Rangers Prospect Alejandro Rosario Continues Dominant Season

Image credit: (Photo by Brian Westerholt/Four Seam)

Rangers righthander Alejandro Rosario has been nearly untouchable all season long for Low-A Down East. Since debuting on April 19, the Miami alum has carved Carolina League hitters with ruthless efficiency.

His start on June 1 was his best yet. Facing Fredericksburg at home, the righthander spun six shutout innings and struck out 11 while allowing just a hit and walking nobody. He finished the night with just 66 pitches, including 47 strikes and 17 swings and misses.

The stuff Rosario used to rack up those stats was particularly filthy. His sinking fastball sat between 96-97 all night long, and he touched as high as 99. He backed the heater with a slicing slider in the mid 80s and a hard-darting splitter in the low 90s. Each of his three pitches garnered whiffs.

Despite Rosario going 13-13, 6.47 at Miami, the Rangers saw ways they believed they could amplify his arsenal and unleashed those traits once he turned pro. The Hurricanes encouraged Rosario to only use his fastball in the lower portion of the strike zone and had his splitter shelved due to lack of command of the pitch.

The Rangers have asked Rosario to elevate his fastball because of the way his delivery works and allowed him to once again use his splitter. The results have been spectacular.

After handcuffing Fredericksburg, Rosario’s ledger looks like this: 2-2, 1.44 with just 22 hits and six runs (five earned) allowed in 31.1 innings. He has struck out 49 hitters and walked just five.

Interestingly enough, his outing against Fredericksburg was his longest of the season in terms of innings and established a career high for strikeouts. It was also the fewest pitches he’d thrown in an outing since April 27, when he threw 57 over 3.2 innings against Fayetteville.