Rangers bet on high-risk, high-reward arm with second-round pick

Chris Young loves his SEC pitchers with elite stuff taking right-hander AJ Russell with the Texas Rangers second-round, 52nd overall from Tony Vitello's Tennessee roster.

He only logged 70 college innings to the tune of a 2.70 ERA, 104 strikeouts to 26 walks. His stuff grades out to a 70 grade fastball in the mid to high 90's, 60 grade slider and a 40 grade changeup with 55 grade control. He will immediately likely have the highest graded pitch in the system.

Rangers' new pitcher comes with up-and-down collegiate career

Russell had an odd career at Tennessee. He was elite as a freshman out of the bullpen for one of the most talented pitching teams in recent memory. As a sophomore, he missed almost the entire year with injuries. In 2025, he returned with solid numbers.

In 2024, the day before the Volunteers plane left for Omaha, Russell had internal brace surgery to fix his partially torn UCL. This allowed a fast turnaround to him returning to play this year. He also regularly dealt with soreness and small injuries as a freshman related to arm health and workload.

There is to lanes to think about this pick. Either to you the Rangers drafted a massive sleeper with major upside similar to Zack Wheeler or we just drafted an injury prone guy that won't develop.

There is a lot in Russell's arm to be excited about. His stuff needs to be seen to be understood. If he develops another type of fastball on top of his elite one already or progresses another third pitch like his changeup more, this pick can end up in the most exciting arm in the system.

The industry sharps and insiders love Russell as a prospect. These are the opinions to focus on. If Russell stays healthy, he likely gets picked in the top half of the first round if his freshman year translates across 3 healthy seasons.

He has the ability to go back to college but likely doesn't want to risk another injury filled season. This will hopefully lead to an underslot signing and allow Chris Young to have freedom for the rest of the draft.