Four Texas Rangers make Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet

Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet is out, and 20% of the list consists of Texas Rangers prospects -- four of the 20 on the list are in the Rangers system.

Joey Gallo, of course, tops the list, with a .333/.417/.833 slash line to start the season.  This is where a fair chunk of the fanbase is going to start screaming, "Trade him now!!!" because he strikes out a lot and struggled last year in the majors and fans too often think a guy who isn't a star the moment he is called up is going to be a bust (I am already dreading reading the Nomar Mazara "the league has figured him out, another overhyped prospect" #hottakes when Mazara goes through a 2 for 18 slump in a couple of weeks).  But Gallo, interestingly, seems to be someone who the professional observers seem to be higher on than the casual fan, which I don't think was the case 12 months ago.

Also making the cut are Hickory second base Andy Ibanez, at #3, High Desert second baseman Travis Demeritte, at #5, and Hickory pitcher Dillon Tate, at #13.  Tate had an outstanding start yesterday for the Crawdads, striking out 10 over 6 shutout innings, with Mark Parker saying his fastball topped out at 97.