Numbers That Show Rangers Were Right to Keep Star Prospect David Davalillo

The Texas Rangers made a decision on the future of David Davalillo this offseason. These numbers made the decision easy.

A view of the Texas Rangers logo on the field before the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Rangers in game three of the ALDS for the 2023 MLB playoffs at Globe Life Field. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

David Davalillo was eligible for the Rule 5 draft for the first time this offseason. The Texas Rangers had a choice to make.

Because Davalillo, a prospect from Venezuela, signed after his 19th birthday, he was Rule 5 eligible after his fourth professional season. The only way to ensure Texas could keep him was to put him on the 40-man roster, even though he had never pitched above Double-A.

The Rangers protected him, along with another right-handed pitcher, Leandro Lopez, and first baseman/outfielder Abimelec Ortiz. In truth, it wasn’t a hard decision for the Rangers.

Davalillo was named Texas’ minor league Pitcher of the Year for 2025 after going 6-4 with a 2.44 ERA. But, those aren’t the numbers that prompted the Rangers to protect him from other teams.

Inside David Davalillo’s Numbers

#TexasRangers No. 27 prospect David Davalillo hurled four hitless innings, striking out five, in his second Double-A start.@USAFRecruiting #AimHigh pic.twitter.com/aCbEZVaOSl

— Frisco RoughRiders (@RidersBaseball) July 8, 2025

MLB.com recently published an article highlighting the best prospect stat for each farm system in 2025. For Texas, the writers highlighted Davalillo’s WHIP, which was 0.93. WHIP is walks and hits allowed per nine innings, meaning that the 23-year-old gave up less than one hit or walk per nine innings. That put him in rare company.

“Only two were better than Davalillo: Unranked White Sox lefty Shane Murphy and MLB Pipeline Pitching Prospect of the Year Jonah Tong (Mets),” per MLB Pipeline.

His season fell in line with his career numbers. He has a 1.02 WHIP for his career and has kept that stat at 1.10 or less since 2023. Additionally, batters have consistently struggled against him with an opponent batting average of .205 for his career. That includes a .184 batting average in 2025.

He’s also been exceptional at avoiding walks, as he walks hitters at a rate of 2.4 per nine innings. It’s all added up to nudging him into the No. 7 spot on the Rangers’ Top 30 prospects per MLB Pipeline.

Last season he led Rangers minor leaguers who threw a minimum of 100 innings in strikeouts per 9.0 (10.60), strikeout rate (29.6%), opponent batting average, and WHIP. Since 2022, Davalillo’s 2.35 ERA is the lowest in the minor leagues with a minimum of 200 innings, while his 1.02 WIHP and 2.95 FIP in that span are each the fifth-lowest figures under the same parameter. 

Davalillo will be at MLB spring training now that he’s on the 40-man roster. He’s unlikely to make the opening-day roster, but a promotion to Triple-A Round rock after 12 appearances at Double-A Frisco is a possibility with a great spring. The Rangers kept him because he could be part of their rotation starting in 2027. The numbers don’t lie.