Rangers' second-round pick Russell eager to get to work

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ARLINGTON -- On Feb. 16, 2024, A.J. Russell took the mound for the Tennessee Volunteers at Globe Life Field. That night, the sophomore right-hander allowed two runs while striking out 10 in 4 1/3 innings en route to a win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Just over a year later, Russell had an introductory press conference at Globe Life Field after the Rangers selected him in the second round of the 2025 MLB Draft.

“We're looking forward to not only his talents on the mound, but also the proven, tested competitor that he is, what he's accomplished in college, pitching in the College World Series and in the SEC,” said general manager Ross Fenstermaker. “We're looking forward to putting him on some pretty big stages here in the future and helping him continue to build the next chapter of his career.”

Russell, who is likely to slot into the top five of the Rangers’ prospect list, was an electric reliever during his freshman season at Tennessee, posting a 0.89 ERA, .095 opponents' average and a 47/7 K/BB ratio in 30 1/3 innings.

He was slated to enter Tennessee’s weekend rotation in 2024, but he had Tommy John and pitched limited innings the rest of his college career. If healthy, he'd likely have gone in the top half of the first round. He has the upside of being a frontline starter and the stuff to close games if he can't handle a rotation workload.

Russell emphasized how important it was for him to return to the mound late in the season in 2025.

“I think mentally, it was probably tougher than it was physically, in terms of all the checkpoints that you're supposed to hit out of surgery,” Russell said of his rehab. “It was really smooth, and I had great doctors around me and a great support system with my family as well. The mental side of after an injury is always the toughest part. Gaining confidence back in the arm and on the mound, is probably the hardest part of it. Towards the end of year, I felt really good, and I'm really feeling good about the next steps.”

According to MLB Pipeline, “Russell has a unicorn fastball that could grade as a true 80 offering if he adds more velocity. It sits at 92-94 mph and tops out at 98 with the best heater metrics in the Draft thanks to an exceptionally low release point, wide angle, significant armside run and carry up in the zone.”

“In high school, I threw two-seam and now it's more of a four-seam fastball,” Russell explained. “There was really no development behind [the fastball] if that makes sense. It was one of those things that I kind of lucked into. I realized it was pretty good pretty quickly in terms of missing barrels, a lot of swing and miss and the velo load ticked up immediately. I really liked how it felt, and kind of ran with it. Throughout college, I probably put on about 30-35 pounds, a lot of muscle, and the velo kept ticking up as well.”

Over the last five years, the Rangers have become a hot spot for pitching development after years of being a relative wasteland of homegrown starting pitchers. With Cody Bradford, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker all establishing themselves in the big leagues and names like Alejandro Rosario, David Davalillo and Caden Scarborough in the system, Russell is joining an organization that is built to optimize his potential.

“I think the Rangers are probably one of the first teams to really reach out throughout high school,” Russell said. “I just really enjoyed our conversations that we had and just the direction they were going, I really enjoyed it. … I'm excited to take on whatever the next steps are and just continuing to gain momentum throughout the next couple of months, just to get ready for whatever’s next.”