Rangers won’t rush Connor Sadzeck regardless of prospect’s progress

Rangers pitching coach Doug Brocail heard the complaints. Even before he joined the staff in November 2015, Brocail knows the club had been accused of rushing their minor league pitching prospects through the system.

How fair or not the assertion, Brocail doesn’t want to do that with right-hander Connor Sadzeck.

The 6-foot-7, hard-throwing 25-year-old started 23 games for Double A Frisco in 2016, striking out 130 batters in 140 2/3 innings.

Brocail was ecstatic with the progress he saw in Sadzeck after watching him throw his first bullpen of the spring.

“He was really good. It was nothing like I expected to see,” said Brocail, who dismissed any chance Sadzeck would be switched to a reliever role. “If you can get 96 to 100 [mph] out of the rotation and he’s healthy ... this guy is a pitcher now, not a thrower.”

Sadzeck showed better tempo, work pace and was controlling all of pitches, Brocail said.

“Last year you saw the erratic movements, the different tempo in the delivery,” he said. “When you see a guy stay in his delivery you get to see him work to both sides of the plate, you get to see the two-seamer actually two-seam, some movement versus yank. This kid was under control the other day and it was really good.”

Rushing him to the big leagues isn’t going to be an issue. Sadzeck is likely to spend much of 2017 with Triple A Round Rock.

“We have time. We have veteran arms. Why rush a kid like this?” Brocail said. “Let’s get it right. Let’s not get it wrong. We’ve done that in the past. Every organization does that. If you get it wrong it just means more time in the minor leagues to get him back on track.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2017 at 1:22 PM with the headline "Rangers won’t rush Connor Sadzeck regardless of prospect’s progress."