Rangers Top Prospects in 2026 And Where They'll Likely Start Season

The Texas Rangers need some of their top prospects to make progress in 2026 because they've dealt plenty of them in the past several months.

Texas sent three Top 15 pitching prospects to the Arizona Diamondbacks last August to acquire pitcher Merrill Kelly for the playoff drive. The Rangers failed to make the postseason and now Kelly is back with the Diamondbacks.

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In January, the Rangers sent five Top 30 prospects to the Washington Nationals for pitcher MacKenzie Gore. That depleted their system further. But, Texas believes it has depth coming. Now, those prospects need to make that a reality.

Based on Baseball America’s (subscription required) rankings, here are where the Rangers’ Top 5 prospects will likely start the season.

Sebastian Walcott: Injured List

Texas Rangers prospect Sebastian Walcott walks to the plate with a baseball bat — Texas Rangers prospect Sebastian Walcott. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Walcott was invited to Major League spring training and was expected to begin 2026 at Triple-A Round Rock. But he suffered an elbow injury at the beginning of camp and that led to surgery. Walcott had successful internal brace surgery on his right elbow earlier this week, performed by Rangers team surgeon Dr. Keith Meister.

The internal brace means that Walcott should be able to return faster, perhaps as early as August. At that point he would start a hitting program but it’s possible he won’t see any game action until the Arizona Fall League. The injury is only expected to delay his path to the Majors and not derail it.

Caden Scarborough: High-A Hub City

Scarborough is one of the most talked about prospects in the system, especially since the Rangers traded so many pitching prospects over the past several months. The organization is putting a lot of faith in the former sixth-round pick out of Harmony, Fla., that he can become a factor at the Major League level in a couple of years.

He’s coming off a 2025 in which he went 2-5 with a 2.45 ERA in 22 games at Class-A Hickory and Hub City. Because he only made three starts at Hub City last season, it’s likely he’ll be returned there to start 2026, with an eye on getting him to Double-A Frisco by midseason if he shows progress.

Josh Owens: Class A Hickory

Texas selected Owens as their third-round pick last July out of Providence High School in Johnson City, Tenn. He's a two-way player, able to pitch or play shortstop. The Rangers gave him a cup of coffee at Hickory, as he got 24 at-bats and pitched in two games, striking out six in four innings. Given the lack of pro experience, he’ll probably be returned to Hickory to start 2026.

Jose Corniell: Triple- A Round Rock

Corniell is a Major League camp competing for a bullpen spot, but the Rangers brought in enough veteran coverage to likely prevent a path for him to be on the opening day roster. As of this writing he has yet to pitch in a spring training game. He made his Major League debut in the last weekend of last season pitching in relief.

He missed all of 2024 after Tommy John surgery, but he had a great 2025 as he went 1-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 13 starts for three affiliates. Unless the Rangers suffer a significant number of injuries in spring training, he should expect to go back to Round Rock to get more experience and remain on standby if the Rangers need him. He only has three career games at Triple-A.

AJ Russell: Arizona Complex League

Tennessee pitcher AJ Russell throws a baseball — Tennessee pitcher AJ Russell. | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Texas selected Russell in the second round of last July’s draft out of the University of Tennessee knowing that he would have to take things slow. Russell pitched for the Volunteers in 2023 as a freshman but missed most of 2024 as he underwent Tommy John surgery. He returned last season but only pitched 25.1 innings for the Vols. For that reason, the Rangers didn’t pitch him in their organization last season.

Where the Rangers assign him will be determined by how he performs in minor league spring training. If Texas wants to start him at a full season affiliate, he would likely go to either Hickory or Hub City. It's more likely he stays in Arizona for extended minor league spring training and starts the year in the ACL.