Texas Rangers lefthanded pitcher Joe Palumbo is one of the team’s top upper level pitching prospects, and he showed why tonight, striking out 10 of the 18 batters he faced tonight for Frisco. Coming in after Walker Weickel pitched the first two innings — the Rangers, I seem to recall reading, want their young starters to be familiar with coming in after an “opener” — Palumbo went 4.2 IP, allowing 1 run in a hit and 2 walks.
The only nit one can pick with Palumbo is that he wasn’t terribly efficient, needing 92 pitches to get through 18 batters, but if you’re striking out over half of those you’re facing, I think you can live with that, Reports out of Frisco were that he was getting swings and misses with a high spin rate fastball, and was using his curve and changeup effectively as well.