Dylan Dreiling is forcing the Rangers to pay attention.
The Texas outfielder has turned a strong summer into something louder, and the organization’s outlook around him has shifted with it. MLB Pipeline now ranks him as the Rangers’ No. 13 overall prospect, 12 spots behind shortstop Sebastian Walcott, and the two have been sharing the field since Walcott returned from UCL surgery in July.
What Dreiling has done for the RoughRiders all season has pushed him into a different conversation. At this point, 2027 could be a major milestone for the former Tennessee star, because that’s when his MLB debut could arrive. He’s been that productive.
His 2025 season at High-A Hub City didn’t exactly announce what was coming. Dreiling hit .226/.319/.381 with 12 home runs and 62 RBI in 110 games, adding 21 doubles and four triples. The strikeout-to-walk ratio, at 2-to-1, was respectable enough, but there was still room for growth.
The Rangers bet on the bat anyway, promoting the 23-year-old second-round pick from the 2023 MLB draft. That gamble has paid off in a big way.
In his first 103 games with the RoughRiders, Dreiling has hit .314/.384/.528 with 21 home runs and 77 RBI. There’s even a real chance he could be the Rangers’ minor league player of the year in September. MLB Pipeline has already named him the Rangers’ hottest hitter for August, and this is the second time he’s appeared on that list this season.
With a few games still left in the month, Dreiling is tearing through August at a .395/.454/.709 clip with 13 extra-base hits, including seven home runs. For the year, he’s tied for fourth in the Texas League with 45 extra-base hits.
The Rangers do have outfield depth, with Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter and Brandon Nimmo already in the mix. Dreiling, a left-handed hitter like Carter, has also handled left-handed pitching well, posting a .268/.372/.474 line against it. Carter, by contrast, has been struggling in that area.
Carter still has time, and Dreiling still needs a stretch at Triple-A. But if Dreiling gets to the majors and proves he can do what Carter hasn’t, that could matter a lot for Texas.
His foundation for all this came at Tennessee, where he put together a huge college run. In 2024, Dreiling was an all-SEC first-team selection and helped the Volunteers win the Men’s College World Series under head coach Tony Vitello, now the manager of the San Francisco Giants.
He homered in all three games of the championship series against Texas A&M and was named the CWS Most Outstanding Player.
Dreiling might have been a slower burn as a pro, but the Rangers have been waiting for this kind of production. Now they may be close to cashing in.
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