Winn, Synder, Thompson honored by Rangers

FRISCO, Texas (October 1, 2021) – On Friday, the Texas Rangers recognized Cole Winn, Nick Snyder and Bubba Thompson as part of their Minor League Award Winners for the 2021 season. Winn won the Nolan Ryan Pitcher of the Year while Snyder was named the Reliever of the Year and Thompson was a co-winner of the True Ranger Award.

Winn spent the entirety of the 2021 campaign with the RoughRiders before being promoted to Triple-A Round Rock after the conclusion of the Double-A season. With the RoughRiders, the Longmont, Colorado native was one of the best pitchers in all of Minor League Baseball, going 3–3 with a 2.31 ERA over his 19 starts, striking out 97 to 26 walks over 78.0 innings. Where he truly excelled was limiting base runners. Among those who threw at least 70 innings in the minors, his .143 batting average against was the best in baseball while his WHIP (0.82) was third and his ERA was ninth. Including his time in Round Rock, Winn finished the season 4-3 with a 2.41 ERA. Winn is the No.3 overall prospect in the Rangers system by MLB.com while also placing No.60 on MLB.com's top 100 rankings. Winn is the 14th player to have pitched for the RoughRiders in the same season as being named the Nolan Ryan Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award, joining the most recent recipient, Jason Bahr, in 2019. Winn's 19 starts with Frisco are the most by any winner of the award with the Riders since Kameron Loe won it in 2004 with 19 starts as well.

Snyder began the season with High-A Hickory before being promoted to Frisco on June 16th. The Florida native dazzled over his 13 outings in a RoughRiders uniform, allowing just three earned runs over 16.1 innings (1.65 ERA) while striking out 25 batters and just walking one. He was then promoted to Triple-A Round Rock for five outings and then made the jump to the Rangers, making his major league debut on August 21st in Fenway Park. Snyder struck out one in a 1-2-3 inning and went on to make four total appearances for the Rangers before being shut down with an injury. Overall, Snyder went 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 28 minor league outings in 2021, striking out 47 to just five walks in 33.0 innings. Snyder is the ninth RoughRiders player to win the Reliever of the Year Award, alongside 2019's Demarcus Evans.

Thompson was named the co-winner of the True Ranger Award - an award that highlights players who represent the core values of the Rangers organization - along with Keyber Rodriguez. On the season, Thompson had the best year of his minor league career, slashing .275/.325/.483 with Frisco. Thompson did his damage primarily from the leadoff spot in the Riders order, and played more games in center field than any player at any other position — except Matt Whatley at catcher (69 games to Thompson’s 65). Thompson also found himself all over the Double-A Central leaderboards. He finished the year first in the league triples (nine), tied for first in extra-base hits (48), second in hits (118), tied for fourth in runs (73), fifth in doubles (23), seventh in steals (25) and 10th in slugging percentage (.483). Thompson ended the season as the Rangers No.28 prospect per MLB.com. The centerfielder is the second RoughRiders player to win the award - which was established in 2019 - joining pitcher James Jones.

For 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. The team was founded in 2003 and has finished first among all Double-A franchises in attendance for 15 consecutive seasons (2005-2019). 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, InTouch Grille, 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 160 former RoughRiders players have gone on to play Major League Baseball, including current Rangers players Jose Trevino, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Taylor Hearn. For more information on the Frisco RoughRiders, please visit RidersBaseball.com or contact [email protected]