The Texas Rangers are the next AL West team on our Players Likely to Debut series. In case you missed it, we have already rolled over two-thirds of the league.
AL East: Red Sox — Yankees — Orioles — Blue Jays — Rays
NL East: Marlins — Braves — Phillies — Mets — Nationals
AL Central: Tigers — Royals — White Sox — Twins — Cleveland
NL Central: Cardinals — Reds — Pirates — Cubs — Brewers
AL West: Mariners
Below, you will find a list of three prospects from the respective organization. Each prospect will have a number score next to their name — this number will represent the estimated amount of time we anticipate that player seeing at the big-league level. Players that have already made their big-league debut will not be included on this list.
BREAKDOWN OF TIME ON ROSTER SCORES:
1 — September call-ups / guys that are likely to see less than 20-25 games on the roster
2 — 1/4 of the season (roughly 40 games on roster)
3 — 1/2 of the season (roughly 80 games on roster)
4 — 3/4 of the season (roughly 120 games on roster)
5 — Full season on the MLB roster
Texas Rangers
Position — Name (Time on Roster Score)
RHP — Hans Crouse (1)
Crouse was the type of arm that drew plenty of, both, excitement and curiosity coming out of the 2017 MLB Draft, given his fastball/breaking ball combo. Unfortunately, the lack of a clean injury history and a quirky delivery combine to leave a fair amount risk. Overall, Crouse has already shown that he’s capable of dominating right-handed batters, and his stuff would certainly play up in the bullpen should the Rangers decide to give him a look late in the season.
RHP — Yerry Rodriguez (2)
Analytically, Rodriguez looks like a top pitching prospect with elite spin rate and good velocity to go along with a great ability to pound the zone. However, the stuff has not dominated the way that one would expect, and a slew of injuries has resulted in a stall in development. The Rangers have included him on their 40-man roster heading into this season so they are clearly of the belief that he is close to making contributions in Texas. That said, I would expect him to spend a little bit more time marinating in the minors before being promoted later in the season.
RHP — Tyler Phillips (3)
Phillips is the type of pitcher that lacks an ability to overpower or dominate hitters, but has the makings of a back end rotation piece due to plus command of his four pitch arsenal coupled with a strong GB clip. The Rangers have rolled the dice with a few of their rotation acquisitions this off season so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them turn to a high floor type of arm like Phillips at some point if they are searching for someone to eat some innings.
NOTABLE
The second pick in the Rule 5 this year, Brett de Geus, looks poised to be in competition for a bullpen spot after coming over from the Dodgers. could see innings at some point this year. Another intriguing name to follow is Japanese right-hander Kohei Arihara. Already 28, Arihara doesn’t fit the typical bill for a prospect on these lists, but he should get an immediate spot in the rotation and it will be interesting following in his first action stateside.
Photo Credit: James Snook
