FRAINYER CHAVEZ

POSITION: INFIELDER | DOB: 5/24/99 | HEIGHT: 5’10” | WEIGHT: 170 HOMETOWN: VALENCIA, VENZ.

Chavez grew up in Valencia, Venezuela, but was already well acquainted with the state of Texas when the Rangers drafted him in the 22nd round in 2018. He moved to Little Elm, Texas before high school and was drafted out of Midland College. The 2022 season was his fourth in the Rangers organization and the busiest: Chavez started in High-A, jumped to Triple-A for seven games, returned to High-A for two months, then came up to Double-A Frisco near the end of the season and batted .291. When the RoughRiders claimed the 2022 Texas League Championship, Chavez singled in the 10th inning to score Luisangel Acuña and give Frisco the lead. The RoughRiders held onto that advantage to claim the title, 7-5, over Wichita.

Marc Church

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 3/30/01 | HEIGHT: 6’2” | WEIGHT: 190

HOMETOWN: ATLANTA, GA

An 18th round draft pick four years ago, Church has elevated himself to one of the brightest names in the Rangers organization. A high school infielder, Church has honed his pitching skills in the Rangers organization. Still only 22 years old, Church is rated the No. 20 prospect in the organization. Last year, Church notched a 2.91 ERA in High-A Hickory before a call-up to Frisco for the second half of the season. Church graduated from North Atlanta High School and had his 22nd birthday a week before the season opener.

Ricky Devito

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 8/21/98 | HEIGHT: 6’3” | WEIGHT: 195

HOMETOWN: STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.

Devito is a recent addition to the Rangers organization, moving over from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a trade this March. It’s not the first time a trade has sent Devito to a new team: the former eighth-round by the Atlanta Braves was sent to the Pirates at the 2021 trade deadline. Pitching for the Pirates’ High-A club last year, Devito had a 5.40 ERA with 90 strikeouts in 70 innings. He is originally from Staten Island, New York and played college ball at Seton Hall.

David Garcia

POSITION: CATCHER | DOB: 2/6/00 | HEIGHT: 5’11” | WEIGHT: 201 HOMETOWN: CARACAS, VENZ.

Hailing from Caracas, Venezuela, Garcia is a switch-hitting catcher who has been in the Rangers organization since he was 17. Now 23, Garcia is playing for Frisco for a second year after starting 58 games behind the dish a season ago. He recorded a career-best .993 fielding percentage while adding 11 doubles, a triple and five homers.

Ryan Garcia

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 1/24/98 | HEIGHT: 6’0” | WEIGHT: 180

HOMETOWN: ARCADIA, CALIF.

The Rangers plucked Garcia out of the Southern California area in 2019, drafting the Pasadena native and UCLA Bruin in the second round. He missed 2020 due to COVID and 2021 due to “Tommy John” Surgery, but returned in June of 2022 after a nearly three-year hiatus. He pitched well in his return, registering a 2.31 ERA in Single-A Down East before making it to High-A Hickory for 10 innings without an earned run. Entering 2023, Garcia had pitched 61.2 innings in his professional career, allowing just 36 hits.

Ryan Gold

POSITION: CATCHER | DOB: 10/10/97 | HEIGHT: 5’10” | WEIGHT: 215

HOMETOWN: MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.

A left-hand hitting catcher from Carolina Forest High School in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Ryan Gold is spending his first year with the Rangers organization in 2023. Drafted in the 27th round by Toronto seven years ago, Gold reached the Double-A level last year and slugged .445 for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in the Double-A Eastern League.

Dustin Harris

POSITION: OUTFIELDER | DOB: 7/8/99 | HEIGHT: 6’2” | WEIGHT: 185

HOMETOWN: LAND O LAKES, FL

With two years of junior college baseball under his belt at St. Petersburg College in Florida, Dustin Harris was drafted by Oakland in the 11th round and was traded a year later to Texas. Harris is one of the most highly touted Rangers prospects, having posted excellent numbers at each minor league stop. He batted over .300 in Down East and Hickory and launched 17 home runs in Frisco last year with 19 stolen bases. Harris has moved around the field defensively, playing mostly at first base until last year, when he started 58 of his 64 games in left field.

Trevor Hauver

POSITION: OUTFIELDER | DOB: 11/20/98 | HEIGHT: 6’0” | WEIGHT: 205

HOMETOWN: CHANDLER, ARIZ.

Hauver was a Yankees farm hand in 2021 after New York selected him in the third round in 2020. Just 66 games into his pro career, he was sent to Texas in the Joey Gallo trade. He made it to Frisco last year and recorded a .924 OPS once he joined the RoughRiders for the final month of the season. Hauver played for Arizona State, where he was primarily a left fielder but also made appearances at first and second base and right field. He has similarly moved around in the minors, mostly playing second base with the Yankees organization and was transitioned to left field with the Rangers organization in 2022.

Scott Kapers

POSITION: CATCHER | DOB: 11/27/96 | HEIGHT: 5’11” | WEIGHT: 198

HOMETOWN: WALKERTON, IND.

A 17th-round draft pick out of Valparaiso University, Scott Kapers made his Frisco debut last year after posting an .816 OPS at High-A Hickory. He notched 61 at-bats with the RoughRiders in the final month and a half of the 2022 season, homering three times in the regular season and drawing 10 walks. He capped off 2022 with a tremendous effort in the Texas League Championship Series, homering twice in the same game at Riders Field to help Frisco take a 1-0 lead over Wichita. He is the only player in RoughRiders franchise history with a multihome run game in the playoffs.

Antoine Kelly

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 12/5/99 | HEIGHT: 6’5” | WEIGHT: 205

HOMETOWN: CHICAGO, ILL.

Antoine Kelly is in his fourth year of pro ball and his second with the Frisco RoughRiders. Kelly could have signed with the Padres out of high school when he was drafted in the 13th round, but went to Wabash Valley College in Illinois for one season and was selected in the second round in 2019 by Milwaukee. He was traded in August 2022 when the Rangers sent former RoughRiders pitcher Matt Bush to the Brewers. Kelly is 23 years old and went to high school just outside of Chicago at Maine East High.

Nick Krauth

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 9/6/99 | HEIGHT: 6’3” | WEIGHT: 170

HOMETOWN: CONCORD, CALIF.

A 6-foot-3 right-handed pitcher, Krauth crossed from one corner of the country to the other before settling down with the Rangers organization. Originally from Concord, California, Krauth transferred from New Mexico to UConn. A terrific start to the 2020 college season — one earned run in 24.2 innings — was enough to get a deal with the Rangers after the NCAA season was cut short. He spent 2021 with Down East, 2022 with Hickory, and elevated to Double-A for the first time this season. Krauth posted a 4.60 ERA in his first two pro seasons. Krauth will celebrate his 24th birthday on September 6, during Frisco’s final homestand of the regular season.

Jack Leiter

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 4/21/00 | HEIGHT: 6’1” | WEIGHT: 205

HOMETOWN: SUMMIT, NJ

The No. 2 overall selection of the 2021 MLB Draft, Leiter made his pro debut last year with the Frisco RoughRiders. About three years younger than the average Double-A player, Leiter struck out 109 batters in 92.2 innings. Strikeouts are nothing new for Leiter, who tied for first in the nation with 179 punch outs in his last season with Vanderbilt. His father is Al Leiter, a three-time World Series champion and two-time All-Star pitcher. Al had an MLB no-hitter in 1996 and Jack followed his father’s footsteps with a college no-hitter in his first SEC start in 2021.

John Matthews

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 1/21/98 | HEIGHT: 6’1” | WEIGHT: 190

HOMETOWN: PUNXSUTAWNEY, PA.

A Rangers draftee in the eighth round in 2019, Matthews is coming off his best pro season so far. Improving from a 6.78 ERA in 2021 with Single-A Down East, Matthews registered a 4.37 ERA last season while pitching most in High-A Hickory. He joined Frisco in September and tossed 3.1 innings to get a taste of RoughRiders baseball before returning for the 2023 season. Matthews pitched for three years at Kent State, making most of his appearances out of the bullpen, and has similarly made about three-quarters of his minor league appearances as a reliever.

Theo Mcdowell

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 12/2/98 | HEIGHT: 6’4” | WEIGHT: 175

HOMETOWN: ESSEX JUNCTIOIN, VER.

A right-handed reliever from Salisbury, Connecticut, McDowell impressed in Single-A ball last year. McDowell had a 2.69 ERA the first half of last year in Down East, got called up to Hickory and did even better in High-A, with a 2.49 ERA. McDowell pitched in both of Hickory’s two combined no-hitters last year. McDowell was drafted in the 14th round in 2018 and will turn 25 in December.

Triston Polley

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 12/20/96 | HEIGHT: 6’0” | WEIGHT: 190

HOMETOWN: INDIANAPOLIS, IN

The Indianapolis native stayed near home to play for Indiana State and made the most of his four years with the Sycamores. By his senior year in 2019, Polley was the opening day starter for his home-state team and posted a 2.84 ERA. He was the starting pitcher in ISU’s first NCAA Tournament victory in 24 years. A week later, the Texas Rangers called his name in the 16th round. In the four years since, Polley has gone 16-5 and posted a 4.63 ERA with Frisco when he got called up in June and pitched in 26 games in a RoughRiders uniform.

Tekoah Roby

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 9/18/01 | HEIGHT: 6’1” | WEIGHT: 185

HOMETOWN: HENDERSONVILLE, N.C.

Commonly referred to as “TK,” Tekoah Roby was one of the youngest pitchers at the High-A level last year and held his own with 126 strikeouts in 104 innings and a 4.64 ERA. He will be one of the youngest players at the Double-A level this year; he turns 22 the day after the regular season finale. He was drafted in the third round in 2020 out of Pine Forest High School in Pensacola, Florida and is in his third pro season in 2023.