The Texas Rangers have called up top pitching prospect Owen White from Double-A Frisco. The 6’3” righty is currently ranked number 47 overall by MLB pipeline and figures to see action sooner rather than later for a Rangers team suddenly devoid of healthy arms.
Currently viewed as the top pitching prospect in the Rangers organization, White has compiled a 2-3 record for the RoughRiders, with a 55/22 strikeout to walk ratio and a 3.54 ERA across 11 starts. He was also named the Texas League pitcher of the week last week following a 6 strikeout, 0 run performance across 7 innings.
With Jacob deGrom done for the year, Jon Gray out with a blister, and a bullpen that’s been exhausted over the last week, something had to give in the lone star state. Making a jump straight from Double-A to the majors is no small feat. However with a prolific offense that’s currently leading MLB in batting average (.273), runs (406), hits (622), RBIs (389), and OBP (.341), any early inning jitters White may face can easily be erased when the Rangers take to the sticks.
Originally drafted 55th overall in 2018 out of Carson HS in Chinagrove, NC, White has faced a number of setbacks on his path to the major league level. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019, the pandemic cost minor leaguers their 2020 season, and then he broke his pitching hand in 2021. Needless to say, his 169 total innings thrown over the previous 5 seasons is a fairly limited sample size.
However, the Rangers are currently in need of innings, and their hope is that the 23 year old will be able to provide them with quality starts in the short term. How long he stays with the MLB club will be based on his performance.
“With Owen, he gives us some innings,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “This would have been his start day and he’s been throwing the ball well. He’s earned this too, as well as us needing a pitcher. You look down there and he’s been doing a really nice job. So that’s probably the biggest reason I think I can give you. He’s been throwing the ball well and we needed help.”
Currently sitting atop the AL West with a 41-24 record, Texas hopes an influx of youth can help them keep Houston abay. The Astros are 4.5 games back of their in-state rivals heading into Tuesday’s slate of games.
Also being called up is LHP Cody Bradford, who was at Triple-A Round Rock. Bradford, 25, is set to start against the Angels Tuesday evening.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Drone to Fly. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.