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NICK TANIELU

NICK TANIELU

Before your next RoughRiders game, visit one of four state parks less than 75 minutes from Riders Field. Scan the QR code or visit tpwmagazine.com/frisco for more info.

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Luisangel Acuna

POSITION: INFIELDER | DOB: 3/12/02 | HEIGHT: 5’10” | WEIGHT: 181

HOMETOWN: CARACAS, VENZUELA

A middle infielder from Venezuela, Acuña split time between High-A and Double-A last year, hitting .317 with Hickory and making the trip to Double-A in August. Spending time at both second base and short, Acuña played 37 games down the stretch and was a critical part of the title run in 2022. Acuña scored twice in the Texas League Championship Game, including the go-ahead run in the 10th inning. The 21-year-old is the younger brother of two-time Silver Slugger and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña.

Aidan Anderson

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 3/12/02 | HEIGHT: 6’1” | WEIGHT: 195

HOMETOWN: BEAUMONT, TX

Twin brother of former RoughRiders pitcher Grant Anderson, Aidan joined the RoughRiders in the same week that Grant made his Major League debut with the Rangers. Aidan was signed out of McNeese State University by the Phillies and spent 2019 through 2022 in their system before being released before the 2023 year and signed by the Rangers. The Beaumont, Texas native began the season with High-A Hickory before joining Frisco.

Jax Biggers

POSITION: INFIELDER | DOB: 4/7/97 | HEIGHT: 5’11” | WEIGHT: 175

HOMETOWN: MISSOURI CITY, TX

Biggers was beckoned back to Texas in 2018 when the Rangers selected him in the eighth round. Originally from Missouri City, Texas, Biggers spent a year at Cisco Junior College in Texas and two years with the Arkansas Razorbacks, making the College World Series at the Junior College level and the Division-I classification. Biggers made his RoughRiders debut in 2021 and hit .281 for Frisco in 2022. With a birthday on April 7, Biggers will spend most of this season as a 26-year-old in his fifth season of pro ball. He has played every position for Frisco except pitcher and catcher.

Michael Brewer

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 4/7/97 | HEIGHT: 6’5” | WEIGHT: 215

HOMETOWN: HILLSBORO, MO.

Brewer was added to the RoughRiders’ bullpen in May following a good start to 2023 with High-A Hickory. He posted a 2.61 ERA in nine games with three saves to begin his third season with the Rangers organization. He was drafted in 2019 by Texas out of Hillsboro High School in Missouri, and elected to sign instead of attending Southern Mississippi as a two-way player.

Hever Bueno

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 11/23/94 | HEIGHT: 6’2” | WEIGHT: 179

HOMETOWN: MESA, ARIZ.

Bueno pitched for the RoughRiders in 2021, posting a 4.28 ERA over 32 games. He pitched 30 games for Round Rock in 2022. He was drafted out of Arizona State in 2016 in the ninth round and has logged over 175 innings in his professional baseball career.

Evan Carter

POSITION: OUTFIELDER | DOB: 8/29/02 | HEIGHT: 6’4” | WEIGHT: 190

HOMETOWN: ELIZABETHTON, TENN.

Carter couldn’t play for the Rangers farm in 2020 when he was drafted in the second round, but once he debuted in 2021, Carter wasted little time to rack up hits. He notched an .825 OPS with Single-A Down East and had slightly better numbers at the High-A level in 100 games last year before getting the Double-A call-up in September. Carter went 9-for-21, not including his three hits in the clinching game of the 2022 Texas League Championship Series, the last of which was a two-RBI single in the 10th to make the difference in the 7-5 win. He checks in as the No. 2 prospect in the Rangers organization and will turn 21 when the RoughRiders host Corpus Christi on August 29. The 6-foot-2 left-hand hitter has defensive versatility, playing all three outfield positions in his minor league tenure.

Danny Duffy

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 12/21/88 | HEIGHT: 6’3” | WEIGHT: 205

HOMETOWN: GOLETA, CALIF.

Duffy pitched 11 seasons with the Kansas City Royals between 2011 and 2021 before signing a Minor League free-agent deal with the Rangers this offseason. The 2015 World Series Champion went 68-68 with a 3.95 career ERA in the majors over 234 games, making 204 starts. In the postseason, Duffy made nine appearances across 2014 and 2015, going 2-0 with a 5.06 ERA. The former third-round selection by the Royals in 2007 originally came up through the Texas League, pitching for Northwest Arkansas in 2010 as a minor leaguer.

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.

Kyle Funkhouser

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 4/16/94 | HEIGHT: 6’3” | WEIGHT: 190

HOMETOWN: PALOS HEIGHTS, ILL.

Funkhouser was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the fourth round of the 2016 draft out of Louisville and pitched in parts of 2020 and 2021 in the Tigers’ bullpen. Across 70 games, he went 8-5 with a 4.20 ERA with a 103 ERA+, but after suffering a shoulder injury and missing all of 2022, he signed a freeagent contract with the Rangers. Funkhouser was a starter his entire career in the minors, not making a bullpen appearance until his MLB debut in 2020.

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.

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.

Liam Hicks

POSITION: CATCHER | DOB: 6/2/99 | HEIGHT: 5’11” | WEIGHT: 185

HOMETOWN: TORONTO, ONT., CANADA Hicks was batting .311 for the High-A Hickory Crawdads this season before filling a need at catcher in May for the RoughRiders. He hit a home run in his first game with Frisco in 2023, followed by a grand slam the next week. He hails from Toronto and came to the U.S. to play for Mineral Area College in Missouri, followed by two years at Arkansas State. The Rangers drafted him in 2021 in the ninth round.

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.

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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.

Eudrys Manon

POSITION: PITCHER | DOB: 1/16/98 | HEIGHT: 6’1” | WEIGHT: 160

HOMETOWN: SAN CRISTOBAL, D.R.

Manon joined Frisco in May after beginning the season in High-A Hickory. He made seven appearances out of the Crawdads bullpen, posting a 3.38 ERA and two saves. He is 25 years old, originally from San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic, and is pitching in his third season in the U.S.

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.

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