Rangers select contracts of RHPs A.J. Alexy and Yerry Rodriguez, C David Garcia to Major League roster

Arlington, Texas — The Texas Rangers announced this evening that the club has selected the contracts of right-handed pitchers A.J. Alexy and Yerry Rodriguez, and catcher David Garcia, from the minor leagues.

Major League Baseball had established a 5:00 p.m. CT deadline this evening for setting reserve lists as protection in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, which is scheduled for December 10.

Alexy, 22, was in minor league camp this spring and did not see official game action with the cancellation of the minor league season. The right-hander began the 2019 campaign with High-A Down East before missing the majority of the slate due to a lat strain, and returned to make 3 starts for Surprise in the Arizona Fall League. Alexy was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a four-player trade involving outfielder Willie Calhoun and right-handed pitcher Yu Darvish on July 31, 2017. He owns a career 10-18 record and 3.75 ERA over 58 games/52 starts spanning four minor league seasons.

Garcia, 20, recently participated in the 2020 Rangers Fall Developmental League in Surprise, Ariz. In his last full season in 2019, the switch-hitting catcher was named a Northwest League All-Star after posting career bests in most offensive categories including batting average (.277), home runs (5), and RBI (29) for Short-A Spokane. He has thrown out 62 of 176 (35%) attempted base stealers over three seasons in the minor leagues. The Venezuela native was originally signed by Texas as a non-drafted free agent on July 2, 2016.

Rodriguez, 23, was rated as the organization’s no. 1 overall prospect by Fangraphs entering the 2020 campaign, but has not seen official game action since July 4, 2019 while rehabbing from a right elbow sprain. The right-hander was named a South Atlantic League mid-season All-Star last season after going 7-3 with a 2.08 ERA (17 ER/73.2 IP) and 85 strikeouts over a 13-start stretch with Low-A Hickory, finishing with the lowest opponent batting average (.175) and WHIP (0.90) figures among Texas minor-league pitchers (min. 70.0 IP). His career 5.20 strikeout-to-walk ratio (208 SO/40 BB) is the highest among Rangers farmhands with at least 180.0 IP since 2016. The Dominican Republic native was originally signed by Texas as a non-drafted free agent on September 2, 2015.

Following today’s transactions, the Rangers now have 38 players on the club’s Major League roster.