Texas Rangers: Three Pitching Prospects to Hit the Majors this Season

1. Taylor Hearn

Taylor Hearn was acquired by the Rangers this past season as part of a trade deadline deal that sent closer, Keone Kela, to the Pittsburgh Pirates. A hard-throwing lefty, Hearn immediately slotted into the Top 10 Rangers’ prospects according to MLB Prospect Watch upon arrival in the organization.

A local product, Hearn saw his stock grow with an impressive year for the Pirates Double-A affiliate before being traded to Texas. For the Pirates’ affiliate, Altoona, Hearn impressed in 19 starts. Keeping his ERA at just 3.12, Hearn racked up 107 strikeouts in 104 innings of work and held opponents to just a .198 batting average. With a WHIP of 1.09, Hearn did a fantastic job keeping runners off base limiting his ERA.

Once being traded to the Texas Rangers and being placed with Double-A Frisco, Hearn did struggle a bit in his 5 starts throwing just 25 innings in total. His 5.04 ERA was a bit disappointing and he struggled missing bats with opponents hitting .284 against him. His strikeout total remained impressive however sitting down 33 in 25 innings of work.

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At only 24 years old, Hearn still has plenty of room to develop as a pitcher. There are questions raised about his ability to remain a starter despite working exclusively as one in Double-A last season. Hearn does struggle with command and also lacks a true strikeout-quality breaking ball. His explosive fastball paired with a decent changeup make him effective, but limit his ability to work multiple times through the order.

At the end of the 2018 season, Hearn is ranked as the 6th prospect in the Rangers’ organization by MLB Prospect Watch. He likely will start the season in Triple-A to get some more work in before cracking the Major League roster. He is a part of the 40-man roster and likely will get some good work in Spring Training. Depending on whether the Rangers really want to push him as a starter or move him to the late-inning bullpen will decide how quickly he makes it to Arlington.

2. Jonathan Hernandez

While you probably are familiar with Taylor Hearn, you likely haven’t heard much about Jonathan Hernandez. Son of a former big league pitcher, Hernandez has steadily climbed his way through the minors the past couple of seasons. Signed as an international free agent by Texas back in 2013, Hernandez likely will be the highest rated prospect to hit the Majors this season for the Rangers.

MLB Prospect Watch has Hernandez as the 5th ranked prospect in the organization at the close of the 2018 season. He skyrocketed up the Rangers prospect rankings after a dominant year in High-A ball and making it to Double-A Frisco.

Starting 2018 with High-A Down East, Hernandez made 10 starts for the Wood Ducks posting a winning record a 2.20 ERA. Through 57.1 innings Hernandez racked up a stunning 77 strikeouts for Down East holding opponents to a .184 average and sub-1.00 WHIP. Once he was promoted to Frisco, he did struggle a bit which isn’t that much of a shock. He made 12 starts for the RoughRiders and opponents batting average jumped to .247 and his ERA skyrocketed to 4.92. He also struggled a bit keeping his strikeout rate per inning where it was.

Like Hearn, Hernandez has an electric fastball that can sit in the upper-90’s. His breaking ball is above average and he also sports a changeup that could develop into a plus pitch. His ability to have three quality pitches make him a little more likely to stick in a rotation rather than jumping into the bullpen but he has to work on his command as many young pitchers do.

Similar to Hearn, whether the Rangers want to keep Hernandez as a starter will dictate how quickly he makes his appearance in Arlington. He brings more to the table than Hearn but also could benefit from more polishing. I would expect the Rangers to take their time more with Hernandez and if there’s a player on this list to not crack the big league roster, it would be him.

3. CD Pelham

Pelham is probably the pitcher Texas Rangers fans are most familiar at this point. Pelham, in fact, has already seen some big league time on the mound coming at the end of 2018. Pelham was drafted in the 33rd round of the 2015 draft by the Rangers and saw his status within the organization rise over the past couple of seasons.

Hearn closed the 2018 season as the 15th ranked prospect by MLB Prospect Watch and climbed his way through the minor league ranks quickly starting the season with High-A Down East. He made his way to Double-A Frisco and spent a chunk of the season before his trip to Arlington as part of the September call-ups.

In 23 games with Down East, all out of the bullpen, Pelham dominated High-A ball with his high-90’s fastball and killer cutter. Opponents hit just .215 against him in High-A and he racked up 11 saves while striking out more than a batter an inning. With Double-A Frisco, Pelham continued to work out of the bullpen making 24 appearances. He struggled, like his counterparts earlier in the list, allowing opponents a .270 batting average. His 6.16 ERA was also a bit disconcerting as he struggled to limit walks in his time with Frisco.

Pelham got the call-up to the Rangers in September and appeared in 10 games throwing 7.2 innings. His ERA was 7.04 and opponents were hitting a shocking .353 against him but with such a small sample size coming on a bad team late in the season, I feel we can disregard his MLB work in 2018.

Pelham likely is the first pitcher to crack the Majors this season considering he already spent time there last season. He’s got the makings of a late-inning bullpen pitcher and many feel he could be a big league closer before it’s all said and done. If the Rangers part ways with any bullpen pieces this season, Pelham could hit Arlington fairly quickly and there’s a slight possibility he opens the season with the big league club.