Jax Biggers is always happy to see what he considers "the correct" shade of red again.
Not that there's anything wrong with the Frisco RoughRiders' slightly darker scorched red. Slipping it on every day is a reminder that Biggers is just two steps away from making it to the big leagues with the Texas Rangers.
Yet there's something about cardinal red that's just always going to seem right for the kid from Missouri City, Texas, who played collegiately at the University of Arkansas in 2017-18.
"Just to see familiar shirts in the stands, it's cool," Biggers said before his team's game Friday night game, the fourth in a six-game set against the Arkansas Travelers in North Little Rock. "It's [fun] to be around people who like what I like. ... It kind of feels like home."
Biggers was a regular on the 2018 Hogs squad that finished runner-up at the College World Series, playing shortstop with just 9 errors in 62 games and hitting .280 with 4 home runs and 26 RBI. The Rangers then drafted him in the eighth round and after an abbreviated professional campaign that summer, he spent all of 2019 with the High-A Hickory (N.C.) Crawdads.
Biggers played 76 games, hitting .282 with a .722 OPS and struck out just 39 times in 255 at-bats.
But like most minor-leaguers, he wasn't prepared to spend a whole year away from the game in 2020.
"I was hoping [it would be] two weeks and then I'd be gone," said Biggers, who returned to the Houston area and trained throughout coronavirus pandemic. "Then it was four [weeks] and then eight and it ended up being the whole year. ... But it was great. I got to be around my mom and dad a lot more than usual, so I got to cherish a lot of those moments."
Making the jump to Class AA isn't always straightforward, and Biggers is still working through the challenges of a higher level. Although many of the RoughRiders' players are slightly less experienced than usual -- a product of having no 2020 season -- the 5-11 infielder noticed a real step up when he spent a week with the Rangers' Class AAA team in Round Rock, Texas.
Biggers played five games and went 0 for 13, striking out three times.
He took the time, however, to pick the brains of older guys like former major leaguers Delino DeShields and Leody Taveras.
Reaching the big leaves ultimately remains the goal, but during a season where there have been more lows than highs, Biggers said he looks to keep the endpoint in perspective.
"Every day, every night, you want to be a big-leaguer," Biggers said. "I enjoy the guys I'm around, I enjoy baseball, I enjoy getting to travel for free. So I take it one pitch at a time, one day at a time and just try to stay in the present."
Kjerstad shut down
Baltimore Orioles top draft pick Heston Kjerstad (University of Arkansas) had a setback last month in his comeback from myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, further pushing back his expected return.
After the Orioles selected Kjerstad second overall in the 2020 MLB draft, he hasn't participated in any team activities after he missed the fall instructional camp with the myocarditis diagnosis. Kjerstad reported to the team's complex in Sarasota, Fla., to begin working his way back to baseball form this spring, but executive vice president Mike Elias said the "recurring inflammation" is "slowing down our plan for his return to play."
Asked about the concern level that Kjerstad's health may keep him from returning to baseball at all, Elias said "the whole thing has been a concern."
"It's a heart condition," Elias told Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun on June 16. "Again, I'm going to be really careful. I don't want to be the one talking in-depth about the medicine of this. I'm very respectful of the player's space there. It's a serious thing. ...
"We're pushing every button that we can push. I think that his odds to return are very good in that respect, but to have anyone -- let alone a high draft pick like this -- miss this amount of time, it's obviously been a bummer. But he, first and foremost, is what we're thinking about, and rushing this along for baseball or pushing through medical recommendations for baseball, that's just not going to happen."
Kjerstad was the Orioles' No. 4 prospect this offseason according to Baseball America for his potential to grow into a middle-of-the-order left-handed bat, but he hasn't been able to show that on the field due to the condition. Elias said there wasn't any kind of oversight in the draft process, and that Kjerstad is working as hard as he can to get himself healthy again.
That said, a setback calls into question whether he'll get onto a field in game action at all this season.
"He's very determined, but this is a bump in the road," Elias said. "It's, as I've said, a tricky condition and a very serious one that requires us to be careful and deliberate. I do expect this will back up our timeline for getting him back on the field, and it's something that we probably can't put an artificial timeline on. We're going to have to provide some further rest before entering the return-to-play protocol once again."
Eibner hurt
Pitcher Brett Eibner (University of Arkansas) was placed on the seven-day injured list by the Jacksonville (Fla.) Jumbo Shrimp, the Class AAA affiliate of the Miami Marlins, on June 8.
Jacksonville play-by-play voice Scott Kornberg said he didn't know what type of injury Eibner suffered, but said it was likely serious.
"To be honest with you on the injury stuff, we have no idea and aren't told anything," Kornberg said. "But I would tell you that guys with minor injuries normally stay with the team while they heal, and those with major injuries will leave us to go to Jupiter, Fla., the Marlins' spring training site. Eibner left almost immediately after he got hurt, so I'm guessing that would indicate more of a serious injury."
Before he got hurt, Eibner had a good start to the season. In 11 appearances, he was 1-2 with a 3.46 ERA and converted 3 of 5 save opportunities. He allowed 13 hits in 13 innings pitched with 6 walks and 14 strikeouts and opposing batters hit .250 against him.
"He was having a pretty solid season," Kornberg said. "Those numbers are inflated too because he gave up two runs in two-thirds of an inning [in] the game he got hurt in."
Around the horn
Pitcher Cody Scroggins (University of Arkansas) was promoted to the Greenville (S.C.) Drive, the Class High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, on Tuesday. Scroggins pitched one inning in his Greenville debut Thursday, allowing 1 hit with 1 walk and 1 strikeout in his only inning of work as the Drive beat the Aberdeen Ironbirds (High-A Orioles) 1-0 in Aberdeen, Md. Scroggins had gone 3-2 with a 1.33 ERA and 6 saves in 7 chances for the Low-A Salem (Va.) Red Sox. ... Former University of Arkansas pitcher Blaine Knight convered his first career save Tuesday as the Bowie (Md.) Baysox (AA Orioles) got a 9-4 victory over the Richmond (Va.) Flying Squirrels (AA Giants). Knight allowed 1 earned run on 2 hits over the game's final 4 innings with a walk and 5 strikeouts. ... Outfielder Troy Alexander (UALR) was recently activated by the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Canaries of the independent American Association. Alexander returned to action July 1, but has struggled in his return, going 4 for 22 (.182) and was hitless in the past three games through Thursday. His best game came in a 12-4 loss to Kansas City on Tuesday, in which he went 2 for 4 with an RBI. ... Reliever Tyler Zuber (White Hall, Arkansas State University) got engaged Monday. Zuber posted a photo on Twitter with himself on one knee as he proposed in front of white balloons and cut-out letters saying, "Marry me." Along with the photo, Zuber posted, "The biggest save of my career goes to locking down the love of my life for the rest of our lives! Cannot wait for forever with you!"
Information for this report was contributed by Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun