FRISCO, Texas (September 14, 2026) - The Texas Rangers announced their 2026 end-of-year Minor League awards Monday, naming INF Rafe Perich the Tom Grieve Player of the Year and LHP Dalton Pence the Nolan Ryan Pitcher of the Year. The pair of 2026 RoughRiders are slated to receive their awards in a pregame ceremony Saturday, September 19 at Globe Life Field.
Perich, 24, led all Rangers Minor League hitters in batting average (.315), doubles (31) and home runs (27). As of the end of the Double-A season, the Allentown, Penn. native was one of just two players in Minor League Baseball to lead their Major League organization in all three. He is the first Rangers farmhand to have a season with 30 or more doubles and 25 or more home runs since Jared Hoying in 2014.
A seventh round pick out of Lehigh in 2024, Perich finished second in the organization with 92 RBI, just behind teammate Arturo Disla’s 94. They are the only two MiLB hitters in the organization with a 90+ RBI season in the last three years.
After playing 38 games with High-A Hub City and leading the Spartanburgers with 11 home runs, Perich earned a promotion to Frisco and hit .321 with 27 doubles and 16 home runs across his first 78 career Double-A games.
Pence, 24, has pitched across three levels this season and leads all Rangers’ minor league arms with a 2.44 ERA across 114.1 innings as of September 14. Among all Minor League pitchers who have thrown at least 100 innings this season, Pence ranks fifth in ERA.
The Gastonia, N.C. native began the year with High-A Hub City, earned a promotion to Frisco in mid-May and then pitched his way to Triple-A Round Rock by August, holding an ERA below 3.00 throughout all three stops. In 10 starts with the RoughRiders, Pence posted a 2.77 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 55.1 innings.
An 11th-round selection out of North Carolina in 2024, Pence will finish the year in Triple-A, where he currently possesses a 1.82 ERA in 34.2 innings – just seven earned runs allowed.
Full Rangers Minor League Award winners:
Tom Grieve Player of the Year - INF Rafe Perich
Nolan Ryan Pitcher of the Year - LHP Dalton Pence
Reliever of the Year - LHP Louis Marinaro
Defender of the Year - INF Yolfran Castillo
True Ranger Award - RHP Evan Siary
For tickets and more information about the Frisco RoughRiders, visit RidersBaseball.com or call 972.731.9200.
About the RoughRiders
The Frisco RoughRiders are the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers and the 2022 Texas League champions. In 2023, the team celebrated its 20th anniversary and has consistently finished in the top five among all Double-A franchises in attendance yearly. In August 2014, the RoughRiders were purchased by an ownership group led by Chuck Greenberg. Since then, the new ownership group, together with the City of Frisco, has spearheaded numerous major franchise enhancements, investing over $8 million in a wide array of facility upgrades and improvements, including a state-of-the-art HD video board, sound system, Bull Moose Saloon, Bullpen Bar, Riders Outpost Team Store and the world's largest water feature in a sports facility, the massive Lazy River. These enhancements earned the Riders and the City of Frisco Ballpark Digest's prestigious "Best Ballpark Renovation" award for two consecutive years (2015 and 2016). More than 225 former RoughRiders players have gone on to play Major League Baseball including current Rangers Jack Leiter, Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford. For more information on the Frisco RoughRiders, please visit RidersBaseball.com or contact zbigley@ridersbaseball.com.