Texas Rangers righthanded pitcher David Davalillo has been named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week for the week of August 11-16, it was announced today.
In addition, the Rangers are reportedly promoting two-way players Josh Owens and Seong-Jun Kim from the Arizona Complex League to low-A Hickory.
Davalillo was added to the 40 man roster this past winter after a breakout 2025 campaign. He started the year at AA Frisco and did okay, allowing a 3.86 ERA in 23.1 innings over five starts, with 36 Ks against eight walks. Things went south for him in AAA, however, as he allowed a 7.59 ERA in 21.1 IP over six appearances. Most alarmingly, given Davalillo’s history of being a control artist, he allowed 21 walks and hit 6 batters during that time.
Davalillo went to Arizona for a few weeks to work on things, after which he made a start for the ACL Rangers, a start for high-A Hub City, another start for the ACL Rangers, and then went back to Frisco. After two starts for the Roughriders, in which he struck out 8 and walked three in nine innings, he returned to Round Rock, making a solid three inning relief appearance and a not-so-great 4.1 inning start in the first two weeks of August.
On Friday, August 14, Davalillo had what was easily his best outing of the season, facing the minimum over six innings and allowing just one baserunner, on a single, while striking out seven and throwing 52 of his 76 pitches for strikes. This effort is what earned him the PCL Pitcher of the Week nod, and it was definitely deserved.
This is the second week in a row an Express pitcher has earned those honors. Dalton Pence was named the PCL Pitcher of the Week a week ago.
Owens, a 19 year old who hits lefty and throws righty, was the Rangers’ third round pick in 2025 out of Johnson City, Tennessee. He has been utilized as a two-way player in the complex league this year, hitting .255/.345/.469 in 168 plate appearances with 62 Ks against 16 walks, and putting up a 3.48 ERA in 20.2 innings over 12 appearances with 24 Ks against 7 walks. When Owens has not been pitching, he’s split his time between DH, shortstop and second base.
Kim, a 19 year old signed out of South Korea in May, 2025, throws and hits righthanded. In 160 plate appearances he slashed .303/.419/.546 in the complex league, with 51 Ks against 24 walks. He put up a 1.04 ERA in 8.2 innings over five appearances, with 10 Ks against 5 walks. He played shortstop and DH when he wasn’t pitching.
With ACL play completed, Owens and Kim will get a taste of full season ball to finish out the 2026 season, and likely will start the 2027 season with Hickory. Owens is ranked #3 on the latest Baseball America top 30 prospect list for the Rangers, while Kim is #20.
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