By Will Weinstock

In Part III of an Express Tracks series chronicling the highlights of each month of the Round Rock Express 2012 season. This article covers the highlights of July. One game left in July the E-Train are 11-16 (48-62 overall) this month and are now 16.0 games back in the Southern Division. 

Player of the Month: 1B Brad Nelson

Highlights of July:

• Former Express players OF Hunter Pence and LHP Wandy Rodriguez were traded to the Giants and Pirates respectively.
• Season-best five game winning streak from July 26-29.

Quote of the Month: RHP Justin Grimm on his MLB debut

“I did not know if I was going to be able to throw a strike or not,” Grimm said. “I was shaking and then hearing the crowd after that first strike, I knew that is where I want to be. 

Impact Hitter: 1B Brad Nelson (.286, 7 HR, 16 RBI in July)

After a disappointing month of June, 1B Brad Nelson has turned it around in a big way in July. In a month that the E-Train struggled to score runs, most nights the offense usually went through Nelson. Since the All-Star Break the 29-year-old has been in a class of his own, hitting .348 with 7 home runs and 14 RBI. With opposing pitchers starting to work around him, Nelson has adjusted well and raised his on base percentage significantly and walked 18 times. Expect him to continue to be an integral part of this team.

Impact Pitcher: RHP Justin Grimm (1-0, 2.57 ERA in July)

Expectations were high for RHP Justin Grimm when he arrived in Round Rock. Grimm obliterated hitters at Double-A (8-3, 1.80 ERA), on his way to making two major league starts for the Rangers. Since coming to the Express the 23-year-old has done nothing to dispel the pedigree that follows him. What has impressed the Express Tracks staff the most is not only his great stuff and numbers, but Grimm’s makeup. You can tell off the bat that Grimm is a player that is out there trying to get better each and every day, and a guy that any team would love to have in their clubhouse. For more on Grimm click here and check out our interview with him last week

Month of the Rehab: Although Express fans never root for injuries at the big league level. One of the advantages of so many Rangers going down so far this season was the large amount of MLB rehab assignments in Round Rock. July might have set a record with five rehabs. LHP Derek Holland came first, and was followed by RHP Alexi Ogando, RHP Koji Uehara, RHP Neftali Feliz, and lastly 1B Mitch Moreland. All had their varying degrees of success. But most impressive was Ogando’s sheer dominance. When he pitched onlookers knew the hitters had no chance. In his 3.0 innings of work Ogando gave up one hit and struck out five.

SportsCenter Da Na Na: In a stretch of four nights in late July the Express played three extra inning games. The E-Train won two of those three extra inning games in game winning fashion. The first night the Express came back from a five run deficit in the ninth to win in the 11^th inning on OF Ryan Spilborgh’s game winning single down the right field line. Two nights later, another comeback and another game winning single in the 11^th inning. The only difference was it was C Elio Sarmiento this time in a 3-2 Express win.

Oh So Sweet: The E-Train have won five of their last six games and are on a roll going into the last full month of the season. August is looking more exciting because of what the lineup could look like in the coming weeks. The lineup has been hitting better of late and will be adding at least one stud and possibly another soon. First, the Rangers optioned OF Leonys Martin to Round Rock when they called up 1B Mitch Moreland yesterday. And there is a chance 3B Mike Olt could be promoted to Triple-A for a late season challenge. The following lineup should be taken with a grain of salt, by no means are they derived from inside information or knowledge. However, this is what the Express lineup could look like if the Olt is brought up to Triple-A. Enjoy.

LF Borbon (.300, 8 HR, 40 RBI)

CF Martin (.344, 5 HR, 22 RBI)

3B Olt (.277, 28 HR, 80 RBI at Frisco)

1B Nelson (.281, 18 HR, 63 RBI)

DH Spilborghs (.293, 6 HR, 40 RBI)

RF Butler (.280, 14 HR, 49 RBI)

2B Solarte (.278, 7 HR, 40 RBI)

SS Hernandez (.232, 7 HR, 47 RBI)

C Martinez (.268, 2 HR, 21 RBI)

Overall Records:

(MLB) Texas Rangers: 59-42, 3.5 game lead

(AA) Frisco Roughriders: 17-20, 8.0 games back

(Advanced-A) Myrtle Beach Pelicans: 22-15, 1.0 game lead

(A) Hickory Crawdads: 21-17, 1.0 game lead

(Short Season) Spokane Indians: 4-2, 1.0 game lead

(Rookie) Texas Rangers: 19-13, 1.0 game lead