4 Texas Rangers players who need to play well to secure a roster spot

2. Justin Foscue

The 2020 MLB draft will go down in the history books for the Texas Rangers. That is the year they drafted Justin Foscue in the first round, Evan Carter in the second round, Thomas Saggese, and then signed Aidan Curry as an undrafted free agent. Carter made his debut last September and is positioned to be one of the young stars in baseball in 2024. Foscue is in camp this season and will be given a long look at making the team. He already is taking ground balls at first base as he is looked at maybe a backup first baseman for Nathaniel Lowe. He is in the running to be the starting DH and can play second and third base as well.

Foscue has been a great hitter at every level he has played at. He now has an opportunity to show out against major league pitching. Foscue in 2023 had a .266 batting average, 18 home runs 84 RBIs, and an .862 OPS. He spent the entire season at Triple-A Round Rock and played 122 games. He is not the best defender, but his bat will translate to the majors. The question becomes is he ready? The only way to find out is to throw him out there. I would expect him to stay in camp until the very end as Texas tries to determine the answer to the readiness question.

The one thing to watch with Foscue is how does he do if he gets behind in the count. In 2023 at Round Rock he had a .197 batting average, 41 strikeouts, and zero walks when he fell behind in the count. In the majors he will need to show an ability to work a count when he gets down 0-1 or 1-2. He can't give up on the at-bat. If he can get ahead that shifts to a .295 batting average. He will need to show that he can succeed when working from behind. He has the ability to hit left-handers and right-handers, he can hit with runners on base, and the ability to get on base. He just needs to show improvement when falling behind in the count. It would be a player development success story if he does make the team.

3. Jack Leiter

All eyes are on Jack Leiter this spring. It is his third spring training with the Texas Rangers and it is time for him to show results. He is Rule 5 draft eligible this winter. He needs to show that he can produce positive results in camp and once the regular season starts. Texas has been working with Leiter throughout his two seasons in the organization. It is time for him to show a return in the investment Texas has put on him. Leiter will make an appearance in the first game today out of the bullpen. I would expect him to make a few more appearances this Spring.

Leiter has the stuff to be a middle to top of the rotation pitcher. That is why he was drafted number two back in 2021. He just has to put it together. Patience will likely run thin with Texas if he struggles to another 5+ ERA like he has had in both 2022 and 2023. Leiter this season needs to show that he can pitch deep into games. He needs to show that he can attack hitters in multiple ways throughout a game. Leiter in 2023 had a bad habit of getting off to bad starts, rebounding in the second and third innings, and then progressively getting worse in the fourth through sixth innings. He never went more than six innings in a game in 2023.

This spring training I will be focusing on Leiter and his pitch efficiency. The strikeouts will always be there for Leiter. He struck out 114 in 85 innings in 2023. I want to see him have more 2-3 pitch at-bats and fewer 5 or more pitch at-bats. That is how he will get deeper into games. More 0-1 and 0-2 counts and fewer 2-2 and 3-2 counts. He does not need to let perfect be the enemy of good. Leiter in his first two seasons oftentimes seems to be trying to make the perfect pitch instead of the pitch that will get a hitter out. When he is out there focus on how many pitches every batter is making him throw to see what improvements he has made over the offseason. If he can be more efficient that will lead to him making his MLB debut sooner rather than later.

4. Cole Winn

Sometimes this site gets in trouble by declaring a players' last chance like we did with Josh Sborz last September or Jack Leiter when he was shut down last July. This actually does feel like a last chance for Cole Winn. The 2018 first round pick out of Colorado has seen his stock drop precipitously the last two years. He went from a pitcher that should have made his debut in 2022 to one that has become stuck in Triple-A while less talented pitchers are passing him by. When Winn made his Triple-A debut in 2022 Owen White was in Hickory and Jack Leiter was making his professional debut at Frisco. Winn has since been passed by Cody Bradford and Owen White as both have made their major league debuts and he will likely be on the same team as Jack Leiter this year.

Winn needs to rediscover whatever it was that made him successful in 2021. That season Winn had a 4-3 record, a 2.41 ERA, and 107 strikeouts to 31 walks in 21 starts made that season. Those numbers put him at the top of all of the Texas Rangers prospect lists heading into 2022. It earned him a promotion to Round Rock and he was knocking on the door of his MLB debut. Since then he has had a 6.51 ERA in 2022 and a 7.22 ERA in 2023. Texas spent 2023 working him in a bullpen role to see if that would help. His ERA was slighly lower at 6.49 ERA as a reliever, but other than that his numbers were about the same.

Winn comes to camp and is just trying to build on the success he had late in 2023 according to Kennedi Landry. He did participate in the Puerto Rican winter league this year. He made six starts and one relief appearance for Caguas. He had a 2-0 record, a 2.63 ERA, 24 strikeouts in 24 innings pitched, and only walked 10. He did have success in the Winter league. Will that translate to spring training and the majors?

Winn just needs to have success on the mound. I do not know how many opportunities he will get in A-squad games on the front field, but he needs to succeed when he does. I would like to say his future is as a starter, but it could come in the bullpen much like what Bradford has done. There will be no question about future roles if he cannot get batters out. There will be no wondering about his future if he still struggles with walks. If that happens again this season in Round Rock he could easily become a 40-man roster casualty this summer.

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