Rangers promote pitching prospect Glenn Otto to big league roster

The Rangers will promote right-handed pitching prospect Glenn Otto to make his major league debut Friday, per an announcement from their VP of communications, John Blake. They’ll need to formally select his contract to the major league roster in order to do so, but Texas currently has multiple vacancies with several players in COVID-19 protocol.

The team has yet to specify whether Otto will be a permanent addition to the 40-man roster or a replacement player who can be removed from the roster without being exposed to waivers. He’d be eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 Draft this winter though, so he’ll be formally added to the 40-man at some point between now and late November one way or another.

Otto, 25, was one of four players acquired from the Yankees in the trade that sent outfielder Joey Gallo and left-hander Joely Rodriguez to the Bronx. He currently ranks 12th among Rangers farmhands at Baseball America, where he draws praise for a newly added slider that has given him legitimate out pitches against both right- and left-handed hitters.

While Otto’s call to the big leagues is in part out of necessity — Dane Dunning, Mike Foltynewicz and Drew Anderson are all currently in COVID protocols — the right-hander has very much earned this opportunity with his results. He’s racked up 95 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A so far in 2021, pitching to a combined 3.20 ERA with outstanding strikeout and walk rates (35.4 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively). Otto has been particularly impressive in his two most recent Triple-A outings, firing 11 shutout innings with just two hits and three walks allowed against the top affiliates of the Padres and Dodgers.

Otto adds to a growing stable of young arms who could potentially form the core of the Rangers staff for the foreseeable future. He’ll join Dunning, fellow deadline acquisition Spencer Howard, and lefties Kolby Allard and Taylor Hearn as immediate options for the Rangers, which also have a pair of top 100 pitching prospects on the rise: 2018 first-rounder Cole Winn and this year’s No. 2 overall pick, Jack Leiter. The team could very well turn to the open market to add to that group this offseason, as general manager Chris Young has already stated he expects the team to be “very active” in free agency this winter.