Former RoughRiders Marc Church, Dustin Harris make MLB debuts
FRISCO, Texas (September 29, 2024) – Former Frisco RoughRiders pitcher Marc Church and first baseman/outfielder Dustin Harris both made their MLB debuts with the Texas Rangers on Saturday, September 28th in their game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angels Stadium. The 23-year-old Church threw a scoreless inning out of
FRISCO, Texas (September 29, 2024) – Former Frisco RoughRiders pitcher Marc Church and first baseman/outfielder Dustin Harris both made their MLB debuts with the Texas Rangers on Saturday, September 28th in their game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angels Stadium.
The 23-year-old Church threw a scoreless inning out of the bullpen, allowing one hit and striking out one in his debut.
Church, who pitched for the RoughRiders in both 2022 and 2023, spent the 2024 season between Triple-A Round Rock and High-A Hickory (on MiLB rehab). Over his 20 games in the minors, he owned a 4.21 ERA striking out 29 over his 25.2 innings before his promotion.
With the Riders, Church pitched in 27 games across the two seasons, owning a 5.45 ERA. The former high school shortstop-turned-pitcher was drafted by the Rangers in the 18th round of the 2019 draft.
In his first MLB game, Harris went 0-for-2 with a walk.
Like Church, Harris donned a RoughRiders uniform in both 2022 and 2023 before playing 2024 in Round Rock. Harris hit .272/.358/.391/.749 over 131 games with 22 homers, 10 home runs, 53 RBIs and 35 steals.
With the RoughRiders over two seasons, the Florida native batted .252/.358/.445/.802 with 30 doubles, 22 home runs, 95 RBIs and 43 steals over 145 games.
Church and Harris bring the total of 2024 former Riders debuts to 17 and 214 in franchise history, joining Wyatt Langford, Justin Slaten, Justin Foscue, Davis Wendzel, Cole Winn, Ricky Vanasco, Jack Leiter, Gerson Garabito, Tyler Phillips, Daniel Robert, Brady Feigl, Sandro Fabian, Thomas Saggese, Kumar Rocker and Luisangel Acuña.
For tickets and more information about the Frisco RoughRiders, visit RidersBaseball.com or call 972.731.9200.
About the RoughRiders
The Frisco RoughRiders are the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers and the 2022 Texas League champions. In 2023, the team celebrated its 20th anniversary and has consistently finished in the top five among all Double-A franchises in attendance yearly. In August 2014, the RoughRiders were purchased by an ownership group led by Chuck Greenberg. Since then, the new ownership group, together with the City of Frisco, has spearheaded numerous major franchise enhancements, investing over $8 million in a wide array of facility upgrades and improvements, including a state-of-the-art HD video board, sound system, Bull Moose Saloon, Bullpen Bar, Riders Outpost Team Store and the world's largest water feature in a sports facility, the massive Lazy River. These enhancements earned the Riders and the City of Frisco Ballpark Digest's prestigious "Best Ballpark Renovation" award for two consecutive years (2015 and 2016). More than 210 former RoughRiders players have gone on to play Major League Baseball including current Rangers Josh Jung, Evan Carter and Leody Taveras. For more information on the Frisco RoughRiders, please visit RidersBaseball.com or contact **[email protected]**.