Rangers Top 30 Prospect Falters in Latest Start

Texas' No. 5 overall prospect, and No. 2 pitching prospect, has another rough outing for Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday.

Cole Winn made his first start for the Triple-A Round Rock Express on Tuesday since the conclusion of the Minor League All-Star Break.

Winn and the Express faced Sacramento River Cats, who won 5-1.

The River Cats hit Winn, the Rangers’ No. 5 prospect according to MLB.com, hard in the contest. Winn worked just 2 1/3 innings, giving up six hits, three runs (all earned) and four walks. He struck out three.

Winn took the loss and it dropped his season record to 6-2. While he has a winning record, Winn has a worrisome 6.12 ERA.

Winn started the season with a great April, going 1-0 in four starts with a 2.02 ERA. He struck out 15 and walked five.

But his ERA has inched up as the season has continued, even though at one time he was 6-0. Winn won three more games in May, one more in June and another in July before he lost his first game of 2022 on July 10 against Albuquerque. In that game, Winn went just 1 2/3 innings, giving up six hits, eight runs (all earned) and four walks, while striking out two.

The only pitcher ahead of Winn on the Rangers’ prospect rankings is 2021 first-round pick Jack Leiter. The Rangers took another Vanderbilt pitcher, Kumar Rocker, in the first round earlier this month.

Winn is on his third minor-league season after being taken No. 15 overall by Texas in the 2018 MLB Draft. He started his minor-league career with a 2019 season at Class A Hickory where he went 4-4 with a 4.46 earned run average with 68 innings pitched and 65 strikeouts.

After no season in 2020, Winn spent most of last season at Frisco, while making one start at Round Rock. He went 4-3 and improved on his ERA (2.41) and struck out 107 hitters in 86 innings. His WHIP (walks and hits allowed per nine innings) was 0.86.

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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