Texas Rangers shake up the farm system rosters

Today is the start of the week for the minor league affiliates and as we are getting closer to the All Star break the Texas Rangers have decided to make several promotions and activate some injured players. These players have been patient and performed well enough to earn their promotions. Here is the list of promotions announced this morning.

1. Owen White and Dustin Harris to Round Rock.

White made his major league debut on June 13th when he came on in relief of Cody Bradford. It is not a surprise that he is being promoted to Round Rock. He has been at Frisco for almost a year now. He has been pitching much better after getting off to a slow start. That includes the seven-inning and one-hit performance on June 7th. Overall White is 2-3 on the season with a 3.51 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings. This move will allow White to be better prepared in case he is called up again this season.

Dustin Harris is the other Round Rock promotion. The 23-year old outfielder did not have a high batting average at .245, but his other numbers told a different story. He had a .374 on-base percentage, 24 stolen bases, and 42 runs scored. Harris has played both 1st base and outfield. Both Harris and White are on the 40-man roster and will now be options for call-ups later this season.

2. Josh Hatcher from Hickory to Frisco

Josh Hatcher was a 10th round pick in the 2022 draft and is already going to be playing for Frisco. Hatcher has primarily played first base and outfield this season. He will likely fill the role Dustin Harris was playing for Frisco. Hatcher got off to a hot start for Hickory through April, but had a rocky May. He has now rebounded in June with a .273 batting average. He has 7 home runs with 23 RBIs this season.

3. Yosy Galan and Jose Corniell from Down East to Hickory

Corniell was acquired in a trade with Seattle back in 2020. The Rangers have taken it easy with the young pitcher. They have moved him gradually from the Dominican Summer League to Down East in 2021-2022. He has found success this season for Down East and is now being moved up to Hickory. Corniell this season is 4-1 with a 2.70 ERA, and has 56 strikeouts to 14 walks. Keep an eye on Corniell. He is still just 19 years old, but has great stuff and has a chance to really rocket up prospect rankings this offseason if he pitches well for Hickory.

The other player promoted was Yosy Galan. The 22-year outfielder has tremendous power. He has six of his 12 home runs just this month. He does struggle to make consistent contact as his batting average is just .229 on the season. He does exhibit patience at the plate as evidenced by the 11 walks he has taken in June. The 6'4 outfielder is an intriguing prospect and it will interesting to see how he does against High-A level pitching.

4. Sebastian Walcott from the Dominican Summer League to the Arizona Complex League.

Walcott was one of the highest-ranked prospects coming out of the Bahamas last winter during the international signing period. He is 17 years old and is a 6'4 shortstop. He has a beautiful swing that generates power. That will only increase as his body starts to fill out. The day he signed he became one of the Rangers' top prospects and now he is moving from the Dominican Republic to Arizona and will be under the close eye of Rangers player development staff. It is possible that he sees time with Down East later this summer, but for now, it will be Arizona Complex games for Walcott as he tries to adjust to everyday life in America.

5. Evan Carter activated at Frisco

Carter has been on the mend for most of June with a wrist injury. He was hit twice back in May and played through it for a time, but it affected his ability to really drive the ball. Carter fell from a .343 batting average in April to a .236 batting average in May. He also had no home runs and only five RBIs. The Rangers put him first on the development list back on June 2nd. They moved him to the 7-day IL shortly after that. He has been in Arizona and got into games this past weekend. He is now back in Frisco ready to take back over that center field role for the RoughRiders. If he plays well for Frisco a second-half promotion to Round Rock is certainly in the cards for the Rangers' top prospect.

6. Anthony Gutierrez activated at Down East

Gutierrez is another top prospect who was placed on the development list this month. He was sent down to Arizona to get some rest, work on his mechanics, and get a reset. Gutierrez really struggled in May. He had a .220 batting average, no home runs, and only slugged .271 for the month. He played six games in Arizona and had a .350 batting average with a .550 slugging percentage. Now he heads back out to Down East to resume his season. He hopefully will take the adjustments he made in Arizona with him to the Carolina League and get back to playing like the top 10 Rangers' prospect he is.

This will not be the last series of promotions that we see. Expect to see another round like this next month after the All Star break.