Texas is calling up 22-year-old OF Alejandro Osuna. He’s starting in left and batting sixth today. Shifting to center for the first time in 2025 is Wyatt Langford.
Despite a very strong AA half-season (.306/.379/.523) last summer, a memorable Arizona Fall League and 2025 Spring Training, Osuna returned to Frisco to concentrate on CF, where he’d never played to the exclusion of the corners. Perhaps Evan Carter’s option to AAA impacted that decision. He was promoted to AAA only 12 days ago. That timeline would foretell a late-season call-up, but as with Carter a few weeks ago, the parent club’s circumstances have dictated a different path.
Osuna was hitting .261/.485/.435 with eight walks against seven strikeouts in 33 trips to the plate. He had seen only 150 pitches and put 16 balls in play in AA, so we can’t draw too much from his Round Rock stats alone. Where he’s impressed the most is selection, as evidenced by the amazing walk rate. He’s seen an elevated rate of out-of-zone pitches, isn’t offering at them much and has an 80% contact rate when he does swing compared to the league’s 54%. Expecting an 80% rate in the Majors is beyond the pale, but some combination of solid patience and contact on out-of-zone pitches would be a boon. Overall, his swinging strike rate in AAA was 5% (league 12%) and his miss rate on swings was 12% (league 26%). Osuna also had a 55% ball rate on first pitches compared to the league’s 42%.
Regarding balls in play, he’s hit a few hard enough to boost his 90th-percentile exit velocity to 106.1 MPH compared to the league’s 104.1, but on the whole his exits have lagged slightly compared to the league and his usual output. Two of his four doubles were fairly soft, and he hasn’t hit a a homer-quality ball yet. Again, we’re dealing with only 16 balls in play, so I’m not concerned about that. Osuna’s Statcast data in the AFL and during spring was terrific; the raw numbers are skewed by the environmental setting, but he stood out relative to his age and peers.
Progress made against lefty pitchers during 2023-2024 has disappeared so far this season. He’s hitting .240/.406/.240, meaning no extra-base hits, and most of that extra OBP has come from HBPs rather than walks.
Osuna stole 34 bases in 2022 but with a slightly elevated caught rate. In other years, he’s peaked at 17 with a success rate in the mid 70s, and if he’s able to play regularly, I’d say that lower total would be the upper limit he’d likely achieve in a full season. In the field, Osuna has decent if not great range and an adequate if not particularly strong arm. He made several memorable plays in March. I can’t say he’ll carve out a role with the Rangers immediately, but at his peak, he could be a regular. A 4th role is a likelier possibility. Osuna is well-rounded without an especially flashy single tool. If anything, it’s contact, and how much of that contact leaves the bat at a desirable speed and angle will decree his future.
Concurrently, Texas designated OF Kevin Pillar for assignment. I’d honestly thought Pillar was a clever addition given Carter’s situation, but his inability to hit lefties sealed his fate.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 8, at Charlotte (CHW) 6
Round Rock: 12 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 24-26, 8.5 GB
SP Gerson Garabito: 4 IP, 5 H (2 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 72 P / 46 S, 8.17 ERA
RP Codi Heuer: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 3.48 ERA
CF Alejandro Osuna: 1-4, 2B, BB, SB (2), .259/.474/.444
RF Marcus Smith: 3-5, 2 2B, HR (4), SB (4), .349/.482/.767
SS Cody Freeman: 2-4, 2B, .283/.328/.421
DH Michael Helman: 2-4, 2B, .143/.217/.190
Osuna did not receive any hugs during the game. He played its entirety while Blaine Crim and Dustin Harris sat.
AA: Frisco 4, Midland (ATH) 3
Frisco: 8 hits, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 26-17, 2.5 G up
SP Mitch Bratt: 5 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 74 P / 52 S, 1.94 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 6.00 ERA
SS Sebastian Walcott: 3-4, 2B, HR (6), .247/.341/.430
CF Cam Cauley: 2-3, HR (4), 2 SB (14), .227/.302/.373
Walcott is part of a five-way tie for second in the organization with six homers. Crim leads with 10. He’s also one of ten Rangers with at least 20 walks, 21 to be precise. And this is a truly convoluted stat, but he and Justin Foscue are the only Rangers with at least six homers and 20 walks.
All the frontrunners have pitched this week, so here’s your organization K leaders:
David Davalillo, 55
Mitch Bratt, 47
Kohl Drake, 47
Caden Scarborough, 42
Hi-A: Hub City 2, Rome (ATL) 1 (12)
Hub City: 9 hits, 8 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 24-20, 1 G up
SP DJ McCarty: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 72 P / 44 S, 8.42 ERA
RP Dylan MacLean: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 5.14 ERA
CF Dylan Dreiling: 0-2, 4 BB, .224/.343/.374
DH Anthony Gutierrez: 2-5, .264/.328/.296
The teams played 11 scoreless innings with 24 stranded runners. Quincy Scott, who’d pinch-run for Arturo Disla earlier, singled in the tying and winning runs with one out.
Lo-A: Hickory 4, Myrtle Beach (CHC) 3
Hickory: 7 hits, 7 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 21-22, 3 GB
SP Mason Molina: 5.2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 3 R, 3 BB, 6 SO, 76 P / 49 S, 4.09 ERA
RP Dalton Pence: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
2B Antonis Macias: 1-2, 2 BB, .221/.400/.292
CF Yeremi Cabrera: 2-4, BB, SB (12), .232/.360/.296
Dalton Pence threw three scoreless innings as the Crawdads recovered from a 3-1 deficit. Like Hub City, Hickory walked off victorious on a Yeremi Cabrera single to score Maxton Martin, who’d led off with a single and advanced on a walk.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Dunning
AA: Supak
Hi-A: Gonzalez
Lo-A: Mejia