Rangers Pitching Prospect Sprains Ankle in Frisco

Texas' No. 8 overall prospect threw a no-hitter into the sixth inning before a sprained ankle ended his night

Pitcher Owen White, the Rangers’ No. 8 overall prospect, made his home debut with the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders on Friday night.

The outing was as good as it could get for a young pitcher, as White threw 5 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball against the Corpus Christi Hooks.

But White’s outing ended after that first out of the sixth inning. According to MLB.com, White sprained his ankle and he was removed from the game. It’s not believed to be serious.

White struck out seven and walked one, as he threw 68 pitches, 46 of which were strikes.

White made his first start with Frisco on the road on June 25 against Arkansas and he claimed the victory in a 5 1/3-inning appearance. He gave up six hits, two runs and two walks while striking out five.

The Rangers promoted White from High Class-A Hickory to Frisco on June 23.

White was the Rangers’ second-round pick (No. 55 overall) in the 2018 MLB Draft out of China Grove, N.C. But, Tommy John surgery and the 2020 cancellation of Minor League Baseball prevented White from getting into the Rangers’ system until 2021, when he threw for the Rangers’ rookie league team and Low Class-A Down East and went 4-1 with a 3.06 ERA in nine appearances (eight starts).

White started this season at Hickory, where he started 10 games and made 11 appearances before his call-up. With the Crawdads, he went 6-2 with a 3.99 ERA in 58 2/3 innings, with 18 strikeouts and 19 walks.

Some of the Rangers’ top pitching prospects are at Frisco, including last year’s first-round pick, Jack Leiter. He’s skipping his start this week due to mild arm fatigue. It is not expected to impact his next start.

Meanwhile, Spencer Howard put together his best minor-league start of the season for Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday, striking out 11 in seven innings. Plus, No. 2 prospect Cole Winn won his last start for the Express.

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