Rookie hurlers White, Bradford give solid performances in loss

ARLINGTON -- When Owen White got a call from Double-A Frisco manager Carlos Cardoza around midnight Monday night, he was a little worried.

The RoughRiders were in Fayetteville, Ark., and, according to White, he texted Cardoza to let him know he was at the hotel. What he didn’t know was that Cardoza was calling to inform him that he would need to be in Arlington in fewer than 24 hours to make his MLB debut on Tuesday in what ended up being a Rangers’ 7-3 loss to the Angels.

“I'm trying to figure out why he called me, so I answer and he’s like ‘Hey, let me merge you with [farm director Josh Bonifay],’” White explained with a smile. “I was like, ‘Oh, Lord.’ But no, it was an awesome call. It's every kid's dream if you're playing baseball to get that call. … It's a blessing. God gave me this opportunity. I didn't do as best I could. I made one mistake, but I felt like I was under control and hopefully I capitalized a little bit.”

On a night when the Rangers desperately needed arms and length, it was two rookie pitchers in White and Cody Bradford who stepped up in a big AL West matchup to help the pitching staff going forward.

“I thought the pitching gave us a chance to win,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “We were just missing the big hit to break it open. The pitching was pretty good. I mean, Bradford, what a job he did. The kid Owen, he should have come out a little bit better than that. He had some bad luck with some ground balls that got through, and of course the home run, but overall, it was a pretty good [debut].”

Though White -- MLB Pipeline’s No. 47 ranked prospect -- was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs in two innings of relief, he looked every bit the Top 100 prospect he is for most of his appearance.

The highlight no doubt was striking out the first batter he faced.

The first baserunner of White's career was Shohei Ohtani, who hit a single up the middle in the sixth. Ohtani then scored on an error by Corey Seager. The final two came on a two-run homer from Hunter Renfroe, who took a cutter way outside the zone to the opposite field, giving the Angels a 4-3 lead at the time.

“I felt amazing,” White said. “I felt like I could’ve done a little bit better job of executing just the slider on the outside. I know that's a pitch that [Renfroe] can hit, but I know that's also a weakness if we could get it down and I just didn't get it down. It came back and bit me.”

Despite the little mistakes, Bochy emphasized that there was a lot to like about White’s debut.

“He throws strikes,” Bochy said. “He’s got two breaking balls and a good fastball. I like the way he attacks the zone and he mixes in his changeup. Like I said, he was not hit hard except for the home run ball, which looked like a cutter that stayed up that they took advantage of. But overall, it's a pretty good job. You can tell he holds runners. He does the little things there to help himself out. For a debut, it wasn't a bad job. He just had some bad luck.”

The southpaw Bradford, making his third MLB start, stepped up on short rest -- having thrown 99 pitches on Friday for Triple-A Round Rock -- to toss 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball to open the game.

“Tonight, again, three days' rest, that was an impressive job he did," Bochy said. “I wish I could have stuck with him a little bit longer, but we need to take care of the kid.”

The Rangers’ No. 26-ranked prospect, Bradford has gotten more and more comfortable with each start. In his MLB debut against the Braves, he surrendered six earned runs over five innings. In his second start against the Orioles, he bounced back, tossing five innings of two-run ball.

The Rangers couldn’t have asked for much more from the 25-year-old.

“'Easier' might not be a good word, but more 'comfortable,' Bradford said of getting used to pitching at this level. "It's definitely a great, great way to put it. I felt ready to do my job, which is to come in and give the team a chance to win, so just doing that was my main goal today.”