Riders Report | All good things must end: Frisco’s best of August and September 2026

In the final stretch of the 2026 season, the Frisco RoughRiders piled up the marquee moments on the way to matching their win total from the 2025 season. With a 73–64 regular-season record and one of the best offenses in RoughRiders history, Frisco entered the 2026 Texas League Playoffs seeking its first title since 2022, but fell in a bitter battle with the Amarillo Sod Poodles in the Division Series.

Though the season ended short of lifting the championship trophy, the Riders have plenty of positives to look back on from the last month and a half.

Let's revisit the best of August and September for the RoughRiders:

Best Hitter: CF Dylan Dreiling

In a perfect cap to a dominant Double-A debut season, Dreiling put on a hitting clinic across the final month and a half of 2026. The Tennessee product had a hit in every single game he played in August and went on a 25-game hitting streak that lasted into September — the longest in the Texas League this year and the longest by a RoughRider since Jurickson Profar in 2012 (29 games).

Across the final two months, Dreiling led the Riders, hitting .374 (3rd in the Texas League) with 49 total hits (3rd), 11 doubles (T-2nd) and a .997 OPS (9th). His .429 average in August was the highest in a single month among hitters with 95 or more plate appearances in recorded Texas League history (since 2005).

Dreiling reached the 20 home run mark, hit his 21st later that same night and finished with a team-high 22 in the regular season. With Frisco down to its final outs in the deciding game of the Division Series, Dreiling lifted a two-run postseason homer to make it a one-run game against Amarillo — one final swing to put a stamp on a stellar season.

Best Pitcher: RHP Leandro Lopez

After missing more than two months on the injured list, Lopez returned in a reliever role on August 12 and flashed out of the bullpen. Across nine regular-season appearances in August and September, the righty posted a 3.06 ERA in 17.2 innings with 23 strikeouts to just five walks.

After allowing five earned runs in his first three post-IL outings, Lopez surrendered just one run over his final six efforts to round out the season. The Bonoa, D.R. native pitched twice for Frisco in the postseason, covering four innings with just one run allowed.

Top Five Moments

With grand slams galore, here are the RoughRiders’ top five moments of August and September!

Number of Note

.272: For the first time since 2004, the RoughRiders led Double-A in batting average, hitting a collective .272 as a team. For the first time in franchise history, Frisco finished with three of the top 10 qualified hitters by average in the Texas League: Dylan Dreiling (2nd, .312), Marcus Lee Sang (3rd, .307) and Arturo Disla (.288, 8th).

Top Five Photos

3B Rafe Perich readies to unleash a throw to first base // Katie Dolberry

RHP Jack Leiter delivers a pitch in his August rehab assignment // Katie Dolberry

OF Marcus Lee Sang walks down the line during Playoff player introductions // Katie Dolberry

LHP Bryan Magdaleno exclaims after an inning-ending strikeout on Quesos Night // Katie Dolberry

INF Theo Hardy snaps off a cross-body throw for an out // Katie Dolberry

Follow Dolberry on Instagram for more photos: @KatieDolberryPhotography