This is really what it’s about. It’s not about winning. Not in 2020. It’s about seeing what they have. Seeing if they have anything salvageable. And giving a kid a chance at the dream.

Kyle Cody got his chance last night in Seattle. And he made the most of it. 

The Rangers drafted Cody in the sixth round of the 2016 draft out of the University of Kentucky. In his first full season in the Rangers system, 2017, he won the Nolan Ryan Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award for his 2.64 ERA and 136 strikeouts in 126 innings.

Then, in what seems to be a rite of passage with pitching prospects in the Rangers system, he needed Tommy John surgery, missing most of 2018 and all of 2019.

Here is a kid who’s had only thirty-seven games in his minor league career, and never higher than High-A ball. A kid who hasn’t thrown in a competitive game situation in more than two years, since July 10, 2018. This twenty-six-year-old righthander from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin—home of Leinenkugel beer—was one of the more unlikely players to make his debut for the Rangers this year.

But last night he made it. In the biggest way possible. He faced three batter—three major league batters—and struck them all out. On just thirteen pitches.

“It’s been a long time coming and it’s honestly a dream come true,” Cody said after the game.

Three batters. Three strikeouts. Look, if you’re going to have a dream come true, might as make it as big as possible.

Nice job, Kyle.

*****
TODAY’S GAME:

Jordan Lyles (1-2, 7.52) vs. Justus Sheffield (1-2, 4.12)
_____________________________