Rangers Land Three on Baseball America Top 100 Prospects
The Texas Rangers have three players among the Top 100 prospects in baseball, according to Baseball America.
Outfielder Evan Carter is the Rangers’ top prospect and No. 26 overall, while pitcher Owen White is No. 59.
Third baseman Josh Jung — who made his Major League debut in September and is expected to be the Rangers starting third baseman — is No. 66.
Both Carter and White ended their seasons at Double-A Frisco. White is on the Rangers’ 40-man roster as the organization wanted to protect him from the Rule V Draft in December.
Carter was the Rangers’ second-round pick in 2020. He played just 32 games in 2021, but had a promising 2022. He improved his batting average by nearly 60 points (from .236 in 2021), maintained a solid walk-to-strikeout ratio and his slugging percentage went up by nearly 100 points.
With Frisco, he batted .429/.536/.714/1.250 with a home runs and six RBI in seven games.
Including a sting with High Class-A affiliate Hickory, Carter batted .295/.397/.489/.886 in 106 games (117-for-397), with 86 runs, 21 doubles, 10 triples, 12 home runs and 73 RBI. He walked 64 times, struck out 81 times, stole 28 bases and was caught stealing 13 times. Carter was named Baseball America’s Rangers Prospect of the Year for 2022.
White was a second-round pick out of high school in 2018 who missed time due to Tommy John surgery. With Hickory and Frisco he went 9-2 with a 3.59 ERA in 15 appearances (14 starts). He threw 80 1/3 innings, giving up 70 hits, 33 runs (32 earned), eight home runs and 23 walks. He struck out 104. Batters hit .233 against him and he had a 1.16 WHIP.
He promptly won the Texas League Pitcher of the Week award in his first start and finished the regular season 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA in four starts. He ended the regular season with six straight strikeouts for the RoughRiders.
Pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training to the team’s facility in Surprise, Ariz., on Feb. 15, with position players to follow by Feb. 20.
The Spring Training game schedule starts on Feb. 24 with a game against Kansas City at the Surprise complex shared with the Royals.
The Rangers wrap up their exhibition season with a pair of games at Globe Life Field against the Royals on March 27 and 28. The Rangers open up the regular season at home against Philadelphia on March 30.
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