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Texas Rangers: 4 Prospects that should have already been promoted

By Michael Sanders |
Texas Rangers Spring Training
Texas Rangers Spring Training / Ben Ludeman/Texas Rangers/GettyImages
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The Texas Rangers have had much more success at the major league level than was expected before the season. The quality of the minor league system is still there and is getting better day-by-day. Yet, several players that are performing well are stuck at the levels they started the season at. When you see the Angels and Mariners promoting players from the 2021 and 2022 drafts to the majors it begs the question if the Rangers are being too conservative with their prospects. These four prospects in the Texas Rangers system should have already been promoted and hopefully will be promoted soon.

Texas Rangers Prospect Jack Leiter

If I wrote this article back in April I would not be including Leiter on this list. He has done a 180 as far as performance is concerned and he is now starting to see results from the work he has put in. The turn around really started on April 29th. The line does not look pretty as he gave up five runs that night. He only walked one batter and stuck out six in four innings. Walks have been an issue for Leiter since making his debut in 2022. The one walk was much more encouraging than the five runs allowed were discouraging.

Leiter built on that in May. He had consecutive scoreless outings. He threw six innings in the first start and five innings in the following start. He still pitched under control and only walked two batters in each of those starts. He was progressing start by start.

Leiter then followed that up with the best start of his professional career. He went six innings, striking out 10, and only walked one batter. He was pitching with a competitive fire that night and only allowed the three runs after having to sit and watch a long inning from the Frisco lineup prior to the sixth inning. Calls for a Leiter promotion started to grow after these first three starts of May.

He followed up that start with a seven-walk start on the road in Arkansas. He only gave up one hit and one run despite those seven walks. In 2022 when he had high walk games he would often give up three runs or more in those games. Leiter showed that he is able to maintain his composure despite not having his best stuff or an umpire that is squeezing him.

Leiter finished up the month with another six inning quality start. He had four strikeouts to one walk in that start. He only gave up one run. He finished off the month of May with three quality starts, a 2-1 record, and a 1.67 ERA. It was his best month of his professional career.

He should be promoted to Round Rock this week. He has been at Double-A Frisco since the start of his professional career in April 2022. Leiter in 2021 was drafted number two right behind catcher Henry Davis of the Pirates. Over the weekend it was announced that Davis would be promoted to Triple-A. The Rangers should be making an announcement about Leiter moving to Triple-A as well. He has earned it.

Texas Rangers Prospect Luisangel Acuna

Luisangel Acuna has been in the Rangers system for a few years now. He was signed as part of the 2018 International class. He has steadily worked his way up the system. He is now 21-years old and is inching closer to making his debut. The case for Acuna to be promoted revolves around two circumstances. He is performing at a high level for the Roughriders and is on the 40-man roster.

Acuna so far for Frisco has a .295 batting average, with three home runs, 26 RBI's, and 21 stolen bases. He also is playing excellent defense at shortstop and is just doing anything Frisco needs him to do in order to help the team win. He has certainly improved from last season when he really struggled after a midseason promotion to Frisco. He had a .224 batting average in 37 games played at Frisco last season. He is showing improvement in the box both with racking up base hits and has already drawn more walks than he did in a similar amount of games last season. The improvement is there and the performance is calling for Acuna to be promoted.

The other aspect is his presence on the 40-man roster. Is it really helping Acuna to be ready for a potential call-up to continue to play at Double-A Frisco? When Corey Seager went down in April the Rangers really had no infield prospects ready to promote. Jonathan Ornelas was new to Triple-A Round Rock and was struggling. Acuna was performing well, but was only at Double-A Frisco. If one of Seager or Semien go down again it would help if Acuna spent the month of June and beyond getting Triple-A at-bats.

It is time for Texas to push the accelerator down for Acuna and get him to Round Rock. Acuna will likely struggle at first, but the sooner he gets there the sooner he can overcome the struggles and make the adjustments necessary. Right now the 40-man roster is configured weirdly with a few players in Double-A and the players at Triple-A not showing themselves ready. That is why Acuna needs to be promoted to Round Rock this month so that he can be considered an option for promotion in case of injury.

Texas Rangers prospect Alex Speas

Speas is another player who has been in the Rangers system for quite some time now. He was a 2016 second round pick. He has an overpowering 101mph fastball and combines that with a sharp 90mph slider. He dealt with control issues for a period of time and even stepped away from the game in 2021. He ended up sitting out the 2022 season, but came back in February of this year and is pitching at a higher level than at any other point in his career. The case for Speas is three-fold. He is pitching better than any other reliever in the Rangers system, the Rangers bullpen does need the help, and he is Rule 5 eligible after the season and so needs to be added to the 40-man roster by December.

Speas is coming off a month of May where he allowed two runs in nine innings and struck out 16 and walked four. He has followed that up by making two appearances last week where he threw three innings and struck out 6 and walked none. He has only allowed two runs all season and that was in the same game. He is just absolutely dominating Double-A hitters right now. He is 25 years old and so by any metric that the Rangers could use he is deserving of a promotion to Round Rock.

The Rangers bullpen could use his help. There is no one in the bullpen currently with the kind of stuff that Speas has. The sooner they get Speas to Triple-A and have him prove himself at Round Rock the sooner they will call him up to Arlington. I hope that there is news this week that comes out about Speas being moved to Round Rock. I think he can do at Round Rock what he has been doing at Frisco.

Finally the Rule 5 draft is a legitimate consideration. Speas will be taken in the Rule 5 draft if not protected. The Rangers survived not protecting Speas in 2020. He has performed much better this season and would absolutely be picked by another organization. The Rangers will have to add him to the 40-man roster by December. They likely will make that move at some point in-season so that they can get a look at him in a Rangers uniform.

Speas has earned it, the Rangers need him, and they will not want to lose him. This is one that I would be shocked by if he starts out this week with Frisco. There is nothing more to be gained by having him strike out Double-A hitters. He needs to be in a Round Rock uniform this week.

Texas Rangers prospect Brock Porter

Porter was the surprise fourth round pick in the 2022 Draft. They took Kumar Rocker so that they could be able to take Porter in the fourth round. It worked and they were able to sign him with a near $4 million bonus. Porter has paid off the Rangers with his performance for Down East so far this season. Porter turned 20-years-old on June 3rd and should be promoted soon to Hickory.

Porter is being groomed as the potential future ace of a Texas Rangers rotation. The team so far is taking it very slow with Porter. They have capped Porter at about four innings per start. He did go five innings his last time out for the first time in his career. Maybe the leash is being loosened just a little as we enter June.

The numbers he has put up so far show that he is just toying with Low-A hitters. Porter has a 0.89 ERA, 42 strikeouts to 17 walks, and has 30 1/3 innings pitched. He has allowed hitters a .126 batting average against. When the ball is put into play hitters only have a .213 average. The only real concern for Porter is a higher number of walks than he should have.

Porter needs to face more resistance than he is facing currently at the Low-A level. I think if they move him up soon to High-A then that would start the train for him to get to Arlington by 2025 or 2026. That would be dependent on him being able to stay healthy as his innings continue to get built up.

Each of these four players represents the future of this franchise. It would be helpful for the future and present of this franchise if the Rangers would go ahead and promote them from Double-A to Triple-A and Low-a to High-A. These players have performed better, shown improvement, and would be better challenged by a promotion.

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