Athletes arriving for Wednesday night’s Winter Training Program at the Texas Rangers Youth Academy at Mercy Street Sports Complex, presented by Toyota, were greeted by a special guest, as Rangers Captain stopped by to distribute facemasks as part of the Rangers Winter Caravan Presented by Comerica Bank.

Wednesday marked the first night of the Academy’s Winter Training Program for the 18U Baseball and Softball players, as weather forced cancelation of Monday’s originally scheduled start date. More than 160 athletes are registered to participate in this winter’s programming.

The complete programming schedule by age group is listed below. All programming runs from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Registration is available at texasrangers.com/academy.

Virtually Dreaming

In 2020, Christopher Marcellus (Sachse High School, 2022) became one of the Academy’s first athletes selected to participate in the MLB/USA Baseball Dream Series, traveling to the Spring Training home of the Los Angeles Angels in Tempe, Arizona, in January.

This year, he’ll return to the event by logging in online, as MLB’s 2021 Dream Series is slated to take place virtually over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, from today through Monday, Jan. 18.

Although MLB Develops is unable to facilitate the yearly event in person this year, the virtual format has been designed to provide meaningful content to a broader audience than traditionally would be able to participate.

Panel discussions will focus on mental skills, pitching, catching development and manager strategy. Special guests will include former DREAM series participants now playing professionally.

Black History Month Celebrations

The Academy is preparing to celebrate Black History Month in February with the annual Black History Month Baseball Camp presented by Nike and its inaugural Black History Month Jamboree on Saturday, Feb. 6.

The camp will run from 9-11 a.m. and be followed by the jamboree, which will be three baseball games between six area schools. Participating schools and scheduling for the Jamboree will be announced soon.