Texas Rangers won’t let prospect Sam Huff catch in 2021, so a big-league promotion is riding on his bat

(AP photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Sam Huff was scheduled to catch five innings of a spring game on an April day at the Surprise Recreation Complex that felt a lot like of the others at Texas Rangers minor-league camp.

He had recovered from a left hamstring pull that forced him to miss almost all of big-league camp and was building up for the start of the season. He wanted to hit in the cages before the game started.

Wearing his spikes, which he normally does when in the cage, he took one of his massive swings. This one was different from the ones he had done seconds earlier.