Thursday Newsletter time: Two injured Texas Rangers prospects have their minds in the right place as their bodies heal in Arizona
Chris Seise (knee) won't be ready for Opening Day next season, but Evan Carter (back) is expected to be.
Chris Seise is still standing, and now without crutches.
The former Texas Rangers first-round pick (2017, 29th overall) has had worse injury luck than anyone in the system, including 2016 first-rounder and two-time Tommy John recipient Cole Ragans.
Seise is back in Arizona, back in the rehab program, this time for a torn ACL. He missed the 2018 and 2019 seasons with shoulder injuries. He will not be ready for Opening Day in April, but he is running and somehow remains optimistic that his luck is going to change.
It can’t get much worse.
Running with Seise on Wednesday was 2020 second-round pick Evan Carter, the outfielder who is still coming back from a stress fracture in his lower back. It turns out he had a setback at some point in his recovery, the by-product of a first-time pro pressing to get back.
Like Seise, Carter has his mind in the right place. Carter leans on his faith, and says the abrupt end to his season and prolonged rehab are all part of God’s plan.
The only baseball activity the Rangers are allowing Carter to do is throwing, though he could begin a hitting progression in early November and resume it in December at home in Tennessee.
The expectation is Carter will be a full-go for spring training.
Observations from the back fields
Wednesday was a camp day at Rangers instructs. No game. Just a mid-morning workout before heading back to the players village or some off-campus housing to pack for home. So, there wasn’t quite as much to see as Monday and Tuesday, but a lot was packed into around 90 minutes.
The biggest player at instructs is Bayron Lora, which really isn’t anything new for him. The good news is that he was at instructs after a difficult offseason in which he was the driver a single-car wreck in the Dominican Republic in which a passenger was killed. All reports on his fall were positive. He has tremendous power, which he showed just hitting flips over the fence. Even the older prospects watching were awed. Lora turned 19 last month.
The four-man group of older prospects included infielder Davis Wendzel, first baseman Dustin Harris, right fielder Aaron Zavala and … infielder Jonathan Ornelas. He more than held is own. The Rangers wanted Ornelas to calm down at the plate this season and to not jump at the ball. He appears to have done that, though his 2021 stats at High A Hickory (.261 average, eight homers, .704 OPS) might not show the progress.
Hitting in Lora’s four-player group was a muscular left-handed hitter who didn’t look like a fresh-faced prospect. He was, once upon a time. The player is Josh Sale, the Tampa Bay Rays’ first-round pick (17th overall) in 2010. He’s 30 now and in 2021 played baseball for the first time since 2015. Why the layoff? He had twice been suspended for using a “drug of abuse,” and the Rays cut him in 2015. He was at instructs to share his story, how he ruined a golden opportunity but has been sober for five years. Word is Sale didn’t hold back with a message we could probably all benefit hearing.
Among the rehabbers was someone older than Sale, 33-year-old James Jones. You’ll remember Jones as the former speedy Seattle Mariners outfielder acquired by the Rangers and converted to pitcher. The left-hander has never made it back to the majors. But he’s still trying, and he gets back on a mound next week. Jones walked from the clubhouse to the back fields with Carter. That’s a 14-year age gap for those scoring at home. Jones has experiences young players need to hear, and it would seem that the Rangers would be well-served to find a spot for Jones in player development after he retires.
ICYMI …
Good times were had over parts of three days at Rangers instructs Lots of work was done that has either been posted or soon will be. For the stuff that has been posted, as well as a few other items, here are links in case you missed it.
Monday back-field observations
Tuesday back-field observations
Lots and lots of prospect videos
The Sunday Read: Looking at 2022 and beyond
Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast: Sam Huff
Friday on the Farm: Jack Leiter visits instructs
Doggy video!
Nothing to see here. Just a dog, going down a lot of stairs, mostly on its front two legs. Enjoy. See you Friday.
I cringe every time I read some keyboard coach post that these guys get paid to play a "kids" game. Uhhh, no they don't! At this level, and even just to get there, it's hard work, grinding day in and day out. Most of these guys, certainly those stateside, spent most weekends from February to November working out 5 days a week, logging thousands of miles a year with family over most weekends so they could play against the best competition in effort to get better themselves. Then to be so close and have the major setbacks some of these guys do has to be really tough. Thanks for bringing this kind of insight.