Texas Rangers: When will the big arm of Hans Crouse make it to the big leagues?

It’s been awhile since the Texas Rangers have had a pitcher in the minors draw as much attention as Hans Crouse. When will he make it to Arlington?

Hans Crouse was the Texas Rangers’ second round pick in 2017, and he’s dominated at every stop so far in his brief professional career. It has been a long time since the Rangers have had a pitching prospect with as much potential as Crouse making his way through the minors.

Across two seasons at rookie ball, Low-A, and A ball, Crouse has been terrific, compiling a 1.93 overall ERA, along with 92 strikeouts in just 74.2 innings.

Crouse ended last season at Class A Hickory. He made only five starts with the Hickory Crawdads, so it is very likely that he’ll return to the same level to begin the 2019 session. In his five starts, he had a 2.70 ERA and struck out 15 batters in 16.2 innings.

He’s impressed enough to earn the #1 prospect ranking within the Texas organization. Furthermore, he’s the #84 prospect in all of baseball according to MLB.com. The rankings are encouraging; however, his five starts worth of experience in A ball tells us he has a way to go before making is major league debut. Let’s determine a timeline for when Crouse should finally make his debut in Arlington…

2019

In 2019, Crouse will probably start the season at Low-A Hickory. If his ERA stays on par and he continues to improve early in the year, he could find himself at Single-A as a member of the Down East Wood Ducks by the All-Star break. Given how dominant he has been at every level so far, that step forward is completely feasible. Only injury or an unforeseen struggle will prevent him from reaching High-A at some point in the year.

2020

This is the season Hans becomes a household name for the people who even moderately follow prospects. He’s going to start the year at High-A, but he’ll be invited to spring training, and he’ll end the season at Triple-A Nashville. Who knows, maybe he’ll pitch well enough to skip Double-A all together.

Crouse is going to go through struggles at the Triple-A level because he will only be 22, and it’s a big jump in talent from Single-A to Triple-A. But, after a bit of a rough start, he’ll come into his own and becomes a borderline September call-up. The Rangers will however decide to let him continue working against minor league competition instead of promoting him to the bigs.

2021

This is the year! Crouse makes the 40-man roster, and competes for a spot in the rotation. After a so-so spring training, the Texas Rangers will send him back to Triple-A for a little refining, but he’ll finally be called up in May for his spot in the rotation. Crouse will hold onto the spot throughout the season and he’ll join the running for American League Rookie of the Year. Crouse, along fellow prospects Leody Taveras and Bubba Thompson, will help lead Texas to their first winning season since 2017. As a consolation, they’ll bring the Silver Boot back to Arlington!