Three Members of Round Rock Express Promoted to Texas Rangers

Express LHP Hyeon-Jong Yang, INF Ryan Dorow and OF Leody Taveras Join Rangers on Tuesday

August 24, 2021

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Three members of the Round Rock Express were promoted to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday afternoon! Express LHP Hyeon-Jong Yang, INF Ryan Dorow and OF Leody Taveras all received promotions to the Rangers. Dorow is seeking his major league debut in his first career promotion to

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Three members of the Round Rock Express were promoted to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday afternoon! Express LHP Hyeon-Jong Yang, INF Ryan Dorow and OF Leody Taveras all received promotions to the Rangers. Dorow is seeking his major league debut in his first career promotion to Major League Baseball while Yang and Taveras are returning to the bigs for the first time since being members of the Rangers Opening Day roster.

Yang is returning to Texas after making his major league debut with the club to open the season. During his first stint with the Rangers, he pitched to an 0-3 record with a 5.59 ERA (18 ER/29.0 IP) in eight games, including four starts. He tallied 19 strikeouts and 15 walks in his first career action at the MLB level since joining Texas from the Kia Tigers in the Korean Baseball Organization during the offseason.

After an outright assignment to Round Rock on June 19, Yang went 0-3 with a 5.60 ERA (28 ER/45.0 IP) in 10 games, including nine starts, with the Express. He struck out 42 and walked only 10 of his Triple-A opponents. The 33-year-old began the season in Round Rock’s rotation before moving to the bullpen in mid-August. His most recent outing with the E-Train was a 2.1-inning relief appearance in which he allowed two runs on three hits with five strikeouts on August 20 against El Paso at Dell Diamond.

Prior to making his MLB debut earlier this season, Yang posted a brilliant career with the Kia Tigers, combining to go 147-95 with a 3.83 ERA (845 ER/1,986.0 IP) across 14 seasons in the KBO. He was named the 2017 KBO MVP and the Korean Series MVP as Kia captured the league championship. The Gwangju, South Korea native twice earned the KBO ERA title in 2015 and 2019 and was named the league’s equivalent of the Cy Young Award winner in both 2014 and 2017.

Dorow was a regular in Round Rock’s lineup since joining the club from the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders on June 18, hitting .210 (38-181) with 13 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 16 RBI across 53 games during his first career action at the Triple-A level. The 27-year-old suited up in 24 games with Frisco to begin the year, hitting .333 (30-90) with nine doubles, five homers and 15 RBI before his promotion to Round Rock.

The South Haven, Michigan native heads to The Show having hit safely in nine of his last 10 games in an Express uniform. During that span, Dorow batted .293 (12-41) with five doubles, two home runs and six RBI. He recorded 18 multi-hit games in the minors this season to go along with eight multi-RBI games.

Dorow was originally drafted by the Rangers in the 30th round of the 2017 June draft out of NCAA Division III Adrian College in Michigan, becoming the program’s first draft pick since 1974. He has spent the duration of his four-year minor league career within the Rangers organization, combining to hit .260 (328-1262) with 70 doubles, seven triples, 33 home runs and 170 RBI in 364 total games.

Taveras is also returning to Texas for the second time this season after a successful stint in Round Rock. Across 87 games with the E-Train, Taveras hit .245 (72-322) with 19 doubles, two triples, 12 home runs and 55 RBI. He heads back to The Show ranked among Triple-A West League leaders in runs scored (T-5th, 57), extra-base hits (T-8th, 38), stolen bases (T-8th, 13) and walks (T-5th, 49). He became a regular in Round Rock’s starting lineup, leading the club in games played with 87, at-bats with 322 and plate appearances with 381.

While with the Express, Taveras posted the best night of his professional career, finishing 4-6 with a double, two home runs, including a grand slam, and new career highs with seven RBI and five runs scored on June 24 at El Paso. The Tenares, Dominican Republic native opened the season with Texas, hitting .082 (4-49) with an RBI in 16 games prior to a May 4 option to Round Rock, where he then became a member of the Express Opening Day roster.

Taveras has spent the duration of his six-year professional career within the Texas Rangers organization after being signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2015. In 557 career games at the minor league level, Taveras is a lifetime .258 (565-2,190) hitter to go along with 88 doubles, 30 triples, 36 home runs and 242 RBI. The 22-year-old made his major league debut in 2020, where he hit .227 (27-119) with six doubles, a triple, four home runs and six RBI.

After tonight’s series finale between the Round Rock Express and El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego Padres affiliate) at Dell Diamond, the E-Train heads west for a 12-game roadtrip, beginning with a six-game set against the Albuquerque Isotopes (Colorado Rockies affiliate) that starts on Thursday, August 26. Round Rock returns home on Thursday, September 9 to begin the club’s penultimate homestand against the Sugar Land Skeeters (Houston Astros affiliate) at 7:05 p.m.

Single game tickets are on sale now. For more information about 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!