Rangers' RHP prospect makes big jump in midseason rerank

August 14th, 2024

The Rangers spent years in a rebuild, reloading a farm system that had become one of the best in all of baseball. That’s one of many things that led to their ability to win the first World Series in franchise history in 2023.

But now, after Trade Deadline deals, combined with the graduation of elite prospects Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford from prospect status, the Rangers find themselves in uncharted waters when it comes to the external perception of their farm system.

Team Top 30 Prospects lists:
ALE: BAL | BOS | NYY | TB | TOR
ALC: CLE | CWS | DET | KC | MIN
ALW: HOU | LAA | OAK | SEA | TEX
NLE: ATL | MIA | NYM | PHI | WSH
NLC: CHC | CIN | MIL | PIT | STL
NLW: AZ | COL | LAD | SD | SF

The Rangers have just one Top 100 prospect -- 18-year-old shortstop -- but the player development staff believes that the farm system is just as deep as it’s been over the past few years.

Let’s take a look at how everything played out for Texas in MLB Pipeline’s midseason update:

Here’s a look at the Rangers’ top prospects:

  1. Sebastian Walcott, SS (MLB No. 63)
  2. Kumar Rocker, RHP
  3. Alejandro Rosario, RHP
  4. Jack Leiter, RHP
  5. Malcolm Moore, C

More from MLB Pipeline:
Top 100 prospects | Stats | Video | Podcast | Complete coverage

Biggest jump/fall

Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the preseason list:

Jump: , RHP (Preseason: NR | Midseason: No. 3)
Rosario posted a 6.47 ERA in three seasons with the University of Miami, but the Rangers liked him so much that they selected him in the fifth round of the 2023 MLB Draft.

He opened 2024 with Single-A Down East, and thrived with a 2.11 ERA across 10 starts before receiving a June promotion to High-A Hickory. He posted a 69/5 K/BB ratio in 47 innings in Single-A. His fastball sits in the upper-90s, and even touches 100 mph at times. Both of his secondary pitches -- an 88-92 mph splitter and a 83-85 mph slider -- provide enough deception for him to miss bats consistently at this level.

Rosario has continued his impressive professional debut with High-A Hickory, posting a 2.93 ERA across his first six games (five starts). He’s got a long way to go to get to Arlington, but the Rangers are impressed with his early offerings.

Fall: , RHP (Preseason: No. 4 | Midseason: 30)
Porter was MLB Pipeline's top-rated pitching prospect in the 2022 Draft, and the Rangers selected him with the 109th pick, as they were able to pry him away from a commitment to Clemson after paying him a fourth-round-record $3.7 million.

He impressed in his debut in 2023, posting a 2.47 ERA with a .160 opponent average and 95 strikeouts in 69 1/3 innings at Single-A. An upper-90s fastball and low-80s changeup came as advertised, but he struggled with the curveball enough that Texas scrapped it for a slider that is coming along well.

Despite that, he posted a 6.48 ERA in three starts with High-A Hickory to begin the 2024 season, and the Rangers sent him to Arizona to work on some mechanical and delivery changes as he works back to being the prospect the Rangers want him to be.

New to the list

Here are the players added to the Top 30 from outside the organization:

No. 5, Malcolm Moore, C (No. 30 pick in 2024 MLB Draft)
No. 9, Dylan Dreiling, OF (No. 65 pick in 2024 MLB Draft)
No 21, Kohl Drake, LHP
No. 22, Yeremi Cabrera, OF
No. 24, Casey Cook, OF (No. 103 pick in 2024 Draft)
No. 28, Skylar Hales, RHP

Best tools

Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.

Hit: 55 -- Justin Foscue (Yolfran Castillo, Casey Cook, Paulino Santana)
Power: 60 -- Sebastian Walcott
Run: 70 -- Cam Cauley
Arm: 65 -- Sebastian Walcott
Defense: 60 -- Cam Cauley (Yolfran Castillo)
Fastball: 70 -- Emiliano Teodo (Skylar Hales)
Curveball: 60 -- Kumar Rocker
Slider: 70 -- Kumar Rocker
Changeup: 60 -- Brock Porter
Control: 60 -- Mitch Bratt (Josh Stephan)