Rangers under-the-radar pitching prospect slowly becoming future rotation piece

The Texas Rangers might have a candidate to fill a rotation spot to pair with future battery mate in Malcom Moore in by the time the 2027 rolls around.

The organization's No. 27 overall prospect, right-hander David Davalillo has been turning heads down in the Rangers' farm system since he was signed as a free agent. In 21 2/3 innings during the 2023 season he combined for a 3.32 ERA, 27 strikeouts and four walks.

It only got better from there throwing 110 innings, compiling an 8-2 record with a 1.88 ERA in Low-A and High-A in the 2024 season. To kick off this season, he was teaming up with Moore at High-A Hub City but recenlty earned a much-deserved promotion to Double-A Frisco.

Who is David Davalillo and where did the Rangers get him?

So where did this kid come from? How has he gone largely under-the-radar in a Rangers' farm system that has seen better days in the national rankings?

The 22-year-old Venezuelan had orignially signed as a free agent with the New York Mets back in 2021 but the deal was voided two months later. Roughly a year later, the Rangers swopped in and signed Davaillo for $10,000.

Featuring a fastball, curveball, slider and splitter, the righty generated swing-and-miss on his low-80s slider 58% of the time last season. Mixing in a fastball that maxes out at 96, the six-foot-one hurler makes it look effortless and knows how to command the strike zone.

According to the MLB.com scouting report of Davalillo "he has some of the system's best feel for pitching, giving him a chance to succeed as a back-of-the-rotation starter."

In May, Davalillo recorded a 0.96 ERA in five starts, striking out 35 batters and limiting the walks to only five. Despite a final tough outing to his High-A career on June 13, he still earned that promotion to Frisco and put in 4 2/3 innings of two run ball in his debut with the team on June 20.

As mentioned, he's not estimated to arrive in Major League Baseball until the 2027 season but that lines up perfectly with when they hope Sebastian Walcott will be in Arlington, Malcolm Moore is getting his feet wet in MLB, their second-round pick last season in Dylan Dreiling and many more of their current Top 30.