The Texas Rangers squashed the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night to get their record back over .500. Despite that, the Rangers are still in third place in the American League West and they have some ground to make up in the Wild Card race. To make matters worse, Texas recently lost Nathan Eovaldi for the year, which makes the playoffs seem even further away.
There is still some time for the Rangers to make some noise this year, but the team could be looking toward the future with the injuries piling up. With that said, Texas has some very exciting prospects in their system, and they could make an impact at the Major League level within the next few seasons. Players like Sebastian Walcott and Jose Corniell might be the more well-known prospects, but there is one that has been tearing up the minor leagues this year.
Caden Scarborough is the No. 8 prospect in the organization, and he has been lights out in 2025. He was drafted out of Harmony High School in Florida in the sixth round of the 2023 MLB draft. Texas was able to pull him away from a Dallas Baptist University committment by paying him $515,000.
His first taste of professional baseball did not go as planned, but the talent was there. In 10.1 innings pitched last year, the right-hander showcased his strikeout stuff as he fanned 13 batters. However, the control was an issue (nine walks) and opponents collected 13 hits off him. But, the sixth-round pick was just 19 years old, so growing pains are expected.
Scarborough began 2025 in Single-A and some of the concerns from 2024 were washed away. In Single-A, the Florida native threw 75.0 innings, allowed just 50 hits, walked only 19 batters and recorded 95 strikeouts. His command has improved drastically, which is something the Rangers should be impressed with.
Because of his performance, Texas decided to promote him to High-A. Scarborough did not disappoint in his first start with the Hub City Spartanburgers. He threw five innings, allowed just one hit, walked one and struck out nine.
First High-A start Career high strikeouts#Rangers No. 8 prospect Caden Scarborough has sat down NINE (9) Drive batters through 5 IP pic.twitter.com/l1P26EafK9
— Hub City Spartanburgers (@Spartanburgers_) August 22, 2025
The nine strikeouts were a career high for the right-hander. In total, Scarborough was able to strike out 21 batters over 16.0 innings pitched in August. Across the two levels, the 20-year-old walked just three batters and did not allow an earned run this month. MLB.com listed him as one of the hottest pitching prospects because of his impressive stat line this month.
Caden Scarborough has the stuff of a Top 100 Prospect:
— LouisAnalysis (@LouisAnalysis) August 14, 2025
He holds a 3.09 ERA in 70 Single-A IP, with a 31.7% K%, 6.5% BB%, 0.97 WHIP and has kept opponents to a .196 BAA.
His mid-90's fastball is deceptive, and he has a plus sweeper that he can land for strikes.
Little more pic.twitter.com/BBoBgImFbL
Moving forward this season, Scarborough will most likely remain in Single-A. His one start at the level was enough to earn him a lot of praise, but it is going to take more than that to get him another promotion. The minor league season is winding down, so Scarborough will most likely finish the year with Hub City.
Heading into 2026, Texas will want to see him develop his offspeed pitches a little bit more. Per his scouting report, Scarborough needs to improve his curveball and throw his changeup a little bit more. His fastball and slider are both good pitches, but having two pitches as a starter is not a recipe for success.
Should Scarborough continue to develop the way he is, the Rangers need to be excited about having yet another promising young pitcher in their system.
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