Former Twin Valley pitcher A.J. Alexy will make his major league debut Monday night at 8:05 when he starts for Texas against visiting Colorado, the Rangers announced Sunday.
The 23-year-old Alexy, a 6-4, 195-pound right-hander, was added to the Rangers’ 40-man roster last winter. He has an impressive 1.66 ERA this year with 76 strikeouts and 27 walks in 65 innings at Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock.
He has thrown 10 scoreless innings in his last two starts. Batters are hitting .175 against him.
Alexy will become the third Texas pitcher to make his major league debut in the last week, joining Jake Latz and Glenn Otto. The Rangers have been beset by COVID-19 issues.
The Los Angeles Dodgers drafted Alexy in the 11th round in 2016 two hours before he graduated from Twin Valley. Texas acquired him at the July 2017 trade deadline along with Willie Calhoun and Brendan Davis in exchange for Yu Darvish.
Alexy went 6-8 with a 3.58 ERA in 2018 at Single-A Hickory in the South Atlantic League before he missed a large part of 2019 with an injury. He did not pitch last season with the minor league season being canceled due to the pandemic.
Alexy has a 13-19 minor league record in his career and a 3.30 ERA with 362 strikeouts and 147 walks in 300.1 innings.
This year, he went 3-1 with a 1.61 ERA in 13 games, including seven starts, at Frisco with 57 strikeouts and 20 walks in 50.1 innings. At Round Rock, he has no decisions and a 1.84 ERA in three starts with 19 strikeouts and six walks in 14.2 innings.
He has thrown between 71 and 88 pitches in his last five starts.
At Twin Valley, Alexy was a two-time All-Berks selection and the 2016 Berks League Player of the Year. Playing for coach Chad Walters, he led the Raiders to a 38-12 record in his last two seasons.
He went 6-1 in 2016 with a 1.24 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 48.2 innings, leading Twin Valley to the Berks II title, the Berks semifinals and the District 3 Class 3A quarterfinals.
As a junior in 2015, he was 6-3 with a 1.27 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 55.1 innings as the Raiders finished third in the District 3 Class 3A playoffs and reached the PIAA quarterfinals.
