Owen White Had 'Chills' Before Texas Rangers Debut

The Texas Rangers' No. 2 prospect threw two innings of relief against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Owen White found out at midnight Tuesday that he would be making his Major League debut with the Texas Rangers. He and the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders were in Fayetteville, Ark., for a series with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.

White’s wife was with him. After he got the call, he tried to get some sleep. Seriously. He tried.

“I tried to sleep, but my wife wouldn’t let me,” White said after his two-inning relief stint in Tuesday’s 7-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. “Every time I fell asleep, she nudged me and said, ‘I can’t sleep.’ I said ‘Well I can, so let me.’”

After the Rangers wrapped up their game on Monday with the Angels, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy and the organization huddled to determine their options after using five relievers in a 12-inning game. Calling up White — their No. 2 overall prospect — was part of the decision.

That led to a chaotic Tuesday trying to get to Arlington. White got his wife a flight from Fayetteville that morning. He drove to Arlington. Meanwhile, 40 of his friends and family organized themselves to get to Globe Life Field for his debut.

He said the drive helped him get ready.

“I had cold chills the whole ride,” White said. “It helped once I got here. I knew it was game time.”

It also gave him time to reflect on a long road to the Majors.

The Rangers drafted White out of high school in 2018 and paid $1.5 million to sign the second-round pick. Less than a year after the draft, he was under the knife for Tommy John surgery. Then, after finally getting healthy, he broke his hand in his 2021 professional debut slamming it to the ground after making an error.

He ended 2021 at the Arizona Fall League and came away with Pitcher of the Year honors. Last season he slid up to No. 4 on the Rangers’ Top 30 prospect list.

White is the reigning Texas League Pitcher of the Week and entered his MLB debut with a 2-3 record and a 3.54 ERA in 11 starts at Frisco. He struck out 45 and walked 22.

White entered the game in the top of the fifth with one out and no one on the base paths. With no traffic he quickly recorded his first career strikeout against Chad Wallach and got Zach Neto to fly out to right field.

In the sixth, things got away from him and the Rangers, who were leading 3-1 at the time.

White struck out Taylor Ward. Shohei Ohtani — who homered twice Monday night — singled to right for White’s first hit allowed.

Brandon Drury followed with a single to left, moving Ohtani to second. Anthony Rendon hit a grounder to Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien. Trying to turn a double play, he tossed the ball to shortstop Corey Seager.

He forced out Drury at second. But he lost the ball as he tried to throw out Rendon at first. Seager’s error allowed Ohtani to score to make it 3-2.

The missed double play was huge. If Seager turns it, the inning is over. Instead, White followed that up by giving up his first MLB home run to Hunter Renfroe, a two-run shot that brought home Rendon and gave the Angels the lead.

“The kid, Owen, he should have come out better than that,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “He had some back luck, some ground balls that got through.”

White said the pitch was a slider that just didn’t quite do what he wanted.

“I thought I could have had better execution on the slider,” White said. “That’s a pitch he can hit. It’s also a weakness if we can get it down.”

After giving up a Mickey Moniak single and walking Wallach, he left the game after a Neto sacrifice bunt with one out in the seventh inning.

White ended up going two innings, giving up three runs, four hits and a walk while striking out two.

“He threw strikes,” Bochy said. “He had a good breaking ball, a good fastball and I liked the way he attacked the zone. He mixed in his change. He wasn’t hit hard except for the home run. Overall he was pretty good. For a debut, it wasn’t a bad job. It was just some bad luck.”

It’s not clear what happens next for White. But now that he’s here, naturally he wants to stay.

“It’s been a battle through TJ and breaking my hand and just grinding out that minor league life,” White said. “I hope I proved something and hopefully I can stay up here and keep grinding and help this team out.”

The Rangers (41-25) have lost the first two games of the series, and five of six overall, going into Wednesday night. Andrew Heaney (4-4, 4.14) starts for Texas, with Reid Detmers (1-5, 4.79) going for Los Angeles. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

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