How Rangers Plan to Give Rising Two-Way Prospect Room to Develop

The brilliance of Shohei Ohtani has led many Major League teams to try and cultivate two-way prospects of their own. So far, it's been a pretty bare cupboard.

For instance, Nolan McLean was a two-way starter when he came out of Oklahoma State and was drafted by the New York Mets in the third round of the 2023 MLB Draft. He opted to be a full-time pitcher and made his MLB debut last year.

Same goes for San Francisco Giants top prospect Bryce Eldridge. He was a pitcher and position player in high school in Vienna, Va., He was drafted in the first round in 2023 and chose the position player route. He’s expected to be on the Giants’ opening day roster.

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The Texas Rangers have a Top 30 prospect that is also a two-way player in Josh Owens. He was Texas’ third-round pick last July out of Providence High School in Johnson City, Tenn. So far, the Rangers haven’t asked him to choose path. So, as Baseball America (subscription required) reported, there is a plan in place for Owens, their No. 3 prospect, to do both in 2026.

Rangers Plan for Josh Owens

Some scouts see Josh Owens as one of the rare prospects with legitimate two-way potential 👀

He'll see the field 2-3 times a week and get plenty of at-bats, allowing the Rangers to develop both sides of his game carefully 💪

More details here: https://t.co/Jt43kzNQTJ pic.twitter.com/PBwtXIyt4w
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) February 27, 2026

After he was drafted, he played eight games in the field at Class-A Hickory and batted .083. He also pitched in two games, throwing four innings and striking out six. The plan is to send him back to Hickory and give him a similar plan.

Per Baseball America, Texas plans to limit him to one start per week on the mound with one bullpen session in between. Then, he’ll play in the field two or three games per week. Full season affiliates usually play Tuesday-Sunday each week.

He’s a left-handed hitting shortstop, so it’s not hard to think of him as a Corey Seager type at 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds. That’s an unfair comparison for a 19-year-old. But the scouts at Baseball America describe his swing as “…loose and aggressive, designed to maximize contact and put the ball in play.”

The site also noted that his arm is the stronger tool right now. His arm tool was graded at 55 and his hit tool at 50 on the 20-80 scouting scale.

Texas tends not to push prospects, especially those out of high school. It would not be a surprise for Owens to spend the entire season at Hickory on the same weekly schedule. Assuming a yearly progress through the system, he wouldn’t be a Major League option until 2029.

The Rangers will also have to watch to see if one of his tools develops at a significantly faster rate than the other. That could determine if, like MacLean and Eldridge, he ultimately chooses a path.