Friday on the Farm: Owen White could be on the verge of joining Texas Rangers' group of top pitching prospects
The right-hander has been dominant in the Arizona Fall League as he attempts to catch up on innings lost due to injury during the regular season.
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The excitement level within the Texas Rangers organization for the return of Ricky Vanasco is a 12 on a scale of 1-10.
He is healthy and pitching in the fall instructional league. He was the scheduled starting pitcher Friday at TCU as an instructs team ended its four-game stretch against Texas college teams.
Vanasco has hit triple digits. The vertical movement on his four-seamer and changeup are elite. His slider is another plus offering, and there might not be a pitcher in the system who wants to punish an opposing hitter as badly as Vanasco does.
The Rangers’ top prospect, 2021 No. 2 overall pick Jack Leiter, has that and plus stuff. Cole Winn, the 2018 first-round and the Rangers’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year, has a smaller dose of mound nastiness and four quality pitches.
That trio of right-handers are the best in the system. Leiter and Winn are two of the best in baseball. Vanasco could join them in the top 100 next season.
The rest of the prospects aren’t in the same class. One, though, could soon be.