The Texas Rangers today announced that the club purchased the contract of outfielder Willie Calhoun (#55) from Triple-A Round Rock and activated third baseman Adrian Beltre from the 10-day disabled list. To make room on the 40-man roster for Calhoun, the team has released right-handed pitcher Tyson Ross.
Calhoun, 22, is in tonight's starting lineup and slated to make his major league debut. He was acquired by the Rangers in the July 31 trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers involving Yu Darvish, and batted .310 (35-113) with 8 home runs, 26 RBI, and a .911 OPS in 29 games with Round Rock to finish the year. Overall in the Pacific Coast League this season with Oklahoma City (Dodgers AAA) and Round Rock, Calhoun had a .300 average and .927 OPS with 31 home runs, 27 doubles, 93 RBI, and 80 runs scored in 128 games. He ranked among league leaders in total bases (2nd, 278), extra-base hits (3rd, 64), HR (T4th), RBI (5th), and at-bats per home run (5th, 15.68)
Calhoun entered the season as the 9th-youngest player in the PCL. He was tabbed the 69th-best prospect in MLB.com's midseason prospect rankings. In 2016, Calhoun finished second in the Texas League with 27 home runs and was the second-hardest player to strikeout on the circuit (one per 8.6 plate appearances).
Beltre has batted .315 with 16 home runs and 66 RBI in 80 games for Texas this season. He suffered a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring in his last game on August 31 against the Astros at Tropicana Field. He was placed on the disabled list on September 3, retroactive to September 1. Beltre recorded his 3000th career hit on July 30 vs. Baltimore.
Ross went 3-3 with a 7.71 ERA (42 ER/49.0 IP) over 12 games/10 starts with the club.