Texas Rangers Draft: Assessing potential and timelines for each pick
By Cody Smith
Texas Rangers Draft Pick 1
14th overall-Justin Foscue
2B, Mississippi State
Although the Texas Rangers have traditionally selected players out of high school in the first round, they continued their recent shift started last year by selecting an infielder out of college in Justin Foscue.
Foscue, a junior, was in the midst of another really good season for the Bulldogs prior to college baseball being cut short. Through 16 games, he was hitting .321 with a .464 OBP and 2 home runs.
His 2020 campaign was just a continuation of his terrific 2019 season, when he hit .331 with a .395 OBP and 14 home runs in 67 games.
An interesting note about Foscue is that in his three years at Mississippi St., he had 67 walks to only 57 strikeouts in 141 games. He was also a part of back to back College World Series teams for Mississippi St. in 2018 and 2019.
Taking a look at his scouting report, Foscue seems like a Willie Calhoun starter kit. He hits the ball well, and his bat has some pop. But he has lackluster speed, and has played subpar defense during his college career with a .948 fielding percentage. He is considered to be one of the best double play turners in college baseball, so he could create a nice duo with whoever the Texas Rangers have at shortstop when he eventually makes it to the majors.
Due to how well Foscue hits the ball, he has a fairly high floor, similar to the Texas Rangers 2019 pick, Josh Jung. As long as his bat develops, he should become a suitable DH for a team, regardless of what other tools develop along with it.
Debut Projection: 2023
The 2020 season is likely going to be lost for this draft class, as it is extremely unlikely that they will see any action this year, and he would likely start his career in A ball. Assuming things are back to normal in 2021, he could find himself in High-A by the end of the season, AA by the end of 2022, and potentially a September call-up in 2023.