Why Gio Rojas’ Ascent to Rangers Rotation Could be Faster Than Other Prospects

In Major League Baseball the only prospect more volatile than a prep position player is a prep pitcher.

Yet teams like the Texas Rangers invest, in some cases, millions of dollars per year in young high school arms that they believe could help them one day at the Major League level.

Former Rangers first-round pick David Clyde is a cautionary tale of misuse and rushing prospects before they’re ready. It’s why most high school pitching prospects usually take, at minimum, four years to get to the Majors. It’s also why the Rangers hadn’t taken a prep pitcher with their first-round pick since 2018 before they did so in July.

So why might Rangers first-round pick Gio Rojas beat the timeline?

Gio Rojas, Future Major League Pitcher

Gio Rojas (‘26 CO) closed out the game with 1 inning of no hit 2 K baseball. FB was almost untouchable at 93-96 with a good SL 76-79. #UMiami Commit. #WWBA @PG_FourCorners pic.twitter.com/lQ65FCjXJj
— Perfect Game Scout (@PG_Scouting) June 29, 2025

The Rangers selected the left-handed pitcher in the No. 16 overall pick out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. At the time he was drafted, Rangers director of amateur scouting Kip Fagg told reporters they were “ecstatic” he fell to them.

Part of that is Rojas’ vast international experience. He’s pitched in several events, including the WBSC U-18 World Cup, where he played alongside the son of Rangers manager Skip Schumaker. Some of it is Rojas’ age. The Rangers are getting a more mature prep pitcher as Rojas is already 19 years old.

Some of it his mature arsenal of pitches, as MLB Pipeline pointed out in a recent article. He can change speeds from nearly 98 mph with his fastball to a sweeper that hits the low 80s. It’s a solid change of speeds for a pitcher that is just 19 years old and has yet to throw a professional pitch.

The Rangers tend to wait to drop pitchers in their minor league system until the following year after the draft, and they've taken the same approach with Rojas. But with his mature pitch mix and a 6-4 build, Rojas can quickly make his way up the ranks in the minor league system. He also offers them something more of what they need which is left-handed pitching.

MLB Pipeline projects Rojas as the Rangers’ No. 3 prospect and has him making the Major Leagues sometime in 2029. That’s an aggressive timeline but he has the tools to do so. It would come at a time when the Rangers would no longer have Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi or MacKenzie Gore under contract, with both Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker moving into their arbitration seasons.

That would be just in time for Rojas to make an impact at the Major League level.

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