Ninth inning of early spring game a snapshot of potential future Texas Rangers roster
The scene that unfolded Tuesday afternoon at Surprise Stadium plays itself out in some fashion each spring for each MLB team, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t significant.
It’s a glimpse into the future.
Ninth inning. Regulars, the few who played, are long gone. The dugout is filled with players trying to make the team or those brought from minor-league camp to serve as just-in-case players.
Among those players are prospects unlikely to make the team but gaining valuable experience with the big-league team and a taste of what might be ahead.
On this day, Demarcus Evans, a potential future closer, pitched the top of the ninth for the Texas Rangers. After his 1-2-3 inning, the first three to hit in the bottom half were Josh Jung, Sam Huff and Leody Taveras — arguably the Rangers’ top three prospects.
Some day, in theory, they will be playing in the first inning and long gone by the time the next wave comes along.
“It’s cool to see that kind of lineup,” Huff said. “It’s the future.”
Huff, a catcher ranked as the Rangers’ No. 1 prospect by the Star-Telegram, made the Wednesday trip to Salt River Fields along with Jung, Taveras, Anderson Tejeda, Davis Wendzel, Curtis Terry, Osleivis Basabe and Julio Pablo Martinez.
Taveras and Tejeda are on the 40-man roster and are joining Huff in big-league camp. So is Sherten Apostel, a top-10 prospect who started at third base against the Colorado Rockies.
Jung, the Rangers’ first pick in the 2019 draft, said he arrived at the Surprise Recreation Campus on Feb. 5, well before most of the 68 players on the Rangers’ spring roster. He admitted to some nerves as he stepped into the batter’s box for the first A-game at-bats of his career.
“It was so cool,” said Jung, a third baseman from Texas Tech. “The butterflies were definitely going.”
Jung debuted last season in the Arizona League before a quick promotion to Low A Hickory. He didn’t show the kind of power he was hoping, but said his swing is regularly finding the sweet spot now.
Huff is expected to open at Double A Frisco, where Taveras finished 2019. Evans has the best chance to make the Opening Day roster, but is still a long shot despite being considered by Baseball America as one of the best relievers in the minors.
The moment Tuesday wasn’t lost on him.
“It was nice seeing Huff and Jung,” Evans said. “It’s going to be real nice in the next couple years when we’re all in the big leagues to stay.”
Taveras is the best defensive center fielder in Rangers camp. Martinez and former first-round pick Bubba Thompson also play center, and Wendzel, the Rangers’ second pick in 2019, from Baylor, plays all over.
Terry, not Huff, was the Rangers’ Minor League Player of the Year. Tejeda missed almost all of last season with a shoulder injury. Fellow infielder Basabe is only 19.
They’re all future Rangers, assuming they aren’t traded away for big-league talent that would make an immediate impact.
Both are possibilities, and moments like the one that took place Tuesday aren’t insignificant.
“They’re all soaking up in their own way a lot knowledge and experience,” manager Chris Woodward said. “It was a pretty cool moment.”
