Later today Rangers’ farmhand AJ Alexy will become the 26th Rangers rookie to make his Major League debut for this team in 2021. That’s right, the Rangers could now field an entire Major League roster with Class of ‘21 rooks.
Alexy’s promotion comes as a… half-surprise. He’s not a highly-touted prospect and he’d never pitched above High-A before this season, and his promotion of course is requiring a significant chunk of the Rangers’ roster hitting the COVID list in order to create an opportunity.
But the 40-Man Rules All, and if you’re assuming that the Rangers are trying to avoid adding guys to their crowded 40 before they need to (and assuming that they’re leaving Glenn Otto on it after his debut on Friday), the decision on who gets this emergency start was really between Alexy, Yerry Rodriguez, and Brock Burke.