Healthy again, Rangers' Stephan proving his worth in Fall League

PHOENIX -- Josh Stephan had been through enough already.

He underwent elbow surgery as a freshman pitcher at South Grand Prairie (Texas) High School, and two later knee surgeries limited his amateur career further. Just when he was breaking out as a senior in 2020, that season was cut short by the pandemic, and any chance of being drafted became smaller when that process moved to five rounds. While Stephan had pro interest, he also had a commitment to Stephen F. Austin, and on vacation with family at Gulf Shores, Ala., he “got off the jet ski” to decide his future with a poignant message from his mother, LeaAnn.

“She sat me down one day, and she was like, ‘Hey, I don’t know what’s in store for you, but I feel like something good is going to come from this,’” he said. “So I believed in that.”

Stephan signed with the Rangers for $20,000, becoming one of only 17 undrafted high-schoolers to join affiliated ball in 2020, and four years later, he’s representing the club in the Arizona Fall League, where he’s been one of the showcase circuit’s most effective starters. After tossing three scoreless innings for Surprise in Saturday's 5-2 win over Scottsdale at American Family Fields, the 22-year-old righty ranks second in the AFL with a 0.71 ERA and third with a 0.87 WHIP over a league-best 12⅔ frames.

Why sign with Texas specifically? South Grand Prairie High is roughly a 20-minute drive from the Major League club’s ballpark that opened the same year Stephan signed.

“I would go run with my dog up at the dam on Joe Pool Lake,” said the Rangers’ No. 25 prospect, “and I would see Globe Life [Field] from there.”

Stephan put himself on the map in 2022 with a 3.14 ERA and 115 strikeouts in 103⅓ innings between Single-A and High-A. That remains the largest single-season workload of his career. A stress fracture in the 6-foot-3's back limited him to 66⅔ frames between High-A and Double-A last year, and after throwing 58⅓ back with Frisco this summer, he suffered a UCL sprain that ended his regular season in July. Rangers team physician Dr. Keith Meister told him the issue wasn’t worse, and he took two weeks completely off from throwing before slowly building back up with catch play, recovering in time to debut in the Fall League on Oct. 7.

“Meister was very reassuring that there was no actual structural damage,” Stephan said. “We were good on that aspect. It was just eventually getting my mind right, like, OK, nothing's wrong, let's get back in the swing of things and get going again.”

Assigning Stephan to the AFL wasn’t just about making up for the lost innings. The right-hander, when healthy, has the right mix of stuff and command to be a starter in the Major Leagues, and with his Rule 5 eligibility coming up this offseason, this is the opportunity to prove to Texas he’s deserving of 40-man protection.

In Arizona, Stephan has shown a four-seamer and a sinker in the 92-94 mph range, preferring the latter in most cases. As has often been the case throughout his time as a pro, his 82-85 mph slider is his best pitch with good depth and location, and it was one he relied on with runners on base Saturday.

“If I’m going down and giving up a run,” he said, “I’d rather do it on my best stuff.”

An 85-89 mph changeup may lack the separation off the fastballs but flashes above-average movement, and an 89-92 mph cutter -- an addition in 2024 -- has given him another weapon to balance out the arsenal once he realized the four-seam wasn’t quite as effective against lefties.

Stephan has lasted at least three innings in each of his four appearances (two starts) for Surprise, and he’s yet to allow more than one run in an outing. Lefties remain a battle (.885 OPS against), but righties are only 2-for-24 with seven strikeouts against him -- a credit to the effectiveness of the slider.

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With each passing gem, Stephan is building his case for a 40-man spot and inching closer to Arlington. Globe Life isn’t just a spot on the horizon anymore.

“It doesn’t matter how much you sign for,” he said. “Compete your butt off. Get out there and do your thing.”