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The Texas Rangers will call up pitcher A.J. Alexy on Monday, the team announced today. Alexy will be starting on Monday against the Colorado Rockies in what will be his major league debut.
Alexy, 23, is a righthanded pitcher who was an 11th round draft pick in the 2016 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Alexy came to the Rangers along with Willie Calhoun and Brendan Davis in the 2017 trade deadline deal that sent Yu Darvish to the Dodgers.
Alexy had a solid 2018 campaign but missed much of 2019 due to injury. He impressed while at the Alternate Training Site in 2020, however, and was added to the 40 man roster this past winter. In 65 innings in 16 games between AA and AAA in 2021, Alexy has a 1.66 ERA with 76 Ks and 27 walks.
Given how limited Alexy’s innings in 2019-20 were, the team has been cautious in using him in 2021, though he has thrown between 71 and 88 pitches his last five times out. My guess is that the Rangers will have him on a 70-75 pitch limit for Monday’s start, and then most likely send him back to Round Rock after the game.
I would guess that the Rangers will either option Wes Benjamin or send down Hyeon-jong Yang or Jake Latz to make room for Alexy, though whether Latz would get bumped likely depends on how soon the Rangers expect to get starters on the COVID-19 i.l. back.
In addition, Charlie Culberson is with the team and working out today, per the beats, and it sounds like he should be activated on Monday. With Andy Ibanez injuring his hamstring in Saturday’s game, an i.l. trip for Ibanez and Culberson being activated seems likely.