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John King, 24 year old lefthanded pitcher, has been promoted from low-A Hickory to high-A Down East, it was announced today.
King, who was the subject of a write-up earlier this week by Jamey Newberg, was a 10th round pick of the Rangers out of the University of Houston in 2017, and had Tommy John surgery before he ever threw a professional pitch. He impressed late last year and in Instructionals, however, and has gotten off to a strong start to the 2019 season, striking out 29 batters in 26.2 IP for the Wood Ducks while walking just two and allowing one home run.
King is older than the average low-A pitcher, due to being drafted as a senior and missing virtually all of his first full pro season in returning from TJS, so it makes sense that the Rangers are moving him up at this point. He’ll be taking the place of Tyler Phillips, who has been promoted from high-A to AA Frisco, and will be starting on Tuesday, per Evan Grant on Twitter. Cole Winn, meanwhile, gets his first start for Hickory on Thursday.