Think back over the past few years about young pitchers being called up during seasons by the Texas Rangers and the list would be pretty formidable.
In 2009, Neftali Feliz made his debut with the Rangers in the middle of the season, and then in 2010 he was the AL Rookie of the Year. That year, 2010, the Rangers made another bullpen addition by calling up former outfielder Alexi Ogando, who went on to be a key member of the bullpen and eventually work his way up to being Feliz's set-up man in the Rangers' first pennant-winning season.
Same goes for Tanner Scheppers in 2012, who went on to become a lockdown set-up man for the Rangers in 2013.
Next up, Wilmer Font? Sure seems that could be a possibility for the Rangers, who have called Font up for brief stints in the past. The 23-year-old pitched two innings in 2012 and 1 1/3 innings in 2013 and has long been thought of as a guy with a huge power arm, but got derailed by Tommy John surgery in 2011. He has a tendency to be erratic with his control, but he also has a tendency to fan a ton of hitters — sporting a 12.3 K/9 innings mark in 2013, spanned across Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock.
It's still a pretty big wild card, but given the Rangers' track record of calling up their big, young arms, it seems pretty sure that Font will get an opportunity to make a name for himself at some point in 2014.
