A.J. Alexy to open season in minor leagues
Twin Valley grad A.J. Alexy will open the season in the minor leagues after being sent to Triple-A Round Rock by the Texas Rangers Monday.
Alexy, 23, had been in spring training camp in Surprise, Ariz., battling for a spot in the Rangers’ rotation. It appears the Rangers rotation will consist of Jon Gray, Dane Dunning, Martin Perez, Taylor Hearn and former Philadelphia Phillies prospect Spencer Howard to open the season.
Alexy and Koby Allard are considered among the Rangers’ top options if they need another starting pitcher early this season.
Alexy burst onto the major leagues in historic fashion late last summer. The pitching-starved Rangers threw him into the rotation at the end of August and he did something no one in modern baseball ever had: He started and won his first two games, going five or more innings in each, allowing only one hit in each and no runs.
It was a stunning debut and put him in position to battle for a starting spot in the Rangers’ rotation.
“I’m definitely going to go into spring training with a chip on my shoulder and do the best that I can and pitch how I know how to pitch,” Alexy told MikeDragoSports.com just before camp opened.
For a guy who didn’t attract pro scouts until his senior season at Twin Valley, wasn’t drafted until the 11th round, then faced hurdles in the minor leagues, it’s been a remarkable journey for Alexy. He was shut down for most of the 2019 season by a lat strain on his pitching side and spent the spring and summer of 2020 at home in Honeybrook working out on his own after COVID shut down the minor leagues; he wasn’t invited to the Rangers’ alternate training camp.
He made the most of an invite to the Instructional League in September 2020. He reworked his throwing motion, going to a shorter arm path. That improved his control, always an issue, and helped increase velocity. He showed enough to the Rangers’ brass that he was added to their 40-man roster following the 2020 season.
He moved rapidly in 2021 and went 3-1 with a 1.66 ERA over 16 minor league appearances, split between Class AA Frisco and Class AAA Round Rock. He struck out 76 over 65 innings. When the last-place club ran out of pitching in August Alexy got the call.
He did not disappoint, throwing five shutout innings and allowing just one hit in his debut Aug. 30 against the Colorado Rockies at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
A week later he started at Anaheim and was even better, going six innings and retiring the final 13 batters he faced. Again he allowed just one hit.
Alexy made five late-season appearances for the Rangers, with four starts. It didn’t go quite as well after those first two starts but he did win a third game and finished with a 4.70 ERA over 23 innings, allowing only 23 hits, with 17 strikeouts. He also walked 17.