With the trade deadline and its chaos in the rearview mirror with the calendar turn from July to August, we’ve now reached the point in the Texas Rangers‘ 2021 season where it’s time to start giving young players opportunities.
Out with the old and in with the new, as the saying goes, and that could not be more applicable to the current state of the Rangers.
With Curtis Terry and Joe Barlow promoted to the big leagues in July and Spencer Howard slotted to start Thursday against the Angels, Texas has gradually begun the process of incorporating youngsters into their big league plans this season. This trend should continue on for the rest of 2021.
In that spirit, here are 3 more minor leaguers we’d like to see promoted this season (and no, not Cole Winn or Josh Jung yet).
Yohel Pozo
This MiLB catcher is raking in AAA and he deserves a call-up to the Texas Rangers
Add Yohel Pozo to the growing list of Texas Rangers players who have emerged from out of nowhere to become hidden gems in the pipeline.
Adolis Garcia, Joe Barlow, Curtis Terry, and now Yohel Pozo.
Pozo, 24, is not a top prospect in the organization but is sure playing like one with a .979 OPS in 246 at-bats for AAA Round Rock. Much like Curtis Terry, Pozo is big and strong batting from the right side of the plate.
The catcher was claimed by the Rangers organization from San Diego last December but with the solid organizational depth at catcher with Jonah Heim and Jose Trevino in the bigs and Sam Huff and prospect David Garcia behind them in the minors, Pozo’s path looked blocked.
Now, though, Pozo has seemingly bypassed the latter two and has earned a big league call-up this season. Rather than rush Sam Huff and David Garcia, Texas should give the raking Pozo a chance in the big leagues.
It can’t hurt, right?