Highly Valued Texas Rangers Pitching Prospect Off to Strong Start at Triple-A

The Texas Rangers have had some promising performances from their young pitching core, and one of their Triple-A options is also showing flashes of talent.

Jul 13, 2024; Arlington, TX, USA; American League Future pitcher Emiliano Teodo (15) throws during the first inning against the National League Future team during the Major League All-Star Futures game at Globe Life Field. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers are off to a quality start to the year in 2025, with a 9-4 record and some exceptional pitching from a staff that was depleted by injuries before opening day even came around.

With two young prospects in the rotation, the team has been heavily reliant on young talent to shine through and prove them right for their draft selections, which so far has been the case.

The pitching staff is in a good place not only at the MLB level, but there are also options coming up through the farm system which have begun to show signs of life as well.

One of the best prospects in the system is Emiliano Teodo, a starter turned reliever this year, who was promoted ahead of the season to Triple-A Round Rock.

In his four appearances so far this season, he has shown some promise. In 6.2 innings pitched, he has a 4.05 ERA, 1.050 WHIP, five hits allowed, and nine strikeouts to two walks. While the ERA is somewhat inflated due to a home run, overall he is showing extremely impressive stuff, striking out more than four times as many batters as he has walked, and keeping his WHIP low meaning other than the homer, he has kept his sheet clean.

Teodo did get some time with the spring training roster this year, and made the most of the opportunity, as in 4.1 innings pitched he had two saves, a 0.00 ERA, 0.692 WHIP, six strikeouts to one walk, and only two hits allowed.

This was a clear extension of his Double-A campaign, as he was still starting in 2024 and in 19 starts had a 1.98 ERA, 1.193 WHIP, 110 strikeouts to 50 walks, and only four home runs allowed in 86.1 innings pitched. He also started for the American League in the MLB Futures Game last July.

It is intriguing that the team ultimately chose to move him more into a relief role for 2025, and it will also be interesting to see how he reacts to the change in terms of his pitching. Some players do better in a long-relief role due to their endurance not being able to stand up to six or seven-inning starts, and given Teodo made 20 appearances in 2024 (19 starts) with 86.1 innings pitched, he was only really going about four innings plus an out or two.

So far he has adapted just fine to the change, and as he gets more reps under his belt the inflated ERA number should only improve over time.