Spartanburgers pitcher J’Briell Easley spent a good chunk of 2025 in rehab. Shoulder surgery cost the 24-year-old the final three months of his first pro baseball season.
In the late summer months, Easley called the Rangers’ Arizona complex home instead of playing in North Carolina for the Low-A affiliate, the Hickory Crawdads. While in rehab, Easley met and built a friendship with the Rangers’ 20th round draft pick in 2025, Jamaurion McQueen. The two were both a part of a group of Rangers minor league prospects invited by the organization on a cultural trip to the Dominican Republic during the 2025 offseason. McQueen, a 19-year-old outfielder from Mississippi, agreed to go, and he helped sell Easley on the idea.
Come early November, Easley and McQueen found themselves crawling out the window of their bedroom at the Texas Rangers complex in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, just east of the capital, Santo Domingo.
“In the Dominican Republic, it’s weird,” laughed Easley. “The doors lock from the inside too. For some reason, [our] door was locked whenever we got there, and we couldn’t get it open.”
Spartanburgers shortstop Luke Hanson was also one of the just over a dozen Rangers prospects to make the trip. Former Hub City pitchers David Davalillo and Leandro Lopez tagged along too, helping to serve as guides and translators for the group.
“I was pretty bought in on going from the jump,” said Hanson. “I just felt like it would be a great experience…Within two days of getting the invite, I signed the paper to go.”
One of the goals behind the trip was to give the recent Rangers signees a chance to build relationships with their future teammates. The group also met some of the Rangers’ young international free agent signees from the Dominican Republic, players with the hopes of making the jump to the United States to put on both a Spartanburgers and a Rangers jersey one day.
“We all saw the hunger of the players down there trying to make it to the US,” said Davalillo. “Hopefully that serves as inspiration for all of us to work hard.”
Easley got to know 18-year-old outfield prospect Elorky Rodriguez during the trip. Rodriguez spent the 2025 season playing in the Dominican Summer League. When Rodriguez was invited to Spring Training this March, he reunited with Easley.
“It was just like, hey if you need anything, ask me,” Easley said of his conversations with Rodriguez. “Because when I was down there, I was asking him the same questions.”
“I know if I was 17-years-old coming to the States after being in the Dominican and growing up there my whole life, it would be nice to see a few familiar faces,” said Hanson.
The group spent their mornings at the complex, eating breakfast, lifting weights, and practicing. Their baseball activities wrapped up by lunchtime. Afterwards, their scheduled activities for the afternoon commenced. One afternoon, they helped put on a baseball clinic for local Dominican kids, including serving as the coaches for a home run derby.
“It was like a big league home run derby,” said Easley. “Everyone was loving it.”
“We made it feel like it was what they watch on TV,” added Hanson. “[We were] giving them water or wiping down their face during the time out.”
The group also went to volunteer at a special needs school on the first full day of the trip.
“That was really cool just because those kids seemed so excited to, you know, be around us,” said Hanson. “At the school it was like, you know, they were in awe of just maybe how big we were, you know, and some of us being American there. It was really cool, and that was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. Just the smiles that they had and just they were very open and interactive with us.”
The group also soaked in a professional game environment when they went to see a Dominican Winter League game.
“That was a very different experience,” said Easley. “I’ve never seen a band in a baseball stadium before. Pretty crazy.”
“The energy is awesome,” said Hanson. “It felt like almost a high school football game…It gives you perspective on how people play the game. It’s all the same game, but people take it, you know, different ways.”
They explored different aspects of Dominican culture, too: Enjoying the local cuisine, dinners on the pier, and a final day spent at Juan Dolio beach, an area where Fernando Tatis spends time in the offseason.
It was a week to remember for Easley, Hanson and the rest of the Rangers prospects. Easley is already trying to book a return trip.
“I wish I could go back,” Easley said. “[They] told me I could go back next year, so we’ll see if [they were] serious or not. But I would for sure go back, and I’d recommend it to anybody that has a chance to do it.”