Rangers Name Minor League Award Winners for May

Davis Wendzel and Jack Leiter were among potential future Texas Rangers to be honored by the organization for their play in May.

Ben Ludeman / Courtesy of the Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers announced their organizational minor league award winners for May. They included:

Player of the Month – INF Davis Wendzel (Triple-A Round Rock)

Starting Pitcher of the Month – RHP Jack Leiter (Double-A Frisco)

Reliever of the Month – RHP Alex Speas (Frisco)

Defender of the Month – INF Jax Biggers (Frisco)

Wendzel, 26, batted .286/.388/.619/1.007 (24-84) with seven home runs, seven doubles, 16 RBI, and 16 runs in 23 games last month, reaching safely in 19 of 23 games in May. He ranked among Pacific Coast League monthly leaders in home runs (T4th, 7), slugging percentage (9th, .619), total bases (T9th, 52) and doubles (T9th, 7). He was selected as the PCL Player of the Week for May 23-28. Wendzel also has a 6-game hit streak to open June, and he is batting .271/.392/.554/.945 with 12 home runs and 34 RBI over 52 games. The Baylor product was selected by Texas in the first round (41st overall) of the 2019 MLB Draft.

Leiter, 23, went 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA (5 ER/27.0 IP) in five games/starts in May, holding opponents to a .148 batting average with 13 walks and 33 strikeouts. Leiter allowed one-or-zero runs in four of his five starts and had a career-best 10 strikeouts while earning the win on May 17 vs. Amarillo. He finished among Texas League leaders last month in ERA (4th, 1.67), opponent batting average (4th, .148), strikeouts (6th, 33), WHIP (7th, 0.97), and innings (T7th, 27.0). The second overall selection in the 2021 MLB Draft out of Vanderbilt University, Leiter has gone 2-3 with a 3.88 ERA and 12.2 strikeouts per 9 innings over 11 games/starts. He is currently rated as the Rangers’ fourth-best prospect by MLB Pipeline.

Speas, 25, had a 1.93 ERA (2 ER/9.1 IP) over nine relief outings, whiffing 16 of 41 batters faced (39.0%) for the month. Over his final six appearances in May, Speas held opponents to a .105 batting average (2-19) while whiffing 12 of 23 batters faced (52.2%). He has a 0.89 ERA (2 ER/20.1 IP) over 18 relief outings this season, averaging 15.5 strikeouts per 9 innings (35 SO/20.1 IP). The Georgia native was originally selected by the Rangers out of high school in the second round of the 2016 MLB Draft.

Biggers, 26, has yet to commit an error this season over 36 total starts (18 starts at both 2nd base and 3rd base). His totals over 37 games at the two positions in 2023: 322.0 innings, 119 total chances, 42 putouts, 77 assists, 15 double plays, no errors. Over 19 games in May, Biggers had no errors across 54 total chances (35 assists, 19 putouts, 8 double plays). Biggers was originally selected by Texas in the eighth round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of the University of Arkansas.

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