Welcome to The Dallas Morning News’ Texas Rangers minor league report, a weekly update on the organization’s top prospects and players from Round Rock to the rookie league...
Breaking down the first month of Owen White’s season: The early stages of this season have largely evolved into Jack Leiter Mania on the pitching prospect front. Deservedly so. Leiter — who will make his second major league start on Wednesday in Oakland — has pitched his way to a breakthrough season in the minor leagues after a bumpy first two.
But what about the guy who was the club’s top-ranked pitching prospect last season?
Right-hander Owen White, the organization’s No. 7 prospect and No. 2 pitching prospect according to The Dallas Morning News’ rankings, has a 5.70 ERA through five starts at Triple-A Round Rock but has seemingly settled in during recent weeks.
White, 24, has a 3.97 ERA in his last two starts and most recently pitched six innings of two-run ball in hitter-friendly Albuquerque on May 1. He elicited 11 swings-and-misses and reached 95.1 mph to earn a called strike with his fastball in the second inning.
The 2018 second-round pick debuted with the Rangers last season and pitched out of the bullpen. He didn’t do enough in spring training to earn much of an extended stay, and the Rangers have turned to Leiter as their minor-league-spot-starter in the early goings. But they’ll need depth over the course of the regular season — especially until Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle return — and White, at his best, could provide that.
Hitter of the week: OF Aaron Zavala: The Rangers’ second-round pick in 2021, Zavala has slashed .368/.455/.414 through five games in May with a home run and a triple. The 23-year-old is ranked No. 22 on The News’ organizational prospect list, but a significant drop in production last season dropped his stock some. He has an .823 OPS to start the season in Double-A, which is encouraging, but his strikeout rate (36 in 25 games) is still a tad too high.
Pitcher of the week: RHP Josh Stephan: The 22-year-old right-hander logged his best start of the season for Double-A Frisco on Sunday with a scoreless six-inning outing against Corpus Christi. Stephan, a South Grand Prairie native, struck out a season-high seven batters, walked none and scattered six hits.
Stephan has a 4.35 ERA through three Double-A starts this season. The organization’s No. 17 prospect, according to The News, he missed the first few weeks of the regular season with a back injury but returned on April 21.
The Rangers signed Stephan as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and he showed considerable promise in 2022 (3.14 ERA in 103 and 1/3 innings pitched) and 2023 (2.30 ERA in 66 and 2/3 innings pitched). That 2020 draft class has already provided the Rangers value in second-round pick Evan Carter and first-round pick Justin Foscue, plus third-rounder Tekoah Roby and fifth-rounder Thomas Saggesse were used to acquire Jordan Montgomery from the St. Louis Cardinals at last year’s trade deadline. Stephan might’ve been the biggest diamond in the rough for Texas that year.
Non top-30 standout: OF Yeremi Cabrera. The Arizona Complex League began play last week and Cabrera — an 18-year-old whom the Rangers signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2022 — is off to a scorching start through two games. He’s hit 4 for 8 with three home runs and a pair of stolen bases.
Cabrera struggled in his first season of professional baseball in 2022 in the Dominican Summer League, but slashed .329/.445/.559 with seven home runs in 47 games last year in the DSL. Texas signed Cabrera for $10,000 off of the international free agent market.
Stat of the week: RHP Emiliano Teodo allowed just one hit in five innings against Corpus Christi on Saturday. The 23-year-old lowered his season ERA to 2.91 in 21 and 2/3 innings pitched this season for Double-A Frisco.
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