Yerry Rodriguez shut down, Taylor Hearn returning soon

Yerry Rodriguez, the 21 year old righthanded pitcher who has emerged as one of the better prospects in the Texas Rangers system this summer, has sprained UCL in his elbow, per the beat guys. The Rangers will do rest and rehab for the next 6-8 weeks, then evaluated whether surgery is necessary. Given that Rodriguez would miss most, if not all, of 2020 if he had surgery now, there’s no real downside to waiting. Rodriguez had a 2.08 ERA in 13 starts for Hickory.

Taylor Hearn, also per the beat guys, is progressing in his return from an elbow sprain. After being out since late April, he’s slated to throw batting practice this week, and could start a rehab assignment later this month.

In addition, there are two significant promotions. Josh Jung, the Rangers’ first round pick in June, is being promoted to low-A Hickory. He has been terrorizing rookie league pitchers in the AZL in his first four games, and is skipping short season A Spokane.

Meanwhile, righty reliever Joe Barlow, who started the year in Down East and was then promoted to Frisco, is moving up to Nashville. Barlow has a 0.68 ERA in 39.2 IP between the two levels this season, striking out 71 of 150 batters he has faced.

Finally, per Jamey Newberg, Davis Wendzel, the Rangers’ 2nd pick in the 2019 draft, is out for a couple of weeks while he rehabs a sprained thumb.