curveball (2-1, Ball)
Curveball (2-2, Swinging Strike)
Slider (3-2, Ball)
Slider (4-2, Ball)
Result: Walk

AB No. 13:

Sequence:
Curveball (0-1, Called Strike)
Slider (In play, runs)
Result: Double, 2 runs score

AB No. 14:

Sequence:
Fastball (0-1, Called Strike)
Slider (1-1, Ball)
Fastball (2-1, Ball)
Slider (2-2, Foul)
Fastball (2-2, Foul)
Splitter (2-3, Swinging Strike)
Result: Strikeout (K)

Inning Totals:
4/7 first pitch strikes | 32 pitches 18 strikes

You know, I can't help but feel like this was my fault. After starting off so strong it sort of started to come unglued for Davalillo here in the 3rd. So what went wrong? I started making grand declarations that it was going to be a long night for Midland. No, just kidding...sort of. In actuality, it was walks. Walks will kill you. Without the walks in this inning, only 1 run scores. 2 walks this inning allowed 3 runners to score. I did think there were a couple times where Davalillo could and maybe should have gotten a call on one of those walks, but the reality is it was a mess of his own making. He didn't have many big misses, but you just have to tip your cap to the RockHound hitters for taking close pitches and making Davalillo work. In his previous time facing them, Davalillo got a ton of quick soft contact outs. Davalillo ended up throwing 32 pitches in that 3rd inning, so we'll see just how long of a leash he gets from Carlos Cardoza tonight.

4th Inning

AB No. 15:

Sequence:
Fastball (0-1, Called Strike)
Curveball (0-2, Swinging Strike)
Splitter (1-2, Ball)
Slider (In play, out)
Result: Groundout (6-3)

AB No. 16:

Sequence:
Curveball (0-1, Called Strike)
Fastball (1-1, Ball)
Fastball (1-2, Called Strike)
Splitter (1-3, Swinging Strike)
Result: Strikeout (K)

AB No. 17:

Sequence:
Fastball (0-1, Called Strike)
Curveball (0-2, Called Strike)
Splitter (1-2, Ball)
Splitter (2-2, Ball)
Curveball (In play, out)
Result: Groundout (1-3)

Inning Totals:
3/3 first pitch strikes | 13 pitches 9 strikes

Well Davalillo certainly needed that. After laboring through a long 3rd inning, he really did need a quick 1-2-3 inning to bounce back. One thing that stood out to me in both the 3rd and 4th innings are how few cutters Davalillo threw compared to the first 2 innings. His cutter isn't really a whiff pitch, but it really helps keep hitters off of his fastball. Not that the cutter disappearance is what led to his struggles, but it certainly didn't help. Now at 74 pitches, Davalillo's night is surely done, but I really like Cardoza putting him back out there for the 4th to give him an opportunity to bounce back and end the evening on a high note.

FINAL LINE:

4 innings
2 Hits
3 Runs
2 Walks
6 Strikeouts
74 Pitches || 49 Strikes (66.2%)
12/17 First Pitch Strikes (70.6%)

Davalillo's night was indeed done after those 4 innings. Definitely a night with high highs and low lows. I thought Davalillo did well to bounce back from the 3rd inning, but there was a lot to be desired about that 3rd inning. Not enough fastballs, too many pitches, and really struggled keeping his pitches down in that 3rd inning. Davalillo is a 50% ground ball pitcher, so when he's not able to keep his pitches down, it's an issue. Davalillo will be fine, and I don't want to keep talking about this as a poor outing, because there was a lot to like. He got a ton of whiffs for Davalillo tonight, and his splitter especially was phenomenal as usual.

Davalillo is right behind Jose Corniell as the next man up when it comes to starting pitching prospects. There's a lot to love about his game, and there's absolutely moments where he needs to make improvements. That's another reason why I'm glad he's staying in Frisco for the rest of the season. He loves to mix his pitches, and he is very intelligent on the mound. However, those things can sometimes come back to bite him and lead to prolonged at bats. There's one more regular season start on the books for Davalillo this season, and I would heavily recommend tuning in to see him if you can. You won't be disappointed. Well– maybe I should stop making sweeping declarations.....nah. Stand on business, as the kids say.