It’s nearly baseball time in Texas, well, Arizona. The Texas Rangers have officially announced Spring Training dates! Pitchers and Catchers will arrive at the club’s spring training campus in Surprise, Arizona, on February 14th, with the full squad following days later on February 19th. There will be many new faces among the attendees. Along with new catcher Andrew Knizner and new righties Kirby Yates, Tyler Mahle, Daniel Duarte, and Carson Coleman, the Rangers have announced that there will be 21 minor-league prospects joining the team in Surprise. Throughout the offseason, the Rangers signed seven free agents to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training. They are as follows: RF Sandro Fabian ( MiLB Career .264 BA, 87 HR, 398 RBI, 22 SB, .745 OPS), RHP Diego Castillo (MLB Career 24-18 W/L, 3.22 ERA, 268.1 IP, 304 SO, 1.10 WHIP), RHP Jesus Tinoco (MLB Career 0-3 W/L, 4.05 ERA, 66.2 IP, 52 SO, 1.44 WHIP), C Andrew Knapp (MLB Career .209 BA, 13 HR, 66 RBI, 2 SB, .623 OPS), RF Elier Hernandez (MLB Career .182 BA, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 0 SB, .442 OPS), CF Derek Hill (MLB Career .229 BA, 4 HR, 18 RBI, 10 SB, .593 OPS), RHP Gerardo Carrillo (MiLB Career 19-20 W/L, 4.15 ERA, 316.1 IP, 305 SO, 1.37 WHIP).
Additionally, the club has invited ten internal minor league players to spring training. Among them are OF Wyatt Langford (MiLB Career .360 BA, 10 HR, 30 RBI, 12 SB, 1.157 OPS) and RHP Jack Leiter (MiLB Career 5-16 W/L, 5.37 ERA, 177.2 IP, 223 SO, 1.51 WHIP), two of the farm’s top prospects. The remaining eight are as follows: 1B Blaine Crim (MiLB Career .300 BA, 83 HR, 309 RBI, 7 SB, .888 OPS), C Liam Hicks (MiLB Career .284 BA, 7 HR, 79 RBI, 12 SB, .814 OPS), 1B Abimelec Ortiz (MiLB Career .260 BA, 55 HR, 173 RBI, 12 SB, .885 OPS), RHP Daniel Robert (MiLB Career 7-8 W/L, 3.77 ERA, 140.2 IP, 191 SO, 1.19 WHIP), RHP Emiliano Teodo (MiLB Career 12-11 W/L, 3.64 ERA, 175.1 IP, 247 SO, 1.27 WHIP), INF Davis Wendzel (MiLB Career .227 BA, 56 HR, 160 RBI, 8 SB, .767 OPS), LHP Grant Wolfram (MiLB Career 20-10 W/L, 4.17 ERA, 265.2 IP, 331 SO, 1.42 WHIP), OF Aaron Zavala (MiLB Career .244 BA, 22 HR, 111 RBI, 30 SB, .766 OPS).
The pool of new talent runs deep in the Rangers’ farm system, and we should see quite a bit of it during spring training. It will be interesting to see how many of these players are called up to the big show before the season is out. Evan Carter’s late-season call-up left Langford at the top of the Rangers’ minor-league prospects. Almost all fingers point to Carter being in the running for Rookie of the Year in 2023. Will Bruce Bochy and Chris Young take a similar approach with Langford, leaving him the option to contend for Rookie of the Year 2024?
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