May 18, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers hat in honor of the military in the dugout during the second inning against the Houston Astros at Globe Life Field. Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

This 17-Year-Old Rangers Prospect Turned Heads in DSL Debut Season

Originally posted on Texas Rangers on SI
By Tobey Schulman | Last updated Oct 20, 2025 6:35 PM ET

The Texas Rangers landed some notable prospects across their 2025 International free agent class, with names like Elorky Rodriguez and Seong-Jun Kim. One prospect whose production turned heads was Venezuelan native Santiago Almao.

The now 17-year-old signed with the Rangers back in January, before being assigned to the Dominican Summer League for his professional debut. The middle infielder went on to play 46 games this season, and looked like a pro doing it.

Across 189 plate appearances, Almao would slash .309/.434/.441 with an .875 OPS. While just 5-foot-7 and 160 pounds, Almao would only hit two homers, but he recorded 10 doubles, two triples, 14 stolen bases, and walked more than he struck out.

He was by far one of the most productive bats in the entire Texas system. He ranked top three in the entire farm in walk percentage, on-base percentage, wOBA, and wRC+. Almao did this all while playing three positions in the infield (SS, 2B, & 3B).

For those who enjoy advanced stats, Almao ranked above Rangers top prospect Sebastian Walcott in Isolated Power (ISO) at .132. For a teenager who only hit two homers this season, that’s a more promising number to look at, as he should fill out the frame more as time goes on.

It’s Almao’s plate discipline that’s stood out more than anything else. Not an aggressive hitter with a 37.9% Swing percentage, but managed to keep his first pitch strike percentage under 35%.

He proved to be a very tough hitter to face for pitchers, as he excelled at getting ahead of counts. Even in his worst month production-wise at the plate in July, he managed to walk nine times, while striking out the same amount.

While a pull-heavy hitter in 2025 (47.5% Pull%), he made line-drive contact on over a quarter of his batted balls. He made slightly more fly-ball contact compared to the amount of ground balls he hit as well.

In the field, he played a majority of his innings at second base. He’d record 34 putouts, 50 assists, but nine errors in the process. At shortstop and third base he’d each record a pair of errors, but would also tack on 32 more putouts, and 40 more assists.

Almao won’t turn 18 years old until January 23, 2026. It’ll be interesting to see how he does in his second professional season. If he can fill out the frame more, the power ceiling can certainly rise. Regardless, he’s one prospect worth watching very closely during the 2026 season.