Rangers Pitcher Glenn Otto Makes Houston Debut

The Tomball, Texas, and Rice University product made his first career MLB start at Minute Maid Park on Thursday

Matthew Postins | May 19, 2022

Glenn Otto returned home for his first Major League Start at Minute Maid Park in Houston, as he had his longest start of the season against the Astros on Thursday.

Otto was born in Spring, which is just outside of Houston, and went to Tomball High School. He played his college baseball at Rice University, also in Houston.

With his family in attendance, Otto threw 97 pitches in six innings. Before Thursday, he went five innings in two different starts.

Glenn Otto

Glenn Otto

Glenn Otto

Otto got out of a jam in the sixth inning, giving up a single to Jeremy Pena and a walk to Jose Siri before getting Martin Maldonado to pop out to end the inning.

In fact, Otto got out of a few jams, but ended up leaving the game after sixth and wasn’t in line for a decision, as the Rangers were down 2-1. He gave up seven hits, two runs, both earned, and three walks while striking out two.

Otto gave up both runs in the first inning. He surrendered a double to Jose Altuve, which deflected off the glove of Rangers third baseman Charlie Culberson. An Otto wild pitch allowed Altuve to advance to third. Otto then hit Alex Bregman with a pitch, though replay showed the contact was slight, making contact with Bregman’s jersey.

After fanning Yordan Alvarez, Aledmys Diaz singled to left, which scored Altuve. But, White was able to throw out Bregman at third. Kyle Tucker then singled to score Diaz from second to give the Astros the lead.

After that, Otto settled down a bit, as he gave up a single to Siri in the second, who later tried to score on an Altuve single, but was thrown out at home.

In the third, he gave up a walk to Alvarez and allowed Diaz to single, but he escaped unscathed. In the fourth, Otto retired the side on nine pitches, and then navigated a one-out walk to Alvarez in the fifth.

Otto is used to facing the Astros, even if he was making his first start at Minute Maid Park as a Ranger. Otto faced the Astros in four of his first 11 career starts, and was 0-1 with a 6.39 ERA in the first three games. He made his MLB debut against Houston last season.

In his last game against the Astros on April 27, Otto threw 4 1/3rd innings, giving up just two hits. The Astros managed two runs and two walks, while Otto struck out five. Chas McCormick had a lead-off home run for the Astros.

Otto previously pitched at Minute Maid Park as a member of the Rice Owls.

Glenn Otto

Glenn Otto

Glenn Otto

Otto was coming off perhaps his worst start of the season against Boston last Saturday in an 11-3 Rangers loss. He matched career highs in hits (eight), walks (four), runs (eight), and earned runs (eight) in just four innings pitched.

Before that, Otto allowed just eight hits and five runs in three previous starts since his call-up from Round Rock. He also pitched well on the road, with a 1-0 record with a 2.70 ERA in two road starts.

Otto is considered the Rangers’ No. 15 prospect by MLB.com, and was called up after an injury to Jon Gray, who re-joined the team on Monday.

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Published May 19, 2022

MATTHEW POSTINS

Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers the Texas Rangers for Fan Nation/SI and also writes about the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. He also covers the Big 12 for HeartlandCollegeSports.com.