Texas Rangers: Three prospects to call up in September

RHP Demarcus Evans

The fact that Demarcus Evans still hasn’t made it to the Rangers active roster this season is a bit of a surprise. The hard-throwing right hander looked to be one of the first in line to get a look when the season started but has had to wait while others like Kyle Cody, John King and Wes Benjamin seemingly jumped him in the pecking order.

Evans joined a long list of fast moving relievers in the Rangers’ system last season when he started the year with the club’s High-A affiliate Down East, before earning a Double-A promotion to Frisco. He was dominant at both levels with a 0.81 ERA with the High-A Wood Ducks in 22.1 innings before he finished off the year with a 0.96 ERA in 37.2 innings with the RoughRiders.

At nearly every stop in his minor league career Evans has racked up the strikeouts and did so again in 2019 with 100 strikeouts in 60 total innings. With a high powered fastball that regularly resides in the mid-90s alongside a plus curveball, Evans has the making of a late-inning reliever.

Holding Evans back perhaps is his struggles at time with command and he regularly sees his walk rate in the 5-6 per nine innings range. Still, opponents have shown little ability to generate consistent hits off of him and he hasn’t allowed a batting average against over .200 since the 2017 season while he was still in Rookie ball.

With where the Texas Rangers are headed this season, giving Evans a look in the bullpen seems like an obvious choice. He feels like the next pitching prospect to get a call up but that call hasn’t come yet. As the month of September rolls on, it’s likely we’ll see Evans at some point, and get a look at a possible option as the Rangers’ closer of the future.

3B Sherten Apostel

The third baseman first on the pecking order to get a look at the Majors is not 2019 1st Round Pick Josh Jung. Rather, it’s Sherten Apostel. The bat-first third baseman joined the Rangers as a Player To Be Named Later in the deal that sent Keone Kela to the Pittsburgh Pirates and has caught the attention of the organization ever since.

The 21-year old, who hails from Curacao, finished off his 2019 season with High-A Down East has  steadily climbed prospect ranking for the Rangers’ farm. With MLB Pipeline slotting Apostel in at 10th in the organization. He fit the profile of a player who could make a big jump in notoriety had the 2020 minor league season been played. Without it though, Apostel would be looking to make a jump from High-A to the MLB, a jump we saw infielder Anderson Tejeda make earlier this season.

Apostel makes sense as a candidate to be promoted to the show because he already is on the Rangers’ 40-man roster. A third baseman with the potential for a big offensive impact, Apostel hit .251 between Hickory and Down East last season with 19 home runs in 121 games. In his Spring Training appearances for the Texas Rangers prior to this season, Apostel hit .211 with a .743 OPS in 13 games.

Before the season started Texas Rangers’ skipper Chris Woodward praised Apostel and noted that the Curacao native is not far off from being ready for the Majors. That, including his current 40-man status, could line Apostel up for a big league look before season’s end.

RHP Tyler Phillips

While the site of Cole Winn and Ricky Vanasco being added to the Rangers’ Alternate Site could interest a lot of fans, Tyler Phillips looks the most likely of the starting pitching prospects in the organization to get a look at the Majors this season.

A 6’5″ right-hander from New Jersey was a 16th round draft pick of the Texas Rangers in 2016 and has since steadily risen up the club’s farm system. With a fastball that sits in the low-90’s, Phillips works more as a weak contact pitcher rather than with an aggressive swing and miss approach. MLB Pipeline noted though that Phillips has arguably the best control and command in the Rangers’ system.

Phillips, like Apostel and Evans, makes sense as a candidate to debut this year because he is currently on the Rangers 40-man roster. Texas won’t have to make a move to get him up with the club making a call up all the more easy.

Last season Phillips pitched with High-A Down East and Double-A Frisco. He made 22 starts between the two levels and 24 appearances overall. His success in six starts with the Wood Ducks was noteworthy with Phillips posting a 1.19 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP against Class-A hitters. However, the jump to Double-A wasn’t quite as smooth with opponents hitting .263 against Phillips while his ERA jumped up to the 4.73 mark.

While Phillips likely doesn’t profile as a frontline starter, his ability to limit free passes and generate ground balls could get him into the rotation long-term at the back end. With the Rangers likely looking to fill at least a couple of rotation spots for the 2021 season, Phillips could get a look now as Texas evaluates their options. Of the starting pitchers who might get a call this year, Phillips seems the most likely.