Texas Rangers end-of-season top 30 prospects: Conquering the pitching development curse?

The Texas Rangers were Baseball America’s Organization of the Year in 2023, partially for winning the first World Series in franchise history, but mostly for putting together a productive farm system from top to bottom. This year the system graduated a number of its top students.

Wyatt Langford is in the major leagues. Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker are currently in the big league rotation. Each of the Rangers’ five first-round picks from 2019-23 are currently on the roster. The farm system is serving its purpose. But there is also a price that comes with big league success and large player development graduations: A potential drop in the overall depth of talent in the system. According to Baseball America’s midseason talent rankings, the Rangers fell from third in the majors to 24th. According to MLB Pipeline, the drop was similar, going from seventh to 26th.

A word about those lists, which came out in early August: They could already already be dated. At that point, Rocker wasn’t even a top 100 prospect on either list. On Thursday, he became a major leaguers after overwhelming Double-A and Triple-A hitters for six weeks.

Rocker’s ascent speaks to the current strength of the organization. Steady yourselves: It’s pitching. On The Dallas Morning News’ end-of-season update, four of the organization’s top five prospects (and six of the top eight) are pitchers. With under 50 MLB innings apiece, Rocker and Leiter still fall within the general specs for “prospect.” But the Rangers also had perhaps one of the minor league’s biggest breakout pitching stars in Alejandro Rosario and the starter for the AL in the All-Star Futures Game.

It’s been a while since the Rangers have developed any reliable starting pitchers. But it looks like that trend is about to change.

Here is our end-of-the-season Top 30 with preseason ranks in parentheses:

1. RHP Kumar Rocker (9): Back from Tommy John and better than ever. His elite fastball and command are what make for a true top-of-the-rotation starting prospect. The Rangers haven’t had a pitcher with this much upside in more than 20 years.

2. SS Sebastian Walcott (3): Slashed .301/.359/.508/.866 at Hickory since July 1 to earn promotion to Double-A Frisco for final week of season and playoffs, making the 18-year-old the youngest player to appear at Double-A this season. Ranks No. 37 on MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospects.

3. RHP Alejandro Rosario (NR): Using his 4-seamer more since being drafted in the fifth round last year has helped him be the biggest breakout pitching star in all of the minor league baseball this year. Posted a 2.24 ERA in 88 innings at the two Class A affiliates to earn final-week promotion to Double-A. His 9.92 K-to-BB rate, a key metric for Rangers, is second in all of minor league baseball.

4. RHP Emiliano Teodo (20): A $10,000 signee who blossomed into the starter for the AL’s Futures Game team, he touches 100 regularly and was fourth in ERA (2.00) and fifth in strikeout percentage (30.5%) throughout all of Double-A. Only thing that may prevent a September look is that he’s already surpassed previous high for innings in a season with 85.

5. RHP Jack Leiter (8): Made important strides in harnessing command of his fastball this season. Now getting some extended exposure at the major leagues and each of his first three starts since returning has been better than the last. Has pitched into the sixth in consecutive games with a 3-to-1 K-to-BB rate.

6. C Malcolm Moore (NR): The Rangers set out to deepen their catching pool in this year’s draft and Moore, the 30th overall pick from Stanford, headed that effort. Had more walks than strikeouts at Stanford in 2024, so there is advanced approach there. But there have always been questions about whether he’s a long-term catcher or more of a hitter.

7. INF Justin Foscue (6): He doesn’t really have an infield position to play, so his value rests in his bat. And so far, he hasn’t been able to show the Rangers much there at the big league level with two hits in 28 at-bats. There isn’t anything else to prove in the minors where he has a .388 OBP and .887 OPS in more than 1,500 plate appearances. Just got to stay on the field and hit.

8. RHP Winston Santos (29): Like Teodo, he was a $10,000 signee who ended up pitching in the Futures Game. Santos’ fastball has ramped up to 93-97 mph this year. Santos ranked second in the organization in strikeouts this season (132). While Teodo’s fastball is a tick harder, Santos has shown better command with just 2.7 walks per nine innings.

9. OF Dylan Dreiling (NR): The MVP of the College World Series this season, Dreiling was the Rangers’ second-round selection. He’s got good bat-to-ball skills, which have translated to almost as many walks (19) as strikeouts (20) since going to advanced Class A Hickory for the final two months of the season. It’s allowed for a competitive .340 OBP despite hitting just .198. He’ll have work to do defensively.

10. SS Yolfran Castillo (NR): Signed in January a month before his 17th birthday, then went out and put up one of the best seasons in the minors by a first-year player His .381 average in a year split between Dominican Summer League and the Arizona Complex League was the second among the 175 players under the age of 18 who appeared in the minors this year. His OBP (.481) was fourth and his strikeout percentage (9.2%) was the 10th best. Not bad for the youngest prospect on this list.

11. OF Paulino Santana (14): The most hyped signee in this year’s international free agency class may still have a higher ceiling than Castillo but was slightly outperformed. Nevertheless, a .465 OBP and .829 OPS are nice debuts. He has power and speed and has drawn some comps to Julio Rodriguez of Seattle, so you know, no pressure there.

12. INF Cam Cauley (11): Emerged from spring with a seemingly more powerful swing that made him candidate for big breakout, but ultimately his OPS didn’t vary much from 2023 (.744) to 2024 (.739). Did display a bit more power. He has perhaps the best hands as a defender in the system.

13. OF Alejandro Osuna (27): Still shy of 22, he has a .368 OBP across nearly 1,400 minor league plate appearances. He’s always been an on-base threat. Added some power this year with 16 HRs in season split between Hickory and Frisco. A strong rebound year after missing half of 2023 recovering from shoulder surgery.

14. INF Echedry Vargas (13): The 19-year-old finished strong after spending the whole season at Class A Down East. Slashed .306/.333/.504/.837 over his final 30 games while still being more than a year younger, on average, than the league.

15. OF Anthony Gutierrez (4): Dropped from top five due to missing last half of season with a shoulder injury that required similar surgical procedure as Osuna. Gutierrez was a big international signing in 2022 with superb tools, but is still very raw and has a .699 professional OPS. Most impressive number this season: 43 steals (49 attempts) in 76 games. Speed is elite.

16: LHP Kohl Drake (NR): Wylie HS grad toned up his body and has pushed his fastball up to 92-94 mph range and paired it with two breaking balls and a changeup he commands well. Led to an organization-best 146 strikeouts spread across three levels of the system. Held opponents to a .198 batting average and .569 OPS. Some elements of a Cody Bradford starter kit.

17. LHP Mitch Bratt (16): Began the year as the best lefty prospect in the system, but Drake’s big season has given him company. In virtually the same number of innings, Drake had a slight edge in K-to-BB rate of 4.71 to 4.38, though Bratt was better when it came to overall command (a 6.2% walk rate compared to 7.6% for Drake). Bratt, 21, is younger than Drake, 24. So the ceiling might be a bit higher, but on performance and stuff, Drake caught him.

18. RHP Izack Tiger (18): Hard-thrower hit 99 mph in the “Spring Breakout” exhibition, but was dogged by an elbow problem that cost him the first two months of the season and eventually led to hybrid reconstruction surgery that will likely cost him all of 2025. Still had 11.5 Ks per nine innings.

19. RHP Jose Corniell (19): The organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year for 2023 missed the entire season recovering from elbow surgery. Corniell didn’t have the surgery, though, until June, which might not put him on pace to return until late next season. The good news: He’s doesn’t turn 22 until next June.

20. OF Braylin Morel (NR): Only 18, he’s already shown big-time power with 1.025 OPS for his first two seasons. His .982 OPS for 2024 mark led all players under the age of 25 in the Rangers’ system and was fourth among all players in the two rookie-level complex-based leagues.

21. 3B Gleider Figuereo (21): The 20-year-old is maybe the best left-handed hitting power prospect in the system. He led the organization with 20 homers spread across the two Class A leagues. But he does chase, as do most power hitters and hasn’t yet made swing adjustments that translate to success at higher levels. In addition, there is question about exactly what comprises his skill set beyond the power.

22. RHP Aidan Curry (12): Took a step backward this season by allowing 20 homers in 93 innings at advanced Class A Hickory, third most in the South Atlantic League. Curry’s strikeout to walk rate also fell this year to just 2.40. A 2.21 ERA in 100 innings at Class A in 2022-23; a 6.57 ERA in 85 innings at advanced A from 2023-24.

23. OF Yeremi Cabrera (NR): Another $10,000 potential gem of a signing along with Teodo, Santos and Vargas, Cabrera posted an .857 OPS split between the Arizona Complex League and a month at Class A Down East. A slightly built left-handed hitter (5-11, 155 pounds), he’s got more power than it would appear, but his real tool should be his elite speed.

24. C Jesús Lopez (28): A defense-first catcher who was signed in 2022, before the influx of catchers taken in this year’s draft. He’s got a long way to go on offense, posting just a .242/.306/.351/.657 slash in 55 games at Class A Down East as a 19-year-old.

25.RHP Marc Church (25): Should have pitched in the majors this season, but arm issues have limited him to 16 games and just 19.2 innings. Most worrisome: How his strikeout rate has fallen. It’s 12.8 per nine innings for his career, but just 8.7 for the season. Finishing better with 11 baserunners allowed in 11 ⅔ innings now that he’s back at Triple-A. Still needs to regain strength and velo.

26. RHP Skylar Hales (NR): An oddity. A pure reliever drafted high (4th round of 2023). But he’s got a funky delivery that helps deceptiveness and has velocity into the upper 90s to overpower a hitter, too. Spent the last half of the season at Double-A Frisco where he struck out 29 and walked seven in 27 innings. Has closer potential.

27. RHP Dane Acker (NR): With 95 ⅔ innings before the Texas League playoffs started, Acker had already surpassed his total for the last two seasons (93⅓) combined. So he’s healthy and sturdy again after elbow surgery. Now, he’s got to work on better mastery of the strike zone. Good news there: His walk rate fell from 4.8 per nine innings in 2023 to to 3.8 in 2024. Still more to do.

28. RHP Brock Porter (5): Biggest fall on the board. Dealt with significant command issues all year that made it impossible to pitch him. Finished the year with 22 walks in 19 ⅓ innings, the bulk of which were in the Arizona Complex League. Didn’t pitch after July 25, working on mechanical tweaks.

29. RHP Owen White (7): Another precipitous fall. Only thing that stopped it before he fell off the list completely were some encouraging numbers and a tick up in velocity after moving to the bullpen in August. It’s allowed him to get another look in the majors.

30. RHP David Davaillo (NR): Something to be said for performance. About to turn 22, he posted an organization-best 1.88 ERA while leading all pitchers under the age of 25 in innings (110). Also was seventh in walk rate (2.61 per nine innings) and eighth in K to BB rate (3.53).

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