The grass. It’s the grass man. Not that kind of grass, though it is legal in The Grand Canyon State. The grass where the players play- that’s the first thing you notice when visiting a Spring Training facility. It’s impossibly green. Maybe it just looks so much greener because of the contrast against the hundred plus shades of tan that frame it, or the blue sky that at times looks entirely hazy thanks to the brightness of the sun. Whatever the reason, when I lay eyes on that impeccably manicured kelly green carpet, I know it’s about to be baseball time in Texas. So here we go.
Let’s get this outta the way. The farm isn’t elite at the moment. Everyone reading this is aware of that. Baseball America has them at # 24, MLB Pipeline has them at # 25. They traded 8 prospects for Merrill Kelly and MacKenzie Gore, Bam Bam Walcott is out for the year, and (ahem) Texas has graduated some good players to the big league team in recent seasons. That said…HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL and in this entire first entry, we’ll just focus on two players. Let’s roll.
I’ve posted to Twitter (yes, I’m still in that messy cesspool and we still have a nice community of Rangers fans- despite [waves arms] everything else happening there) that Josh Owens is the most interesting player on the Rangers farm, and by the end of the season, he might be one of the most interesting players in minor league baseball. He’s raw as hell, but there’s tools on both sides. He really got after it this offseason and he’s a muscular 6’3” 185lbs a couple months past his 19th birthday. The son of a Padres 8th round pick, Josh gets his love of baseball from his Pops. Though I’m not sure ANYONE can love baseball as much as Dad Jeremy did. I’ve not met him, but this man played 10 seasons of affiliated ball, climbing as high as AAA, then 6 more FULL seasons in Indy Lg Ball as a speedy CFer. That’s serious passion for playing at a time when minor leaguers were literally making peanuts in salary. Anyways, back to Josh. He’s experimenting with both a 2S and 4S FB at the moment, a CB, CH and I saw a few really nice 83mph SLs too. He really slings it- coming from a low, whippy slot. The 2S was often getting 18” of run and sitting 93-94 while the 4S was straight but has touched 98 this Spring. At the plate, he’s got an aggressive left handed swing with beautiful extension and power coming from the bat speed. He’s faster than average and showed great actions on a handful of chances at 2B in the game I watched, though I think the goal is to get him just as comfy at SS this season too. Physically, he reminds me of Michael Lorenzen in many ways including the fact that he’s a two-way player, an elite athlete and has the frame to someday become as jacked as Lorenzen. Add in the tufts of quality lettuce sticking out back of his ballcap and I’m comfortable with the Lorenzen lookalike vibes.
Seong-Jun Kim isn’t far behind Josh Owens. At all. This kid is fundamentally gifted. Whomever his coaches were growing up in Korea, they drilled some wonderful mechanics into Kim and he took to them like a duck to water. 5 months younger than Owens, I got the impression Kim has a longer runway but might pick up speed very quickly. Despite sitting 93-95 T 97 with the FB, Kim looks even younger than 18 and somewhat slighter than his listed 6’0” 185lbs. He’s the opposite of Owens, who looks older than his age and bigger than his listeds. Back to those mechanics. Get a peek at this kid’s smooth, repeatable delivery on the bump and his quick, compact swing at the plate. While there’s not likely many ballplayers LESS like Albert Pujols than SJK, he does have that similar setup at the dish- hands held ear-high with his back elbow pointing at the fans in the expensive seats. Like Owens, he’s a fast, athletic runner and I watched him put pressure on the pitcher every time he got on base. On the mound, he’s got the kitchen sink and that’s great. Showing feel for a lot of pitches at this age is a great starting point to refine the best of them. I even saw a few slow CBs, which is a VERY fun lost art these days. Nothing like hurling 94, 95, 94, then 71. (side note: peep big ol’ Braylin Morel wandering into the frame in this first clip)
Here’s a wild one: lead off hitter in a game he was also starting on the mound, Kim is plunked in the head with the first pitch of the game. (he was fine and promptly stole 2B and scored on Owens’ triple)
We’ll talk in the coming weeks about others who popped for me in Surprise including Jack Wheeler, PaxtonKling, Anthony Gutierrez, Yolfran Castillo and a lanky lefty named Enyel Lopez, but for today it’s the Kim and Owens show. Are the two-way players the best prospects on the Rangers farm? Not at the moment. Are they the most interesting? Yep. Admittedly, this is gonna be a slow burn for both, but it’s gonna be fun!
As always, enjoy baseball!
Love Ya!
-Tepid
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