Texas Rangers Weekly Report 21: Ottobots roll out

The Texas Rangers had two of their top pitching prospects make their MLB pitching debut this week. Glenn Otto and A.J. Alexy both showed Rangers fans why deserved their big league debut at the end of August.

For the first time since 1900, the Rangers are the first major league team to have two pitchers to make their debuts and pitch 5 innings without allowing 2 or more hits.

In other good news, the Rangers got their first grand slam of the year from El Bombi against our in-state rivals the Astros. The Rangers were the only team without a grand slam in 2021 entering the game Sunday against the Astros.

The Rangers ended up taking one game from the Houston Astros and 2 from the Rockies this past week.

Texas Rangers Weekly Report: Who’s Hot

A.J Alexy

A.J. Alexy was the second rookie to make his debut this week and he only allowed 1 hit and got 4 strikeouts in 4 innings. The Rangers acquired him from the L.A Dodgers in the Yu Darvish trade. What I’m most excited about him is he’s only 23.

With him only being 23, we haven’t seen the prime of his career and he could be a really nice addition in the starting rotation if he continues developing correctly.

Glenn Otto

Glenn Otto was one of the pitchers that we got back in the deal for Joey Gallo. Otto pitched 5 innings in which he only allowed two runs and had 7 strikeouts.

One of the most intriguing things he said during the post-game conference was the filthy slider he was dealing with was a brand new pitch he’s been working on this year.

If he can master a couple more pitches like this slider, he can be a future number 2 in the starting rotation behind Leiter.

Josh Jung

Josh Jung had a huge game against the Isotopes in Triple-A ball this week. In 5 at-bats, Jung had three doubles and a home run.

I wouldn’t bring him up until next year, let him develop more in Triple-A for the remainder of the season, and give him a chance to win a starting job next spring training.

DJ Peters

DJ Peters has shown he has power at the plate but what we haven’t seen from him a lot is how good his outfield catching is. Look at the Odell Beckham Jr.- like catch he made against the Rockies Tuesday night.

Texas Rangers Weekly Report: Who’s Not Hot

Joe Barlow

Joe Barlow really did set the “bar low” this past Wednesday. He showed not what to do when you are called on to close the game. He allowed 5 runs at the top of the 9th Wednesday and earned his first blown save.

Afterthoughts

After watching Otto and Alexy pitch this past week, I think we are on the right track of developing our pitching prospects and don’t really need to go after one in free agency.

More from Nolan Writin'

• 3 Texas Rangers outfield trade targets not named Bryan Reynolds
• Did Jacob deGrom really mean what he said at his Texas Rangers press conference?
• Where do Texas Rangers prospects Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker stand after the DeGrom signing?
• Martin Perez accepting the qualifying offer looking like solid deal for the Rangers
• 4 outfielders the Texas Rangers can still pursue this winter

Our money should be going towards signing Trevor Story away from the Rockies this offseason. He showed on Monday night with his offense on why the Rangers should pursue him.

The last thing I want to talk about is Steve Foster, the pitching coach of the Colorado Rockies. I personally know him since his son and my younger brother were in the same band in high school.

I’ve been noticing a lot of hate on Twitter towards him this year since the pitching hasn’t been good. I personally think it’s not his fault that the pitching has been subpar.

The front office didn’t go after pitchers during the last offseason which the Rockies really needed. Also, it’s not his fault that Rockies ace Kyle Freeland missed a month to begin the year due to an injury.

The Rockies faithful need to realize that Coach Foster can develop pitchers at the major league level, he’s done it in Kansas City. The fans should direct their disappointment to the front office for not upgrading the bullpen enough.

Texas Rangers Upcoming Schedule:

September 3-6 at Los Angeles Angels

September 8-9 at Arizona Diamondbacks

Texas Rangers: The Joey Gallo trade is about to start paying off

The first piece of the Texas Rangers' return for Joey Gallo in the trade with the Yankees has emerged, with Glenn Otto slated to debut Friday.