Young Texas Rangers Catcher Earns Carolina League Player of Week Honors

A 2023 Texas Rangers draft pick could be part of helping the franchise rebuild its pipeline of catching prospects.

Jul 26, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; A hat and glove of a Texas Rangers player during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports / John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Texas Rangers catching prospect Julian Brock was named the Carolina League Player of the Week for Aug. 12-18 for his play with the team’s Class-A affiliate in Down East.

Texas made Brock its eighth-round pick last year out of Louisiana, but he didn’t start his professional career until this season.

With the Wood Ducks, the 23-year-old batted .550 (11-20) with a home run, a triple, five doubles, and three RBI in five games last week. He recorded a season-high four hits on Saturday at Lynchburg, finishing a single shy of the cycle. He also had two doubles.

In 81 games with Down East he’s slashed .252/.328/.386/.714 with five home runs, four triples, 17 doubles and 32 RBI. He is among the team’s leaders in doubles (tied for second), triples (tied for second), hits (third), and RBI (tied for third).

Behind the plate he has thrown out 32 of 111 attempted base stealers for a 28.8% caught stealing percentage, the fifth-best mark in the Carolina League (min. 75 SBA).

Brock is not among the Rangers’ Top 30 prospects. The only Rangers catcher in the organization’s Top 30 is Malcolm Moore, who was selected in the first round last month of the MLB Draft.

In his last season with Louisiana, he batted .315 with a team-high 11 home runs and 65 RBI as he was selected First-Team All-Louisiana and Second-Team All-Sun Belt Conference. He helped Louisiana reach the NCAA Tournament and an appearance in the Coral Gables Regional.

He also led the team in slugging percentage (.559), walks (42) and multi-RBI games (18). He also ranked among SBC leaders in total chances (520), putouts (451) and runners caught stealing (17).

In 2022, he was named first-team All-Sun Belt Conference and second-team All-Louisiana after he hit .303 with seven home runs and 35 RBI.

Brock also spent time during college with La Crosse in the Northwoods League in 2021 and Brewster in the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2023 before he was drafted.

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