SURPRISE, Ariz. -- It’s not often that the reigning World Series champs have one of the best farm systems in baseball, but the Rangers have just that.
Texas, whose system ranks No. 7 in MLB Pipeline’s latest rankings, will get a chance to show it off this week.
Starting on Thursday, a team of prospects from each organization will take part in the first Spring Breakout -- a new four-day event from Major League Baseball, spotlighting the sport's most promising future stars via a series of seven-inning exhibition games.
The Rangers’ prospects will square off against their counterparts from the Reds organization at 5:05 p.m. CT/3:05 MST on Thursday at Surprise Stadium.
Here is all you need to know for the inaugural Spring Breakout game:
Pitching plans
The Rangers have not finalized their exact pitching approach for the Spring Breakout game, as they continue to balance the showcase with getting individual pitchers ramped up for the season. That said, guys like Brock Porter (Texas’ No. 4 prospect, MLB’s No. 88 prospect), Jack Leiter (No. 8) and Owen White (No. 10) are on the roster.
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Here's a look at the other pitchers on the roster:
Jose Corniell, RHP (No. 9)
Emiliano Teodo, RHP (No. 16)
Aidan Curry, RHP (No. 19)
Mitch Bratt, LHP (No. 20)
Antoine Kelly, LHP (No. 22)
Marc Church, RHP (No. 23)
Dane Acker, RHP (No. 28)
Izack Tiger, RHP (No. 29)
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Potential lineup
Cameron Cauley, 2B (No. 13)
Sebastian Walcott, SS (No. 3, No. 71 in MLB)
Dustin Harris, RF (No. 11)
Abimelec Ortiz, 1B (No. 12)
Liam Hicks, C
Anthony Gutierrez, CF (No. 7)
Jonathan Ornelas, 3B
Aaron Zavala, LF (No. 21)
Justin Foscue (No. 5) was removed from the Spring Breakout roster, as the 25-year-old continues to compete for a spot on the big league Opening Day roster. Keyber Rodriguez, the 23-year-old infielder who took Foscue's spot on the Spring Breakout roster, stole 32 bases in 119 games between High-A Hickory and Double-A Frisco last season.
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Position player to watch: SS Sebastian Walcott
The Rangers signed Walcott for a $3.2 million bonus in the 2023 international class. He’s an athletic middle infielder with the ability to hit for both average and power as he grows into his body and gets older.
At just 17 years old in his professional debut, Walcott played nine games in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League before making his U.S. debut last summer. He burst onto the scene in the Arizona Complex League and proceeded to slash .273/.325/.524 in 35 games. The shortstop received a late-season promotion to High-A Hickory, and he could be in Frisco to start the season.
The 18-year-old Walcott is still a long way from big league consideration, but he’s clearly made an impact in a short time in the system.
Pitcher to watch: RHP Emiliano Teodo
It’s easy to look at the group of high-profile guys like Leiter, Porter and White as the pitchers to watch, but Teodo -- a 23-year-old right-hander out of the Dominican Republic -- has turned a lot of heads this spring.
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Teodo was invited to big league camp, but he was since sent back down to the Minors. His fastball consistently sat between 97-99 mph -- and touched 100 mph -- in Cactus League action.
Teodo has lit up the radar gun in his time stateside with fastballs typically sitting 95-98 mph and touching as high as 103, according to MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis. The righty has command and control issues, which could keep him from being a big league starter down the road, but a role as a Major League reliever is not out of the realm of possibility within the next two years.
“Electric stuff,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “I just really liked the poise that the kid showed; he’s got great stuff.”
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