2 high ceiling Rangers prospects showed out as DSL finally gets underway

The Texas Rangers minor league system has seen better days. Spencer Walcott is still one of the most exciting prospects in baseball, despite the crushing blow that was his torn UCL, and there are some other intriguing youngsters, but overall, the pipeline is relatively dry, ranking 25th in the league heading into the season.

With that said, the way the season unfolds could change the complexion of the farm dramatically, especially at the lower levels. The lowest of them all is the Dominican Summer League (DSL), where mostly literal kids get started in their professional careers and chase their nearly impossible dreams.

The DSL season kicked off on June 1, and two 17-year-olds began their seasons with a bang, working down in Boca Chica, just outside of Santo Domingo.

Elian Rosario was the gem of the Rangers' international class, signing for a $2.5 million bonus, nearly half of Texas's total 2026 IFA pool. Already six-foot-two, 195 pounds, the teenage outfielder is a physical specimen who projects to be a prodigious power hitter. If there were any doubters out there questioning his pop, he silenced them with two dingers in his second career game.

Not to be outdone, 17-year-old outfielder-turned-pitcher Breyner Figuereo made heads turn as he was hitting between 98 to 100 miles per hour on the gun as a lefty in his first appearance.

Elian Rosario and Breyner Figuereo are two Rangers prospects to watch in 2026

Rosario has all of the fanfare and deservedly so. Still, he's hit the ground running with a .353/.429/.765 line to go with his two homers and 10 RBIs in just four games. It's safe to say he's validating his No. 9 ranking in the system.

The biggest concern with him is his aggressiveness, which could lead to strikeouts coming in bunches. So far, he's struck out just twice, so that will be something to keep an eye on. If he proves to be more disciplined than expected, he could rise fast, especially since the very early returns suggest that his power is real.

He has the type of juice where he could become one of those youngsters who really raise the profile of the system as a whole. He should be fun to watch develop.

Figuereo might be even more intriguing, though in a strange way. The Rangers gave him a $100,000 bonus, but because he was signed and subsequently released by the Chicago Cubs, who used him as an outfielder, a year ago, that money was not deducted from Texas's IFA class.

The hitting thing didn't really work out for him, but as a pitcher, he's mighty intriguing. The younger brother of Rangers infield prospect, Gleider Figuereo, was hitting 94-95 late last year, hit 97 during bullpen sessions over the winter, and is now touching triple digits.

It's rare to see a lefty with that guy of gas, and even more so when said southpaw measures in at five-foot-eleven, 171 pounds. It doesn't seem like the laws of physics should allow that, but apparently Figuereo is proof that they do.

He's not a top-ranked prospect, and this is all still very new. He's going to need to learn how to pitch, and with that body type, he'll also need to prove he can stay healthy. But like Rosario, his development will be fascinating to keep track of this year, and with that kind of velocity, the sky is the limit for him.

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