2019 Texas Rangers farm review: Spokane Indians hitters

2019 Texas Rangers minor league review: The Spokane Indians hitters.

With the regular season over for the Texas Rangers’ minor league clubs, we are taking a look at the performance of each of the U.S.-based minor league teams. Spokane made it to the playoffs, but was eliminated on Friday night in the Northwest League Semi-Finals.

Blaine Crim was the Northwest League MVP for 2019, giving Spokane two in a row after Curtis Terry won it last year. Like Terry, Crim is a slugger who is limited defensively to 1B/DH. Crim was a 2019 19th round pick who got $5000 to sign, and who probably won’t be on prospect lists this offseason, as he’s going to have to hit at every level to get attention.

The top prospect for the Indians this season was probably catcher David Garcia. The 19 year old switch hitter slashed .277/.351/.435 and was named to the NWL All Star Team. He’s progressed slowly since signing out of Venezuela in 2016 as a quality defensive catcher who had questions about his bat, but he’s taken a big step forward this year, and likely will be in full season ball with Hickory for 2020.

Derwin Barreto and Alexander Ovalles were mid-season promotions from the AZL. Each is only 18, and struggled against the older, more advanced pitchers of the Northwest League, but still had solid 2019 campaigns overall.