These former first-round pitchers in Texas Rangers’ farm system off to fast starts
The best pitcher so far for the Texas Rangers returned to the mound Friday night, and man, did the Rangers need a good start from Kyle Gibson.
They had lost nine straight games, all of them with the right-hander on the injured list with a groin strain, ahead of the opener of a weekend home series against the reigning AL champion Tampa Bay Rays.
Meanwhile, good things have been happening on the mound in the minor leagues, from Low A Down East to Triple A Round Rock. Recent draft picks, like 2020 third-rounder TK Roby, and even 2012 fifth-rounder Collin Wiles, now 27, have shined.
Two pitchers in particular, a pair of first-rounders, have opened eyes the past two weeks.
Cole Winn, the 2018 first-rounder, is establishing himself as one of the best pitchers in Double A Central for Frisco, and another Cole, Cole Ragans, is progressing nicely at High A Hickory after not pitching since 2017 because of Tommy John surgery.
It’s early in the minor leagues, where seasons were delayed a month as MLB attempted to juggle spring training through the COVID-19 pandemic. Though Winn is near the Rangers geographically, he and Ragans are not being rushed or in a rush to reach their ultimate goal of pitching in the major leagues.
“I think it’s just trying to stay as grounded as possible and be where my feet are,” Winn said. “Thinking about the future is tough to do. At the end of the day, you have to realize that right now I’m in Frisco and I’m going to be in Frisco until until I get called up or whatever happens. It’s just trying to realize as much as possible that it’s one day at a time for a whole season.”
Winn, the 15th overall pick three years ago, has allowed four hits in his past three starts covering 18 innings. That includes six no-hit innings on May 27.
Opponents are batting .112 against him after his first six starts of the season.
Winn, 21, said he benefited from time at the alternate camp site during 2020 and in his first big-league spring training earlier this year. Coaches there reinforced to him that his stuff plays, and he honed in on his command in all quadrants of the strike zone.
He didn’t trust his stuff early in his first full-season assignment in 2019 at then-Low A Hickory.
“Toward the end of the year, I kind of figured it out,” Winn said. “And then going in from last year, the work I did at the alt side and just going from there, I think I made a huge leap from 2019.
Ragans, though, was stuck in Arizona on the comeback trail from his second torn ulnar collateral ligament. The first came in spring training of 2018, and the second came in 2019 as the left-hander was about to start pitching in games.
He’s finally doing that now.
His latest start Wednesday was his best — six innings, one hit, 11 strikeouts and no walks. The only downer was that the one hit was a home run.
But the things that were working were what he had been seeing since returning to full health.
“Everything is feeling really good,” Ragans said. “The velo is back. Everything’s going great. Recoveries are good. Each time I go out, the next day I’m a little less sore than I was the week before.”
Ragans, now 23, said he tries not to look too far ahead, though there are moments when he does. The most important thing to him is that he’s healthy and still had a chance to play baseball and possibly pitch in the majors at some point.
He has a 3.58 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP after five starts.
“I just always try to tell myself to just take it a day at a time,” he said. “Even if I’m not pitching in a game that day and it’s just throwing program or drills that I have to do, just enjoy it. I’m still getting to play baseball for a living.”
This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 4:50 PM.
