Friday on the Farm: These three Rangers prospects trying to keep injury bug at bay
(TTL Sports Media/Andy Nietupski)
The best thing a minor-leaguer can do to aide in his development is to stay healthy, and sometimes it’s completely out of his control.
Even the most talented players in a farm system can’t do squat if they are injured, and every organization has those players.
The injuries don’t have to be Tommy John surgery or surgery to repair a torn labrum. They can be something as relatively tame as an oblique strain or a hamstring pull.
The Rangers have had their fair share of players who can’t shake the injury bug, and the list over the past few seasons starts with third baseman Josh Jung. He should have made his MLB debut much sooner than he did, in September 2022, but a stress fracture in his foot in 2021 and a torn labrum in 2022 derailed his career.
While Jung is clearly back on track as the front-runner to be the American League Rookie of the Year and the potential starter at third baseman next month in the All-Star Game, some others in the system are figuring out how to stay healthy.
Once they do, they create opportunities for themselves — either with the Rangers or another club. The Rangers have three who are on the rise.
Do you think this late surge by Davis would generate any significant trade interest from another team or would he just be a secondary piece?
Probably a secondary piece. The injury history is real. However, he has created an opportunity for himself and might be on other teams’ radar.