Matthew Harris

Baseball nerd | MiLB pitching for @TJStats | Rangers MLB/MiLB pitching for @ProspectTimes | #EatEmUp 😼 | #HookEm 🐂

[The Prospect Times @ProspectTimes]

Our updated 2026 Top 30 Texas Rangers prospects is now available to everyone.

@MattHarris wrote the pitching write ups.
@MasonHovind_TXR and @BaseballKing162 each contributed to position players and I wrote the rest.

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

We just published our updated @ProspectTimes Top 30 Prospects list! I did all the write ups and grades for the pitchers on the list, so if there’s any questions y’all have about any arms on/not on the list, feel free to ask. Read here: https://t.co/NQI7FVyvwJ

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

Jacob Johnson finished his 2026 with a really strong performance. Johnson pitched 5 scoreless innings where he allowed 0 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 1 over 70 pitches.

Johnson continues to impress whenever he’s on the mound. It’s not always perfect and in his time in Hickory this was actually his outing with the lowest strikeout total. However, he’s incredibly adept at keeping the ball on the ground which leads to nights like tonight where he puts up 5 no-hit innings.

His sinker is probably the 2nd best on the farm (Teodo would be 1st), with its heavy drop and arm-side run. The Rangers want him to utilize it vs left-handed hitters more next season, and heading into 2027 I think he’ll definitely need to also either add a cutter or really make progress on his changeup.

Regardless, Jacob Johnson was a debut I was greatly looking forward to heading into this season and he definitely did not disappoint when he finally did make the move to Hickory.

[The Prospect Times @ProspectTimes]

RHP Jacob Johnson pitched 5 hitless innings for the Hickory Crawdads tonight.

5.0 IP / 0 H / 2 BB / HBP / 1 SO / 3 whiffs

70/40 strikes

[The Prospect Times @ProspectTimes]

Our updated top 30 Texas Rangers prospects list will be released to the public on Friday.

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

@chuckmorganszn I’m higher on Owens as a hitter at the moment. At least until he eventually adds a pitch other than just his sinker/slider combo. He showed some impressive pop in Arizona, but again I think it’s far too early to make any declaration either way.

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

Seong-Jun Kim put in a solid performance in his last regular season outing in 2026 for Hickory. Kim pitched 2 scoreless innings allowing 0 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, and picked up 2 strikeouts while getting up to 40 pitches.

I could nitpick about the walks and command in general, but I’d rather take this time to highlight how impressive Seong-Jun Kim’s season has been. In his first season playing stateside, at age 19, Kim hit 7 home runs with a .892 OPS, and put up a 0.61 ERA in 14.2 innings alongside 18 strikeouts.

Walks are certainly what he’ll have to work on most heading into 2027. A 6.14 BB/9 is not going to play if he’s to stick as a starter long term. That aside, his mechanics are sound and he’s got a really smooth athleticism down the mound so it’s something I expect will get better as he gets stronger and has more innings under his belt.

Seong-Jun Kim’s 2026 season has rocketed him up my own personal prospect rankings, and I am quite high on him heading into next season.

[The Prospect Times @ProspectTimes]

Seong-Jun Kim pitched 2 scoreless innings for the Card tonight.

2.0 IP / 0 H / 3 BB / 2 SO / 5 whiffs

40/22 strikes

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

@chuckmorganszn At the moment I’d say I’m higher on him as a pitcher, but he’s got a sweet swing so I’m reserving full judgement of his future at the plate until he gets stronger and fills out his frame

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

Admittedly I am not as well versed on the hitting side of things but I know what I like to see and I like what I see from SJK at the plate and playing SS. He’s got a sweet swing and is a really fluid defender. His power is probably the aspect that’s most lacking in his game but I expect that to work itself out as he gets stronger. I think he’s more polished as a pitcher than a hitter at the moment, but he’s someone I think will just get better and better on the hitting side.

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

Good stuff tonight from Seong-Jun Kim as he logged his second start of the season for Hickory. Kim pitched 2 innings and allowed 0 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, and struck out 2 on 26 pitches.

It’s nice to get a proper camera angle this time around to help get a better look at Kim’s delivery. Kim did slightly struggle with fastball command tonight, but the flashes he shows are still so impressive.

His mechanics are quite polished already at 19 years of age, and there’s a lot to love about his pitch mix. Kim cuts his fastball a bit which explains why his secondaries are as impressive as they are.

Kim may throw his fastball more than 50% of the time at the moment, but I’m staking my claim right now that his splitter is going to be the best pitch he throws in the next few years. It’s almost more of a forkball shape getting huge depth at -6” of vertical break.

One criticism I saw of Kim is that he struggles to carry velocity into his breaking pitches, but I have not seen anything to back up that claim. He got up to 89 on his slider last week, and I love the shape of it. He could throw his curveball a little harder, but he’s 19 and I expect that to happen as he fills out his frame.

Kim’s stock as a pitcher has risen tremendously with me in just the past couple weeks. There are obviously things to clean up especially with command, but he’s so young that it feels silly to call that a concern at this time.

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

@mwj5596 @CMarkezinis @ProspectTimes Probably not a ton more as far as top end goes, but the velocity floor I would certainly expect to rise in terms of where he sits with all of his pitches.

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

@CMarkezinis @mwj5596 @ProspectTimes This is correct ^

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

AJ Russell has started to figure out the High-A in his last few starts. Russell pitched a career-high 4.1 innings tonight while allowing 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and striking out 7 on 71 pitches.

AJ Russell in his last 11.2 innings has now allowed 3 runs, 4 walks, and has struck out 20 batters. Russell had just been on a run prior where he was struggling a bit with both the strike zone and the long ball. It’s nothing I was ever concerned about, it just comes with the territory when reaching a new level with tougher competition.

Home runs will likely always be something Russell will have to deal with, such is the life for a primarily fastball pitcher who lives in the upper third of the zone. The important part about that is making sure you’re allowing solo home runs and not allowing self inflicted errors like walks turning those home runs into something much worse.

There’s been visible improvement over the past few starts for Russell that I’ve seen, and while I intend to do a deeper dive after the season, my first impression is that it’s to do with his approach. He’s been utilizing his slider much more to righties and his curveball and changeup more to lefties which has helped better protect his fastball.

It’s also important to mention that after throwing 70 innings in 3 years at Tennessee, Russell has thrown 56.2 innings just this year alone. I think he’s made a lot of progress in several aspects of his game, and while there’s certainly still room for further growth, I think there’s a lot to be encouraged by with Russell’s last few starts.

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

Really impressive and long awaited affiliate ball debut from Seong-Jun Kim this evening for Hickory. Kim pitched 2 scoreless innings while allowing 1 hit, 0 walks, and struck out 4 on 28 pitches.

Seong-Jun Kim is a guy I’ve been waiting to get a look at for a while now. He’s mainly going to be fastball/slider for the time being, but he’s got a splitter and a curveball too that I’m sure will be reintroduced in the future.

His mechanics are really a thing of beauty for someone this early in his career, and he even got up to 97 on his fastball today. I’m still currently of the belief that I like his profile more as a pitcher than a hitter, but this early on in his career he’ll have ample time to make his case to stay a two-way player.

[The Prospect Times @ProspectTimes]

Seong-Jun Kim made his debut on the mound for the Hickory Crawdads. His line was impressive:

2.0 IP / 0 R / 1 H / 4 SO / 7 whiffs

28/18 strikes

top velo I heard was 94.0

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

The best way to combat altitude is with pitches that use gyroscopic spin, as they don’t rely on the Magnus Effect for their movement nearly as much as fastballs and changeups do.

Dalton Pence demonstrated this concept masterfully over 6 strong innings in El Paso today.

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

Good work out of Dalton Pence today in what is a difficult pitching environment in El Paso. Pence pitched 6 innings allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, and struck out 6 on 76 pitches.

Pence allowed 2 solo home runs to the first 2 batters of the game before then making the proper adjustments for the rest of his outing. El Paso’s stadium is 3,750 feet above sea level, which for a pronator like Pence, is going to have a massive impact on his fastball shape.

It wouldn’t be fair of me to say the home runs are a result of the altitude, however. Both were hit hard and at ideal launch angles, but they were both hit on fastballs and that’s where my point lies. Pence is a natural pronator which means he really gets behind the ball at release, which is what causes it to have elite vertical movement.

The Magnus Effect is what helps enable four-seam fastballs to fight off gravity with backspin. The more behind the ball at release you are, the more pure backspin you’re going to get, which then helps with vertical movement.

Air density lowers with high elevation, which in turn causes fastballs to lose vertical break due to there being a reduced Magnus Effect to help the fastball fight against gravity. What stood out to me today was the way Dalton Pence was able to adjust his approach around that.

Coming into today, Pence had a fastball usage rate of 44.4% in his 2 AAA appearances, but today that number was down to 21.1%. The best way you can combat elevation is to rely on any pitch that uses gyro spin, since those are the pitches that are least affected at elevation.

That was also the case today as in his first 2 AAA appearances, Pence had a usage rate of 27% on his cutter/slider and 9% on his curveball. Today those were his two most used pitches at 35.5% and 26.3% respectively.

It’s not easy pitching at altitude, which is why it’s all the more impressive that Dalton Pence showed the same level of dominance that he has shown all season long.

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

Good work out of Dalton Pence today in what is a difficult pitching environment in El Paso. Pence pitched 6 innings allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, and struck out 6 on 76 pitches.

Pence allowed 2 solo home runs to the first 2 batters of the game before then making the proper adjustments for the rest of his outing. El Paso’s stadium is 3,750 feet above sea level, which for a pronator like Pence, is going to have a massive impact on his fastball shape.

It wouldn’t be fair of me to say the home runs are a result of the altitude, however. Both were hit hard and at ideal launch angles, but they were both hit on fastballs and that’s where my point lies. Pence is a natural pronator which means he really gets behind the ball at release, which is what causes it to have elite vertical movement.

The Magnus Effect is what helps enable four-seam fastballs to fight off gravity with backspin. The more behind the ball at release you are, the more pure backspin you’re going to get, which then helps with vertical movement.

Air density lowers with high elevation, which in turn causes fastballs to lose vertical break due to there being a reduced Magnus Effect to help the fastball fight against gravity. What stood out to me today was the way Dalton Pence was able to adjust his approach around that.

Coming into today, Pence had a fastball usage rate of 44.4% in his 2 AAA appearances, but today that number was down to 21.1%. The best way you can combat elevation is to rely on any pitch that uses gyro spin, since those are the pitches that are least affected at elevation.

That was also the case today as in his first 2 AAA appearances, Pence had a usage rate of 27% on his cutter/slider and 9% on his curveball. Today those were his two most used pitches at 35.5% and 26.3% respectively.

It’s not easy pitching at altitude, which is why it’s all the more impressive that Dalton Pence showed the same level of dominance that he has shown all season long.

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

Yeah he’s made a massive leap this season. I’m not too sure about the cause of the injury so I won’t speculate, but he’s been one of the best bats on the farm when it comes to contact numbers. He only whiffs 15% of the time and catches a good amount of barrels. I wouldn’t count on him ever being a power bat or even being a guy who hits 20+ HR like he has this season.

He only has a max EV of 109.1 on the season, I think a lot of his power numbers from this year are reliant on his ability to get ideal launch angles. If I had to find a comp for him I’d go Cody Freeman with power level closer to a Justin Foscue. He’s definitely deserving of Top 30 though in my opinion, he’s had a great breakout year.

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

@RidersBaseball @TEXPlayerDev (I am a fan of Brock and think he’s had a really good step in the right direction type of year I just think it’s objectively very funny to omit the 6 walks from the final line)

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

@RidersBaseball @TEXPlayerDev

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

Aidan Curry has long been a player that I sincerely hoped would figure it out simply due to the tantalizing stuff profile. Well, he’s certainly figured something out in 2026 and his rise has been incredible to see. He’s got a loud and diverse arsenal, and is must-see when he’s on

[Matthew Harris @MattHarris]

Very solid AAA debut from Aidan Curry tonight. Curry pitched 5 innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and struck out 3 on 83 pitches. It took a little bit for him to settle in, but it was a really impressive gritty performance.

First things first, the stuff grades are a bit down across the board for Curry, and that’s mainly due to him being a little below where he usually sits velocity-wise. He usually sits 95 on his fastball and 89 on his cutter, so I think there’s more in the tank for Curry as he settles into Round Rock.

It was a bit of a slow start for Curry, as it looked like it took him a minute to settle into the game. Funnily enough, after allowing a solo home run in the 2nd inning was the point for me where he really was then able to lock in. The fact he then retired his next 12 batters is evidence of that.

Pretty much the only issue Curry ran into tonight from my perspective was the first pitch strikes. Being able to get first pitch strikes has been one of the main catalysts in my eyes for Curry this year when it comes to the strides he’s made from a command perspective.

Curry was 4/18 on first pitch strikes tonight, and that honestly just won’t be sustainable at this level. It’s something he’s done well this season though, so it’s something I don’t expect to be an issue for him long term it’s just the main thing I’m sure he’ll work on for next week.

Overall I would deem it a successful debut for Curry. At no point did he appear out of his depth, he battled when he needed to, and he got outs and put up zeroes. Definitely things to work on, but that’s always going to be the case.

Despite that, I still feel like the best is yet to come with Aidan Curry which just goes to show how high he’s raised the standards of his own performances; it’s not a bad problem to have.