Minor-league baseball is back. Here are 10 Texas Rangers prospects to watch in 2021
At long last, after more than 20 months of uncertainty about their futures, more than a thousand minor-league ballplayers are on the verge of resuming their careers.
The four full-season affiliates for all 30 MLB teams open play this week after being shuttered last season and delayed by a month this season by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rangers’ four affiliates are Triple A Round Rock, Double A Frisco, High A Hickory and Low A Down East. Teams will play 120 games, and play a six-days-on one-off schedule.
All but Round Rock open their seasons Tuesday. Round Rock, affiliated with the Rangers again after a two-year absence, opens Thursday.
Things will be different than the last time a minor-league game was played.
Players will be tested for the virus twice each week and bound to the same health and safety protocols that MLB teams must follow. They were in place for the instructional league last fall and for minor-league spring training, which ended last week.
If that’s what it takes to play ball, they’re willing to do it. They have heard the messaging and even experienced what happens if someone violates protocol and catches COVID.
“It’s the effect of not just you having it, but the effect it has on the entire team and other people that may not even have done anything,” farm director Paul Kruger said. “I think that kind of rang home.”
Rebuilding teams like the Texas Rangers need to have as few interruptions as possible this season.
The need to get young players closer to the majors, the loss of a season and the elimination of short-season leagues by MLB have led the Rangers to push the gas with some of their top prospects.
Players who did not debut in 2019 and three members of the five-player 2020 draft class are headed to full-season teams for their professional debuts. Others are jumping two levels from where they last played.
“I think it’s exciting to see them know now they are in a position in their lives and their careers to be able to flourish and really take the bull by the horns and take control of where they’re going from here on out,” Kruger said. “I do think like 2020 would have been really beneficial year for playing games, but kudos to all our players and staff for being as prepared as they possibly could be when we get started here. “
Missing to start the season are the Rangers’ top two prospects.
Third baseman Josh Jung underwent surgery on his left foot and will be out until later this month or early June. Catcher Sam Huff had a loose body removed from his right knee last week and will be out two months.
Once healthy, they will be minor-league players to watch. Until then, here are 10 others to keep an eye on this season:
Evan Carter, OF, Down East
Just about every draft analyst was stunned or caught napping last year when the Rangers used the 50th overall pick on this prep outfielder from a small city in Tennessee. The Rangers took a beating, but the industry is starting to come around to Carter after his performance at instructional and in spring training.
Only 19, Carter has an advanced approach at the plate and hits to all fields with power. The Rangers believe he has five-tool talent and are not worried about him becoming too big to play center field at 6-foot-4.
“It’s a veteran type of approach,” Kruger said. “He has the ability to work the ball to all fields, line drives all across the diamond. Usually you get guys that if they do that it’s a little less power, but he’s able to have power to all fields and still turn on a fastball when he needs to. So, his ability to recognize and adjust has been at a different level.”
Hans Crouse, RHP, Frisco
The last time Crouse was on a mound in 2019, he gutted through the season at Low A Hickory with bone spurs in his elbow. The injury prevented him from throwing sliders, but he developed his changeup while continuing to build up innings.
His slider is back, and the Rangers have seen a new mind-set from Crouse after he didn’t participate at the alternate site or instructs in 2020. A high-energy starter, Crouse is directing that energy in a more positive manner. This is a big season that could fast-track to the majors as early as 2022.
“He’s taken major steps forward on the mound,” Kruger said. “It was more how do you control your intensity on you get on the mound? Delivering the emotions in a positive manner.”
One note: Crouse will have to leave the team early in the season for the birth of his first child.
Cole Winn, RHP, Frisco
The Rangers’ first-rounder in 2018, Winn continues to impress with a deep arsenal of pitches and as a fierce competitor. He showed those traits this spring in his first big-league camp.
His fastball sits 93-97 mph with good vertical movement. His best off-speed pitch remain his curveball, but he has also developed his slider into a plus-offering and his getting a feel for a changeup. He throws them all for strikes, which is something being emphasized throughout the organization.
Winn, like Crouse, will be jumping from Low A to Double A.
Justin Foscue, 2B, Hickory
Don’t expect Foscue, the 2020 first-round pick, to stay at High A for long.
The Rangers are letting the second baseman open in A ball to get his feet wet in pro ball after not playing in 2020. If he performs at the level he did in minor-league camp, he’ll jump to Frisco.
Foscue’s ceiling is a 30-homer, middle-of-the-order hitter who won’t hurt the Rangers defensively. He’s more athletic than they initially thought, which could have him bouncing around to get at-bats if he can’t unseat Nick Solak.
Cole Ragans, LHP, Hickory
The 2016 first-rounder is healthy again after two Tommy John surgeries and will be looking for his first game action since short-season ball in 2017.
Everything the Rangers liked about Ragans five years ago is still there, and he has worked on ironing out his delivery. The new minor-league schedule of pitching only once a week should benefit him and allow the Rangers to manage his innings.
Ragans is the kind of guy people like to root for. Don’t close the book on him yet.
Davis Wendzel, SS, Frisco
Shortstop isn’t foreign to Wendzel, but the Rangers believe he is better at third base and second base. One thing they are convinced of is that Wendzel is versatile, athletic and is going to hit in the majors.
Selected 41st in the 2019 draft after Jung was selected eighth, Wendzel visited hitting guru Doug Latta in the offseason to find more power. The batted balls that were going for doubles could now be sailing over fences.
Chris Seise, SS, Hickory
The Rangers have a stable of high-upside shortstops in the minors, and Seise has a chance to be the best of the group. His No. 1 obstacle, though, has been staying healthy.
He made it through instructs and minor-league camp without any problems. In fact, he was arguably the best player in both camps.
Seise is dripping with tools, though there is some concern about his hit tool after not playing for most of the past three seasons. He is smoothing out his defense, and, just as was the case when drafted in 2017, the Rangers see him as a natural shortstop.
Luisangel Acuna, SS, Down East
Chances are that Acuna is not going to be the same caliber of player as older brother Ronald, the Atlanta Braves star, but he consistently made some of the hardest contact during instructs and minor-league camp.
The Rangers aren’t ready to start moving him around the diamond, with Seise and Anderson Tejeda ahead of him and Max Acosta behind him (Acosta will make his debut this summer with the Arizona rookies).
Acuna is one of many high-ceiling players on the Down East team, which should be fun to watch.
Demarcus Evans, RHP, Round Rock
Of all the players on this list, Evans has the best chance to make an impact with the big-league team this season.
He made his MLB debut late last season after cleaning up his curveball and learning to have more fun with the game rather than fret over a bad pitch or missed play behind him.
Evans has the best fastball in the system. He doesn’t throw it 100 mph, but the mid-90s velocity and the high spin rate make it a difficult pitch to hit.
The Rangers are short on right-handed relief arms, so it might not be long before Evans in back in Arlington.
Curtis Terry, 1B, Round Rock
Nate Lowe is the only true first baseman on the Rangers’ roster with Ronald Guzman out for the season. Others can play there in a pinch, but Terry could be the first man up is another is needed.
He’s a right-handed hitter with some power and he is able to handle just about any pitch in any count. His defense is lacking, but the Rangers insist it’s better than what he showed this spring.
Being at Round Rock with manager Kenny Holmberg, who is also the minor-league infield coordinator, should keep Terry’s glove sharp. He would need a 40-man spot, which Sherten Apostel has at Frisco. The Rangers, though, want Apostel to focus on third base.
