Rangers' Vanasco to undergo Tommy John surgery

Ricky Vanasco wasn't able to pitch in a Minor League game in 2020. It's unlikely he will be able to do so in 2021 either.

The Rangers' No. 18 prospect will undergo Tommy John surgery, Texas announced Friday. The elbow procedure will be performed by Dr. Keith Meister next Monday in Arlington. Vanasco had been working out of the club's alternate training site in Arlington but is now expected to take roughly a year to recover and rehab from the surgery.

The Rangers took Vanasco in the 15th round of the 2017 Draft out of a Florida high school, and after two years in the Rookie-level Arizona League, the 6-foot-3 right-hander broke out in a big way last season. Vanasco posted a 1.81 ERA and 1.07 WHIP with 75 strikeouts over 49 2/3 innings between Class A Short Season Spokane and Class A Hickory in his age-20 season. His 38.5 percent strikeout rate was 10th-highest among the 2,224 pitchers who threw at least 40 Minor League innings.

The jump in results coincided with an improvement in stuff. Vanasco's fastball, in particular, has become a plus pitch that sits in the mid-90s and is capable of touching as high as 99. His curveball has also become a potentially above-average offering. Like many hard-throwing young pitchers, Vanasco can have issues with control. He walked 12.8 percent of the batters he faced last season, which will be an area of focus when he returns to Minor league action, probably in 2022, with only 28 official appearances under his belt.

In other Texas prospect news, the Rangers announced that top prospect Josh Jung has been granted a break from the alternate training site. He will rejoin the organization for instructional league workouts in Arizona starting on Sept. 28.