Minor League baseball: White putting it together
Published 3:01 am Monday, June 12, 2023
- Owen White
Staff report
FRISCO, Texas — After an up and down May, Texas Rangers prospect Owen White has found another gear since the calendar flipped to June.
White was outstanding in his latest outing — seven innings, one hit, six strikeouts — in the Frisco Roughriders’ 9-0 victory against Corpus Christi.
It was the first time White has pitched seven innings this season.
In his two June starts, White — rated the Rangers’ No. 2 prospect overall and top pitching prospect — has a 1.38 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 13 innings.
For the season, White is 2-3 with a 3.54 ERA, with 45 strikeouts and 22 walks.
Sports Illustrated ranks White as the Rangers’ best pick in the 2018 draft. He was a second-round pick out of Carson.
Tommy John surgery and the pandemic pushed White’s expected timetable back quite a bit, but he’s been impressing people since his pro debut in May 2021.
After recovering from a broken hand, White was 9-2 in 2022 with 104 strikeouts (and 23 walks) while pitching for Hickory and Frisco, and then dominated a fall league for top prospects in Arizona.
The 6-foot-3 White has four major league quality pitches, so it’s a matter of consistency and staying healthy now for the 23-year-old right-hander.
A promotion to Triple A at the all-star break seems likely and many scouts expect him to make his debut in the big leagues with the Rangers — Corey Seager, from Kannapolis, is one of the team’s stars — within a year.
