CD Pelham and Edgar Arredondo to AA

Texas Rangers pitching prospects CD Pelham and Edgar Arredondo have been promoted to the AA Frisco Roughriders from the high-A Down East Wood Ducks, per reports on Twitter from Jamey Newberg and Levi Weaver. (UPDATE — The promotions are apparently official now, and Arredondo starts for Frisco tonight.) Arms, arms, and more arms. Both are dudes, but they are dudes of very different mojo.

CD is a colossus of a man. Listed at 6’6” and 235 lbs, he’s every bit of both of those marks. Originally drafted by the Brewers in the 25th round in 2014, he returned to Spartanburg Methodist College and was popped by the Rangers in the 33rd round in 2015, because raw as he was, there was a lot to dream on. Huge, hard throwing, athletic lefty — and while he didn’t have much of an idea who to pitch back then, he does now. Over the last few seasons of learning with the Rangers, woobuddy, has he learned how to hurl.

With a fastball that sits around 95 and has hit triple digits a few times this season, CD has the look, the stuff, and the love of a big league bullpen arm. The FB was always electric, but has benefited from a healthy dose of refinement with command. It was the search for a sexy secondary that had been CD’s bugaboo — but he’s found one now. His SL is a legit swing and miss weapon and he uses it comfortably in tandem with his FB.

I’ve long been a fan of CD and now that he’s putting it all together, Rangers fans should start to know the name too. He’s got plenty of deception, and while not quite a pronounced as the delivery of Texas’ current dastardly southpaw, Jake Diekman, you can see here that CD also has the mechanics that lefty hitters especially hate. He lines up on the 3B side of the rubber, steps towards the 1B side and lets it eat. That’s mega-velo that essentially launches from behind a LH hitters back. They really love that. Here’s CD:

The other new Roughrider, righthanded pitcher Edgar Arredondo, is very different. He isn’t an ubersexy prospect. He’s not an atomic fireballer or a big bodied reliever. He’s not a fiery Dominican capable of spinning offspeed offerings that baffle batters. But what he is, is a dude. He’s a kid who is absolutely capable of pitching in the big leagues in some capacity. He doesn’t walk many guys, he moves his 91-94mph FB all around the zone, he uses a curveball and a really good changeup intermittently to mess with a hitter’s confidence. He keeps guys off balance and knows what he’s doing up there. He’ll use a sinker to good effect and a 4-seamer to run it up. He’s a starting pitcher and he’s capable of being a starter going forward. Edgar has the body of a starting pitcher and having just turned 21, he’s young enough for us to be pretty dang excited. The Culiacan, Mexico native might need a 4th salty pitch to needle through a mighty MLB lineup a few times, but there’s plenty of months left for him to develop that. Edgar is a heady kid who became the youngest player to debut in the storied history of the Mexican League when he pitched for Quintana Roo at the age of 15. He’s headed to AA because he can pitch. And I’m always thankful for kids who can do just that. Here he is workin’ outside, then workin’ inside. Kid knows what he’s doin’:

Welcome to the Upper Levels, CD Pelham and Edgar Arredondo! Both are eligible for the Rule 5 draft (EA was eligible last year too) and it wouldn’t surprise me if both were added to the Rangers 40-man at the end of the season. The club really likes both these dudes, for good reason.

As Always, Enjoy Baseball!

Love Ya!

-Tepid