Texas Rangers Weekly Report 17: “It’s Heim Time in Texas!”

The Texas Rangers had some good news this week. They managed to get three wins, two of them coming from Jonah Heim by himself, who I will talk about more later on.

The bad news for the week was David Dahl being DFA’d by the Rangers to make room for  prospects to get a shot at the big league level. The move shows that no one is safe on the roster from getting DFA’d and it could happen to anyone in Arlington on short notice.

However, it’s been great to see some of the younger guys getting called up to the majors and getting their shot. That’s what a rebuilding season is all about.

Texas Rangers Weekly Report: Who’s Hot

Jonah Heim

Jonah Heim became the first rookie to have back-to-back walk-off home runs in a Rangers uniform. Here’s quote from Jonah Heim after his first one Saturday night:

"“I asked Woody if I should bunt or hit a homer. He said he wouldn’t be mad if I hit a homer.”"

Success, Jonah! You didn’t make the manager mad.

Below are the highlights from both of his walk-off home runs this past week. Viewer discretion is advised as it will make you want to be a part of the celebration at home plate.

Joe Barlow

Joe Barlow didn’t set the “bar low” this week, he set the “bar high” (I’ll see myself out). Barlow struck out 8 batters in a row to break Neftali Feliz’s record. Here are the highlights below. After his recent string of performances, Barlow is making us ask, “Ian Kennedy who?”

Round Rock Express

The Triple-A affiliate of the Rangers just got a lot better with A.J Alexy, Yerry Rodriguez Sherten Apostel, and Steele Walker being promoted from the Frisco RoughRiders. I wish these guys the best of luck at the next level and hopefully they grow enough there to merit big league call ups soon.

Curtis Terry

Curtis “Scary Terry” finally got his first-ever Major League hits and RBIs this past week and that  warrants him making the who’s hot list. There are many more hits to come for him in his future as a Ranger.

https://twitter.com/Rangers/status/1422356802465898499?s=20

Texas Rangers Weekly Report: Who’s Not

The Frisco Roughriders 

The Frisco Roughriders lost a bunch of their talent when the four prospects mentioned above got promoted to Triple-A baseball. I’m disappointed I didn’t get to go see them in person before getting promoted to the next level, but we know they’re going to thrive at AAA.

I’m not worried as the RoughRiders in the long run, though, as they will get a bunch of talent coming up from Single-A ball shortly to replace them. Hopefully, Frisco can finish the season strong without these four prospects.

Final Thoughts

As the 2021 season enters the last half of the season, expect the Rangers to call up a lot of their top prospects to play over the next month and a half. I know a lot of fans won’t be happy that the Rangers are basically giving up, but it’s for the best.

The reason why they are calling them up is to see if they have what it takes to play at the next level and which prospects they need to move on from. For many, this is their chance to show the front office why they should stay in a Rangers uniform long term.

So when you see the starting lineup for the Rangers and most of the players are not top prospects, don’t get mad at the Rangers for doing it. Just be happy those reps aren’t going to Brock Holt and Charlie Culberson, who don’t need them nearly as much as the younger players do.

Texas Rangers Upcoming Schedule

August 6-8 @ Oakland Athletics

August 10-12 @ Seattle Mariners

David Dahl DFA shows (almost) no one is safe on the Texas Rangers’ roster

The Texas Rangers cut OF David Dahl on Monday, showing that (almost) no one is truly safe on this roster down the stretch.