WEST SACRAMENTO -- A pair of highly touted Rangers pitching prospects will be down for the foreseeable future, the club announced on Wednesday.
Right-hander Emiliano Teodo -- Texas¡¯ No. 6 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- was placed on the Minor League injured list with right shoulder fatigue, and right-hander Winston Santos -- the club¡¯s No. 5 prospect -- will join him due to a stress reaction in his back.
The Rangers plan to hold Teodo back for about 7-10 days and re-evaluate afterward. They're acting cautiously this early in the season, as he could be an option for the big league club later this summer.
Teodo came up through the Minors as a starter, but he has had success in short stints as a reliever due in part to a fastball that sits in the upper 90s and regularly touches 100+ mph. Teodo was the Arizona Fall League Reliever of the Year in 2023, despite almost exclusively working as a starter throughout his time in the Minor Leagues.
Teodo had his best season in 2024, when he logged a 1.98 ERA and had a 31 percent strikeout rate in 20 appearances (19 starts) with Double-A Frisco. He became the first pitcher to collect two perfect innings in the Futures Game, and the Rangers added him to the 40-man roster this offseason.
In 2025, he has posted an 8.68 ERA across six relief appearances with Triple-A Round Rock across 9 1/3 relief innings.
¡°I think our plan with him was to try to give him what we would describe as a starter's volume spaced out between multiple outings each week,¡± said general manager Ross Fenstermaker. ¡°We want to continue to keep the volume and workload at a place where we can revisit the starter discussion. The needs of the big league club this year are going to be more in the multi-inning variety out of the bullpen. We felt he is more quickly an option for this club to help us win some games doing it that way.¡±
Santos will be out for at least 8-10 weeks. Texas plans to get a second opinion, but the plan for now is for rest and recovery.
The 23-year-old was a breakout starter in 2024, when he boasted a 3.67 ERA between High-A Hickory and Frisco, leading the Rangers' farm system in wins (11) and strikeouts (138 in 110 1/3 innings). He also pitched in the All-Star Futures Game and was added to the Rangers¡¯ 40-man roster this offseason.
He has a 3.18 ERA and 11 strikeouts across 5 2/3 innings and two starts for Frisco this season.
¡°This one might be a little bit longer,¡± Fenstermaker said. ¡°We're not quite sure yet. We¡¯re hoping for a little bit more clarity on that, but I think it's going to be a little bit of a longer stint.
Four of the Rangers¡¯ top five pitching prospects are currently on the injured list, including Jack Leiter with the big league club (right middle finger blister) and Alejandro Rosario (right elbow).