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.
ARLINGTON -- Three Rangers landed on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects list: shortstop Sebatian Walcott (No. 17), right-handed pitcher Kumar Rocker (No. 44) and right-handed pitcher Alejandro Rosario (No. 50).
Rocker is ranked the eighth best right-handed pitching prospect in baseball, while Rosario is ranked 10th. Walcott is the No. 4-ranked shortstop prospect.
Both Walcott and Rosario were present at the Rangers’ annual Minor League minicamp last week at Globe Life Field. Rocker was in Arlington working out with the big league club after making his brief debut in September last season.
Here’s a look at the club’s top three prospects, as well as their long-term and short-term outlooks in Texas:
SS Sebastian Walcott (Rangers’ No. 1)
Acquired: International signing Jan. 2023 ($3.2 million)
ETA: 2026
The 19-year-old Walcott is far and away the best player in the Rangers farm system and very well could become a top-five prospect in baseball by the summer.
Walcott has been highly regarded in the Rangers’ organization since they signed him during the 2023 international signing period, but he’s only gotten better and better each step of the way. This past season, he returned to High-A Hickory to begin the year.
He struggled early, with a .195/.326/.315 slash line through the end of May. He picked it up afterwards. In 80 games from June 2-Sept. 20 -- including a late-season promotion to Double-A Frisco -- Walcott slashed .291/.348/.503.
“I'm excited,” Walcott said. “I'm happy and I'm ready to produce. I'm ready to show off my skills again, ready to have another good season, and also just ready to in any way possible, help the Rangers win, whatever affiliate I'm at. It was pretty good getting my feet wet and seeing how Double-A pitching is compared to High-A pitching. It's a little bit more advanced. I think there's some work to do, and I think I'm ready to take on the challenge of succeeding at Double-A.”
RHP Kumar Rocker (Rangers’ No. 2)
Acquired: No. 3 overall pick, 2022 MLB Draft
ETA: Debuted Sept. 12, 2024
Rocker made three big league starts in September and will almost certainly be competing for a spot in the Opening Day rotation this spring. After his callup, he collected 14 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings.
The Rangers’ former first-rounder missed most of the past two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2023. When he’s on the mound, he's been electric -- breezing through every level of the Minors before he made his MLB debut on Sept. 12.
Rocker has been a big name since college at Vanderbilt and the road has been long for him, but 2025 could easily be his year.
“Last year gave me something to build off of, really in the offseason, and just thinking on it, looking back at film, looking back at games, and processing everything,” Rocker said. “... I’m extremely excited. I tell everyone that baseball is a build-up sport. You go through the Minors and you get to the Majors. It was everything I thought it was. It was great, and to have a chance at a full rookie year is big, and it's what I've been looking forward to.”
RHP Alejandro Rosario (Rangers’ No. 3)
Acquired: 5th round pick, 2023 MLB Draft
ETA: 2026
Unlike Rocker and Walcott, Rosario’s success comes as a bit of a shock. Rosario posted a 7.11 ERA in 74 2/3 innings his junior season at the University of Miami in 2023. He was planning to return to school the following year, but Texas selected him in the fifth round of the Draft.
In 2024, Rosario skyrocketed from unranked on Texas’ Top 30 list to No. 3 midway through the Minor League season. He was named Rangers’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year after he posted a 2.24 ERA with 129 strikeouts and just 13 walks in 18 games (17 starts) between Single-A Down East and High-A Hickory. His 9.92 strikeout-to-walk ratio was the highest single-season mark by a Texas prospect since it was first tracked in 2005 (minimum 80 innings).
The Rangers easily turned Rosario from a mid-week college starter to one of the best pitching prospects in the sport.
“When I got drafted, the front office, they gave me a plan to do this plan,” Rosario recalled. “If it works, we're just gonna keep going along with it. They supported me and I trusted the process and the plan. … It was more about pitch usage and how I use my pitches. Instead of throwing at the bottom of the zone, let's go to the top of the zone. Let's stay with the same pitches. We're just gonna throw them more aggressively and command the zone more.
“I went from having, I think, 80 walks to just walking less than 20 this year. That goes to show how much the team knows with the information that they're giving you, but also they're well invested in you and your future and wanting the best.”