KINSTON, N.C.--Ryan Dorow's '17 shining light in his third season of Minor League Baseball this summer has translated to a promotion to the Texas Rangers Double-A affiliate the Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League. The former Adrian College Bulldogs standout arrived in Frisco yesterday afternoon and made his debut later that night against the Midland RockHounds at Dr Pepper Ballpark, going 1-for-4 and starting a double play.
"This is a huge accomplishment for Ryan who has earned everything in his baseball career through his determination and hard work to hone his skills," Adrian head coach Craig Rainey said. "To have two former players at the Double-A level (Tommy Parsons '18 pitches for the Springfield Cardinals) is a proud moment for Bulldog Baseball, past and present."
"It should be a good time, and I'm very excited," said Dorow, who received five All-America citations and was a three-time Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Player of the Year while setting numerous school records from 2014 to 2017. "It will be fun to hopefully play against Tommy and compete on different sides of the ball! All in all I'm super excited and ready to go here in Texas.
Dorow, who makes the move to Frisco from Down East with teammate Yonny Hernandez, represented the Class A Advanced Wood Ducks in the Carolina League All-Star Game. Dorow went 2-for-3 with a run scored in an 8-7 loss to the North Division in that contest played in Frederick, Md. He helped Down East claim the first-half CL South Division championship with a 50-20 record, nine games ahead of the second-best team. At the time of his promotion, Dorow was slashing .265/.378/.398 with eight home runs and 43 runs batted in--both team bests and among the top-10 in the league. Dorow also came up clutch for the Wood Ducks numerous times this year.
Dorow, 23, has displayed some heroics in his first full season in Class A. He hit a go-ahead home run in ninth inning to break scoreless tie against Salem, April 16, and then less than two weeks later lifted a walk-off home run to beat the Fayetteville Woodpeckers on April 27. He also hit a walk-off double against the Keys, June 7. Dorow garnered Carolina League Player of the Week honors May 20-26 after hitting four home runs in a three-day span against Potomac, and driving in 10 runs over the seven days. The reigning Defender of the Year for the Rangers organization has also made countless web gems at third base in the first half of play.
For his professional career, Dorow has slashed .273/.359./410 with 45 doubles, 222 hits, 20 home runs and 121 RBI in 234 games.
Former college teammates Dorow and Parsons could meet later in the season. Frisco is scheduled to host Springfield on Tuesday through Thursday, Aug. 20-22.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT RYAN DOROW
Adam J. Morris, Longstarbaseball.com: "Dorow is a righthanded hitting infielder who plays all the infield positions and gets raves for his glovework. He was a 30th round pick in 2017, and while most 30th round picks don't make it to the majors, the Rangers' 2011, 2013 and 2015 30th rounders were Phil Klein, Joe Palumbo and Jeffrey Springs, so Dorow has that going for him. After spending all of 2018 at Hickory, slashling .271/.342/.425, Dorow has a .265/.378/.398 slash line for Down East this year while mostly playing third base. He's not a top prospect, but he's a guy who provides some depth at the upper levels, and could end up getting some major league time as an up-and-down bench option."
ProspectTimes.com, a blog about the Texas Rangers Farm System: "Ryan has one of the top gloves in the Rangers farm system and he now brings that to Frisco. Dorow was drafted by the Rangers in the 30th round in 2017. He has spent this season with the Down East Wood Ducks. His OPS is .776 on the year. This season with the DEWDs he has mostly played third base. He's also played a couple of games at second base, some at shortstop and has DH'd. His fielding percentage at third is .979 on the year. We will get to see his extraordinary defensive plays on a daily basis as suggested by Matt Present, broadcaster for the Wood Ducks."
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