The Texas Rangers are getting exactly what they wanted out of Mason McConnaughey in the Arizona Fall League: more innings, more bat-missing, and a controlled workload after a stop-and-start debut season.
McConnaughey, the Rangers’ No. 30 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, took the ball for the Surprise Saguaros on Thursday night and turned in a sharp relief outing. He worked 2.1 innings, allowed one hit and one walk, and piled up five strikeouts. Five of the seven outs he recorded came via the strikeout.
He started his night in the fifth inning by fanning the first two hitters he faced, one swinging and one looking. After issuing a walk, he struck out the final batter of the frame.
In the sixth, he struck out the leadoff hitter, gave up his lone hit of the outing on a single, then punched out the next batter and finished the inning with a flyout. He got a groundout from the first hitter in the seventh before coming out of the game.
By then, McConnaughey had thrown 41 pitches, with 27 landing for strikes.
That kind of measured usage makes sense for a pitcher who spent part of his first minor league season on the injured list while working back from Tommy John surgery. Texas selected the right-hander out of Nebraska in the fourth round last year, knowing recovery would be part of the equation.
His first appearance didn’t come until late June in the Arizona Complex League. He logged three games there, including two starts, before moving up to Class A Hickory for the final five starts of his season. His last outing of the year came on Aug. 14 with the Crawdads.
Across eight games, seven of them starts, McConnaughey finished 1-1 with a 3.48 ERA. He struck out 16, walked six, and held opponents to a .224 average over 20.2 innings. At Hickory, he posted a 4.50 ERA in five starts, allowed seven earned runs, struck out nine and walked four in 14 innings, while opposing hitters batted .245 against him.
McConnaughey wasn’t the only Rangers prospect sent to the AFL. Texas also assigned catcher Julian Brock, infielder Casey Cook, infielder Sebastian Walcott, outfielder Paxton Kling, and right-handed pitchers Alejandro Chiquillo, J'Briell Easley, Jesus Gamez and Jacob Johnson.
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