After a brutal West Coast trip and a pair of beatdowns from legitimate contenders in the White Sox and Brewers, the Texas Rangers are staring at an uncomfortable question: is this team really built to play in October? Add in the uncertainty around Nathan Eovaldi and Jack Leiter, and September starts to look less like a stretch run and more like a chance to take a long look at what’s coming next.
If the Rangers do end up fading out of the race, the expanded rosters on September 1 could open the door for a few young players who deserve a shot in Arlington. Three names stand out.
David Davalillo is the kind of call-up that would tell a great development story. The right-hander was just named PCL Player of the Week, and he’s been dealing for the Round Rock Express. What makes his rise notable is the speed of it: he has moved through four levels this year, going from the Arizona Complex League to Hub City in High-A, then Frisco in Double-A, and now Triple-A with Round Rock.
His season line isn’t pretty at first glance - a 6.15 ERA and 1.58 WHIP - but the bigger picture matters here. Davalillo has shown he can make the necessary adjustments at each stop and get hitters out as he climbs. For a pitcher who started the year in Rookie ball, the idea of finishing it at Globe Life Field would be quite a turnaround.
Dylan Dreiling has given Frisco a steady bat while Sebastian Walcott has been sidelined with a UCL injury. At 23, Dreiling has put together a strong season, hitting .315 with 21 home runs and a .527 slugging percentage.
He’s shown power, he’s hit to all fields, and his plate discipline has taken a step forward. Right now, he’s also riding a 21-game hitting streak.
A second-round pick by the Rangers in the 2024 draft out of Tennessee, Dreiling came in with real expectations, and he’s starting to live up to them with the RoughRiders. A late-season look in the majors would give fans a chance to see what he can do against big-league pitching.
Then there’s Sebastian Walcott, the organization’s top prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 9 overall farmhand. He’s returned from the UCL injury that cost him significant time earlier in 2026 and has been punishing Double-A pitching since coming back. In 105 at-bats, Walcott is hitting .295/.378/.524 with 12 doubles and four home runs.
Frisco’s final game is set for September 13, which makes the timing obvious enough. Walcott is the guy everyone wants to see, and the Rangers might as well give the fanbase a glimpse of the player who is supposed to be the next big thing in Texas.
He’s just 20, but he has already shown he can handle every challenge the minors have thrown at him. The next step is seeing how that plays when the competition gets louder.
In Other News...
Rangers Bullpen Shuffle Raises New Concern Before Crucial Homestand
The Rangers are reshaping their relief mix again at a time when every healthy arm matters, placing right-handers Peyton Gray and Cole Winn on the 15-day injured list and turning to Triple-A Round Rock for reinforcements. Left-hander Robby Ahlstrom and right-hander Ben Peoples are set to join the bullpen as Texas prepares for a seven-game homestand that could say plenty about how the club handles the next stretch.
It is the kind of midseason shuffle teams hope to avoid, especially when the schedule is about to tighten at home. Texas is expected to announce the roster moves formally, but the bigger issue is the ripple effect: the bullpen has been asked to absorb another round of change, and the club will need Ahlstrom and Peoples to steady things quickly while the injury picture settles. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Are Running Out Of Chances At Globe Life Field
The Rangers still have a path to the American League playoffs, but it is getting narrower by the day, and the math is no longer kind in either the AL West or the wild card chase. With 25 games left, the next stretch at Globe Life Field looms large, beginning Monday with a seven-game homestand against the Athletics, a chance to bank wins in the one place Texas still has room to control its own fate.
Home has to be where the turnaround starts because the road has already been a drag on the season, leaving the Rangers in a familiar hole away from Arlington. The club is set to lean on Jacob deGrom, MacKenzie Gore and Cody Bradford in the opening run of this homestand, and if Texas is going to keep its October hopes alive, these are the kinds of innings it needs to turn into a real push rather than another missed opportunity. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Finally Got The Kind Of Win Fans Have Been Waiting For
The Rangers finally got a road win that looked a lot more like the kind of complete effort fans have been waiting for, even if it didnt start all that smoothly. Kumar Rocker was far from crisp, the offense still had to do its part, and the game turned into one of those nights where Texas needed contributions all over the roster to keep things on track.
Tyler Alexander and the rest of the bullpen did the heavy lifting after Rocker departed, and the lineup gave them real support with seven runs spread around the order. Elias Diaz, Ezequiel Duran and Joc Pederson all chipped in as Texas kept answering challenges instead of letting the game drift, and Jacob Latz was the one who finished it off as the Rangers tried to build on a performance that felt more sustainable than some of the recent alternatives. [Read more 🡒]