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

As a team in full rebuild, the Texas Rangers will have plenty of spots available for young talent, looking to crack the Major League roster.

The Texas Rangers are entering another season marked by a rebuilding club. With not much competitiveness expected, there should be plenty of opportunities for some of the club’s more advanced prospects to get meaningful playing time with the big league club. These players make up all tiers of the Rangers minor league rankings but all can make an impact in what is expected to be a tough 2019 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.

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.