3 Texas Rangers Prospects Most Likely to Emerge as September Call-Ups

3 Texas Rangers prospects that could be called up in September

#3 – Yerry Rodriguez (RHP)

It pains me to not put Cole Winn on this list, but he’s had such a dismal 2022 campaign and completely lost the momentum he carried into the season from last year. But I wanted to include a pitcher, and other than Winn and Alexy (who is already on the pro roster), Yerry’s…. pretty much the only other option?

Rodriguez is a perplexing case. He’s had an elbow injury, a PED suspension, and a transition from starter to reliever over the course of his minor league career. He currently serves as a late-innings setup guy for the AAA Express, and he still hasn’t quite proven that he has shut down stuff. However, Rodriguez has only allowed a home run in one of his 19 appearances since June 7, and he had a stretch across June where he went 8 innings of work without giving up an earned run. He’s been a Ranger since 2015, so at some point you’d like to see a real stride in progression. His walk rate is not good by any stretch and he has command issues that reinforce the issue. The potential is there, though, as Yerry earned Reliever of the Month honors from the club in June for allowing a .125/.222/.250 slash line from his opponents and posting a 1.54 ERA.

I hate to boil it down to something as remedial as this, but man, the Rangers bullpen has been shaky and unstable at best this year, and a call-up for Rodriguez as a “show me what you’ve got” type of deal could end up as a fruitful experiment! I don’t know that Yerry has the stuff to last long in the pros, or maybe he does and just hasn’t sunk his feet in as a reliever yet. The pitches are powerful – he can gun it close to 100 MPH. That in itself is good enough to sustain at the pros, but if he’s going to get some light work out of the pen in September, he’ll need to really hone in on locking in his location.

3 Texas Rangers prospects that could be called up in September

#2 – Dustin Harris (1B/3B)

Dustin Harris, AKA the 2021 Tom Grieve Minor League Player of the Year, is a profoundly exciting prospect that I personally feel gets overlooked in this new wave of hope in our minor leaguers. He does not yet showcase the flashiest of statistics, but if eye tests accurately graded players, I think he’d revel in the fanfare.

Harris’s greatest strength is his versatility. Though drafted and traded to Texas as a first baseman, he’s proven his ability to play third base as well, and the club has expressed interest in trying him out in the corner outfield spots at the benefit of his powerful arm. He has respectable speed, stealing 19 of his 24 attempted bases this year. He can hit to all areas of the park as a lefty. He has commendable plate discipline and doesn’t strike out at an alarming rate. Now, I don’t necessarily think rushing guys into pro ball straight from Double-A is a smart decision. It hardly ever does any good for either the player or club, and depending on the scenario, it can completely warp the timeline of that player’s true ETA.

Yet, it’s difficult to ignore a career .873 OPS in just shy of 1,000 MiLB at-bats for a player who is only very recently 23. Though he hasn’t yet earned the promotion to Round Rock, his scouting grades lead me to believe he could really produce in a short window of time this year as the season winds down. Getting him a small major league sample size and starting him in Round Rock next year seems like the safest bet going forward, but the kid is loaded with potential in all areas of play. He could serve as a potential bright spot at any of four positions (1B/3B/LF/RF) that are all easily the most upgradeable for the big league club at the moment, and though it would kick in his service clock rather early in his schedule, it makes all the sense in the world to try and see where Harris can help out at those spots.

3 Texas Rangers prospects that could be called up in September

#1 – Josh Jung (3B)

Third base is a position the Rangers have sorely lacked production from since the retirement of *literally* one of the best ever at the corner, Adrian Beltre. Jung soared through the minors after a glorified career at Texas Tech, raking at the plate and playing adequately enough on defense. He was projected by many to be the Opening Day third baseman in 2022, or at the very least be one of the first regular season call-ups. Then he tore the labrum in his shoulder early in the year and needed a summers’ worth of rehab.

Thankfully, it doesn’t look like he’s missed a step. As of August 14, he’s slashing .353/.421/.824 with two home runs, two walks, and 14 total bases in 19 plate appearances. Sure, that’s not much of a sample size to work with, but Jung has accumulated about a full Major League’s season’s worth of playing time through three years in the minors, and in 134 games (588 ABs), he’s registered 26 homers, 100 runs batted in, and a slash line of .319/.393/.550. He’s a slugger.

However, he’s a slugger who turns 25 in February, and it would be justifiable to say the clock is starting to tick to get him set up at the hot corner. There is no reason to start him out at Round Rock next year, and service time shouldn’t be much of an issue at this point given his age. He is one of the most, if not THE most Major League ready bat in the farm at the moment. Between Smith, Duran, and Culberson, there is enough shuffling around to be done to give Jung a taste of what the position demands at the pro level.

Once again, Texas has a severe need for stability at third base. The list of players Woodward has tried out at the corner since 2019 is staggering; Culberson, Holt, Gallo, Cabrera, Kiner-Falefa, Ibanez, Miller, Duran, Smith. There’s more, but you get the point. The Rangers require a third baseman, badly. The middle infield is locked up for a while and Nathaniel Lowe is a greatly productive hitter who can continue to improve defensively and round out the infield. Jung has enjoyed an accolade-laden career before even taking a professional at-bat. The Rangers have a massive stake in him as a centerpiece of the new era here, and it behooves both parties to give him some playing time in September.