Where will some of the top Texas Rangers prospects start this season?

The MLB announced on Tuesday that 2022 Opening Day has been canceled due to the ongoing lockout over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. However, the lockout does not affect Texas Rangers prospects as the Minor League teams are allowed to start on time.

Here is where I believe some of the top prospects in the Texas Rangers organization will start their season at.

Where could some Texas Rangers top prospects begin the 2022 season?

Cole Winn

AAA Round Rock Express

Cole Winn has been quite impressive so far during training this spring according to Texas Rangers reporters in Arizona. After posting a 3.38 ERA after being called up to Round Rock, he has room for improvement and can do that at Round Rock.

However, if he is pitching lights out with Round Rock by the time MLB has an agreement in place, he will most likely be pitching in Arlington.

Sam Huff

AAA Round Rock Express

The reason why I think that Sam Huff will end up with the Round Rock Express is the Rangers already have to great catchers. Jonah Heim and Jose Trevino will most likely end up on the main roster once the MLB gets their stuff together.

Might as well have him continue to develop down in Round Rock until the Rangers move on from Trevino or Heim than sitting on the bench.

Jack Leiter

AA Frisco RoughRiders 

The Texas Rangers didn’t hesitate to submit his name with the 3rd pick in the 2021 MLB Draft. If you saw his Vanderbilt highlights, you know the Rangers saw how big of a potential he will have in the big leagues.

He’s currently the Ranger’s number 1 prospect and the Rangers will probably keep him close to Arlington to keep an eye on his progress in his first minor league season. You never know if they might need a pitcher to make a quick trip to Arlington to replace an injured pitcher.

Aaron Zavala

AA Frisco RoughRiders

He’s my “dark horse” prospect who could fast track his way to the 40 man roster within a couple of seasons. Last year he played with the Down East Wood Ducks and had a slugging percentage of .400. The Rangers will most likely promote him to Frisco for a bigger challenge and see if that was for real last season.

Josh Jung

TBD

I wanted to have a little fun at the end of the article to brighten up everyone’s depressed mood from Tuesday. In all honesty, he won’t even play in the minors unless it’s a rehab assignment.

Ranger fans saw some of his home runs from last year in Frisco, and they showed that it would be a waste of time to keep him in the minors.  Nolan Writin’ Contributor Chris Giles predicted he would have made his Texas Rangers debut later this year before the injury happened.

While we might not see Corey Seager and the other “big fish” free agents for some time, we at least got minor league baseball to watch and follow. It’s better than having no baseball at all in my opinion. We might as well enjoy what players the Rangers will have in the future.