Arizona Fall League Preview: Texas Rangers
By Noah Patterson ·
The Rangers are sending nine players to the Surprise Saguaros: the franchise's best prospect getting his elbow back in game shape, a speed-first outfielder making up for a lost summer, and young arms at varying levels of development and health. Most are going to Arizona for the reps the regular season couldn't provide.
Walcott Is Back, Even If the Schedule Says Otherwise
Sebastian Walcott heads to Surprise on a limited plan. The 20-year-old shortstop had an internal brace placed on the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow in February, and general manager Ross Fenstermaker told Sports Illustrated's Rangers site, "He's going to play two to three times a week. We're going to continue to get defensive work on the side with him, obviously with limited game opportunities." Keep that in mind before reading much into any box score. This is also his second try at the AFL: he played one game for Surprise in 2025 before arm fatigue shut him down. 80Grade's prospect rankings have him No. 11 overall and No. 1 in the Rangers system.
After two rehab games in the Arizona Complex League, Walcott rejoined Double-A Frisco on July 17 and hit .322/.398/.586 in 37 games with nine home runs, 13 doubles, 17 walks, and 11 stolen bases without being caught. He also played two games at Triple-A Round Rock at the end of the year. Across 41 regular-season games at all levels, he posted a .325/.401/.590 line with 10 home runs and a 10.2 percent walk rate. That follows a .255/.355/.386 season at Frisco in 2025, and he won't turn 21 until March.
The scouting profile centers on right-handed power from a long, strongly built frame, plus an arm that 80Grade grades at 65 and that projects as a carrying tool wherever he plays. The arm keeps third base firmly on the table if the frame eventually prices him out of shortstop, and his 80Grade report calls third the safer long-term home. His swing is long, and his strikeout rate rose to 22.8 percent at Frisco, so contact is worth watching against more advanced sequencing.
What to watch in Arizona is less about the stat line and more about the elbow. Walcott was the designated hitter in 36 of his 37 regular-season games at Frisco and played shortstop in only five games all year, playoffs included, so the question is how the arm responds to game-intensity throws over several weeks. Fenstermaker said the club will revisit the next step once the fall league ends.
Paxton Kling's Speed Profile Gets a Second Half
Paxton Kling spent most of 2026 at High-A Hub City, lost June 16 to July 31 to the injured list, and got a five-game look at Double-A Frisco in September. In 84 games at Hub City, he hit .247/.386/.368 with seven home runs, 38 stolen bases, and a 14.5 percent walk rate. The steals are legitimate: 80Grade grades his speed as plus, and it is the clearest carrying tool in a profile with questions elsewhere. His 25.9 percent strikeout rate at High-A points to ongoing trouble against spin, and his 80Grade report flags pitch recognition against advanced breaking balls as a weakness.
The 2025 seventh-round pick out of Penn State hasn't carried his college power into pro ball, with seven home runs in 401 plate appearances. He is disciplined enough to draw walks (14.2 percent across both levels) but not yet consistent enough at the point of contact to turn that patience into batting average. Fall reps will show whether he can trust his contact against breaking stuff instead of going passive with two strikes.
McConnaughey and Johnson: Two Young Starters Building Back Up
Mason McConnaughey and Jacob Johnson are the group's highest-ranked pitchers, No. 34 and No. 35 in the system on 80Grade's list, and both need workload.
McConnaughey, 22, had Tommy John surgery on March 26, 2025, during his junior year at Nebraska, and the Rangers took him in the fourth round that July. He didn't make his pro debut until June 26 of this year and pitched in eight games: three in the complex (two starts) and five starts at Single-A Hickory. The Hickory numbers were uneven (a 4.50 ERA in 14 innings with three home runs allowed), but he walked only 7.3 percent of batters across both stops. He threw just 20.2 innings all season. His 80Grade report has a 91 to 95 mph fastball, an 82 mph slider that grades as his best pitch, and a usable changeup.
Johnson, 20, is the younger and rawer of the two. The 2025 11th-round pick out of Pearl River Community College posted a 2.51 ERA across 43 innings split between the ACL and Hickory, with 48 strikeouts against 25 walks. His 80Grade report has the fastball at 94 to 96 mph, and the 26.5 percent strikeout rate shows the heater already works. The 13.8 percent walk rate is the honest concern: he misses bats but falls behind hitters too often to project as more than a back-end starter right now.
Jesus Gamez and the Walk Problem
Jesus Gamez, 23, missed plenty of bats at High-A in 2026 and was also one of the least efficient pitchers on the staff. In 42 relief appearances at Hub City, he posted a 3.74 ERA with 69 strikeouts in 43.1 innings, a 34.2 percent strikeout rate, and allowed only 25 hits.
The problem is the walk rate: 23.3 percent of batters faced, good for 47 free passes, and he averaged 20.1 pitches per inning. A pitcher needing more than 20 pitches per frame works himself out of high-leverage roles before the walks even turn into runs, and surviving on strikeouts while behind in counts is fragile at higher levels.
Fall ball for Gamez is about one thing: can he find the zone more consistently without losing the whiffs? If the command improves even modestly, the strikeout stuff gives him a shot at a high-leverage relief role.
Round-Up: Cook, Brock, Easley, and Chiquillo
None of the remaining four appears on 80Grade's Rangers prospect list, but each has a reasonable developmental rationale for the fall assignment.
Casey Cook, 24, is a left-handed-hitting second baseman who opened 2026 on the 60-day injured list and didn't join Hub City until mid-July. He hit .412/.545/.824 in a six-game complex rehab stint, then struggled badly at High-A (.154/.281/.295 with 52 strikeouts in 178 plate appearances across 41 games). His 80Grade report grades the hit tool as above average but flags a clear vulnerability to breaking balls and off-speed pitches, and his strikeout rate at Hub City climbed to 29.2 percent.
Julian Brock, 25, is a catcher who reached Triple-A Round Rock in July. 80Grade grades his arm above average, and it is the most distinctive part of his defensive profile. The offense was a struggle at both Double-A and Triple-A this year: .197/.312/.332 across 279 plate appearances with a 31.2 percent strikeout rate. His path runs through defense-first backup value, and extra catching time helps that case.
J'Briell Easley, 24, split 2026 between High-A and a three-game stint at Double-A Frisco that went poorly (9.64 ERA, 2.57 WHIP). At High-A he struck out 59 batters in 53.1 innings, a workable 26.1 percent rate, but allowed 11 home runs and posted a 5.06 ERA. The home runs are the problem: 11 in 58 innings across both levels.
Alejandro Chiquillo, 23, spent most of 2026 at Single-A Hickory, posting a 4.88 ERA in 51.2 innings with a 23.3 percent strikeout rate and an 11.0 percent walk rate. He allowed seven home runs. His season was broken up by an April and May stint on the injured list (including a rehab assignment in the ACL) and two trips to the development list in July and August, so the fall assignment is mostly about innings.
The Bottom Line
The Rangers' AFL group is not a showcase contingent, and it doesn't need to be. The fall that carries the most weight is Walcott's, and the box score is secondary: the Rangers need to see the elbow hold up under game conditions over several weeks, especially once he plays the field. Gamez's command and Johnson's development are the secondary storylines. The rest of the group is doing what fall ball is for, making up innings and at-bats the regular season didn't provide.