There's nothing minor about this Rangers prospect's MLB debut

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry's Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SEATTLE -- Gavin Collyer made his MLB debut on Wednesday in a ballpark that he was pretty familiar with. He’s one of just five players (not including the Athletics or Rays) to make their debuts at a Minor League stadium over the last two seasons.

The A’s temporary home of Sutter Health Park is also the home of the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants and one of many Pacific Coast League clubs.

That didn’t matter much to Collyer, though. These were still big league hitters. The right-hander -- the Rangers’ No. 30 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- opened his MLB career with a three-pitch strikeout of A’s star Lawrence Butler, becoming the second Texas pitcher to debut by striking out the only batter he faced, joining Connor Sadzeck on Sept. 1, 2018, against the Twins.

“It’s pretty surreal,” Collyer said on the night of his debut. “It’s not the big league stadium or whatever, but it's what's on my chest. It's the big leagues. It's crazy. I don't really know what to think about. It hasn't really sunk in yet. This is real, though. I mean, I blacked out out there. I just focused on me, and was trying to pump strikes.”

It’s still the big leagues, no matter what stadium you’re in. But Collyer couldn’t deny the awe he had when he took the mound at T-Mobile Park two days later.

Collyer threw 1 1/3 innings in relief of Jacob deGrom during a 5-0 win over the Mariners, allowing a walk and a single but striking out two en route to securing his first MLB victory.

“Today was a lot different, I will say,” Collyer said. “I was just trying to keep my head down, focus on what's in front of me. That third deck is a lot, makes you feel really small. But other than that, I felt normal, felt like I was where I needed to be. God put me on the mound for this moment, and I went with it. I just trusted my stuff, and it ended up working out. It was great.”

Against the A’s in his debut, Collyer was upset he didn’t get the chance to face the top of that lineup. On Friday, he faced the heart of a Mariners order that was full of All-Stars -- striking out a pair, including Julio Rodríguez, while getting a popout from Cal Raleigh and a groundout from Randy Arozarena.

“Tonight, I didn't even know who I faced,” Collyer said. “That was the biggest thing, it was just me and [catcher Danny Jansen], me and Danny this whole time, focus on throwing strikes and trying to get a win for the team. I was mentally really locked in. I was just trying to enjoy the moment. You see a big lefty in there, but I didn’t know it was Cal. I'm just looking at Danny, and it's just me and him. That was a big thing. Keep my vision, just me and Danny.”

Collyer was selected by the Rangers in the 12th round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Mountain View High School in Georgia, and he's spent all six years of his professional career in the organization. He was a Minor League free agent this past offseason and opted to return to the club that drafted him.

He became a full-time reliever in 2023, and while his velocity has continued to tick up, sitting 96-98 mph last season in Triple-A, the walk rate has been a concern throughout his entire professional career.

When manager Skip Schumaker was asked what stood out to him about Collyer last year in Double-A and Triple-A, he had an immediate answer.

“What his fastball does inside the strike zone,” he said. “The numbers suggest that there's swing and miss inside the strike-zone fastball, which initially jumped out. You just don't see that too often at that high number or that clip. Then watching it, you understand why. But the walk rate was high, higher than it should be. He made it a point this offseason to fill up the strike zone, because when he pounds inside the strike zone, it's really, really good -- better than most, quite honestly.”

It wasn't surprising when Schumaker saw him come into Spring Training with a mission to pound the strike zone. It’s one that he accomplished. The Rangers knew he would be an option in the bullpen at some point this season. They just didn’t expect it so soon.

But it’s obviously nice to have a weapon like his to come out of the ‘pen. Collyer won't be crowned the closer immediately, maybe not even anytime soon. But it’s clear that he has the stuff to make that happen eventually.

“I think it's nice to have swing and miss, and he provides that,” Schumaker said. “Our bullpen’s done a really good job of throwing strikes, not hurting themselves, using the defense, keeping hitters off balance. The balls have been mishit a lot off the barrel. When you also have swing and miss in the bullpen, it’s needed in big leverage spots, because you can't just put balls in play all the time. Isn't ideal, right? He’s fun to watch and good to see. And he was not scared, which is great. He's on the attack.”