LHP Cole Ragans, OF Bubba Thompson Promoted to Texas

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Welcome to The Show, Cole and Bubba! The Texas Rangers announced that the club selected the contracts of Round Rock Express LHP Cole Ragans and OF Bubba Thompson on Thursday afternoon. Ragans will be the starting pitcher while Thompson will bat ninth and play left field against the Chicago White Sox at Globe Life Field tonight. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m.

In eight starts for the E-Train this season, Ragans posted a 3.32 ERA (16 ER/43.1 IP) with 12 walks, 48 strikeouts and a 1.06 WHIP. He went 6.0 innings or more in five starts including a 7.0-inning gem in his Round Rock debut on June 16 against Sugar Land. During that start, he allowed two runs on six hits, zero walks and eight strikeouts.

Ragans, a native of Crawfordville, Florida, took home the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week title for June 20-26 after he tossed 6.0 innings of scoreless baseball and allowed only two hits against Oklahoma City on June 22. He walked two and struck out seven while slinging just 78 pitches.

Thompson joins Texas after one of the most electrifying seasons in Express history. He held a slash line of .303/.355/.474 with 12 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs, 48 RBI, 77 runs scored and 49 stolen bases in 80 games during the 2022 campaign.

On July 23 against Las Vegas, Thompson stole his 45th base of the season to become Round Rock’s single-season stolen base leader since the franchise became a Triple-A club in 2005.

Ragans was the 30th overall selection by the Rangers in 2016 while Thompson was selected 26th overall in 2017. Ragans underwent ‘Tommy John’ ligament transplant surgery in March of 2018, he was preparing to make his return in May of 2019 when he had to undergo a second ‘Tommy John’ ligament transplant surgery. He returned to the field after 1,344 days when he pitched for High-A Hickory on May 5, 2021.

Meanwhile, Round Rock will play game three of the series with Sugar Land on Thursday night at Constellation Field. Express RHP Kohei Arihara (3-5, 5.31) is currently scheduled to make the start on the bump against Space Cowboys RHP Forrest Whitley (0-1, 12.46). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

Single game tickets are available for purchase or bring your group to Dell Diamond. For more information on the Express, visit RRExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Subscribe to the E-Train email newsletter and keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!