Rangers steal one with Tolleson

The Texas Rangers picked up Shawn Tolleson off waivers today from the Los Angeles Dodgers today.  The right handed pitcher, who is from the Dallas/Fort Worth area was drafted by the Dodgers 30th in the 2010 amateur draft.

September 14, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Shawn Tolleson (38) pitches in the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The 24 year old pitcher didn’t play much for the Dodger in his 2 years there (2012-2013), partially because in 2013 he had a left hip injury and also back surgery.  The former Baylor Bear looks to get back on track in Arlington now this year.

During his time with the Dodgers he pitched in 41 games over 37.2 innings.  He has an ERA of 4.30 with 39 strikeouts and allowed 22 walks.  His 2013 minor league numbers are better, with an ERA of 1.17, 3 strikeouts and 3 walks, but that is a small sample size of just 5 games and 7.2 innings.  Overall in the minors, he had an ERA of 1.34 and a strikeout rate over 9 innings of 13.0.  Pretty solid number over 4 years in the minors.  Also, to add to his credit, Tolleson was ranked the number 4 Dodger prospect in 2012 by Rotoprofessor.

Tolleson does feature a nice fastball in the mid 90’s and a cutter that has the ability to strikeout left-handed batters.  He also has a slider that is effective.  Tolleson should it nice as setup man in the bullpen for the 2014 season.  Hopefully he’ll be stay healthy for the season.  That was a big problem for the Texas Rangers and Jon Daniels in 2013.   This could be a nice acquisition for the Texas Rangers.  Jon Daniels usually has a pretty good evaluation system for players.  People should be excited to see him pitch in 2014. Shawn Tolleson tweeted about being with the Texas Rangers