Rangers fans should be bullish on this young pitcher's future

Young players are an enigma. It is very rare that a player enjoys sustained success as a rookie without hitting bumps in the road, and injuries can complicate things even further.

The Texas Rangers have multiple young players who could make serious strides in the very near future, and relief pitcher Marc Church may be towards the top of the list. Despite the fact he's only pitched one inning in the big leagues, fans should be excited about his future.

The Atlanta native has had an interesting professional path. He did not become a pitcher until late in his high school career, but quickly found success on the bump. Church was drafted in 2019, and enjoyed a solid spring training in 2024 before dealing with a lat injury that kept him sidelined for a few months. The setback was disappointing considering he had excelled in the minors one year prior.

Rangers fans should be bullish on this young pitcher's future

Even though the 23-year-old was not able to truly show what he could do last season, he managed to turn heads within the organization. Veteran arms such as Nathan Eovaldi were impressed with the youngster's pitch mix.

“His fastball and slider are electric,” Eovaldi said of Church last February. “He’s got two pitches like that, where you can come out of the bullpen at any time. He's got really good stuff. I think he's one of those guys where he tends to try to overpower guys when his stuff is good enough to challenge them with what he has. If he can repeat his mechanics a little bit better, he's gonna have a better opportunity to go out there and get big league guys out.”

Church's average fastball is around 96 MPH. If he can consistently locate this pitch and use his slider to keep hitters off balance, it is not a stretch to say he will become comfortable very quickly.

Further, one could argue that Church will be give ample opportunity to show he's ready for primetime. It is no secret that the Rangers will need bullpen help, and if the righty is healthy, Texas could look to him for support.