The Rangers announced today that they have released right-handed pitcher Wei-Chieh Huang, who had been playing at the team’s alternate training facility.

Huang was a member of the Rangers’ 60-man player pool, though he was not on the 40-man roster. He was acquired in the 2018 trade that sent Jake Diekman to Arizona.

Huang appeared in four games for the Rangers last year, tossing 5 2/3 innings and working to a 3.18 ERA. He struck out just two batters while walking seven. That said, he has been a strikeout pitcher throughout his minor league career, averaging 12.6 K/9 across three levels of the minors last season.

He hit a bit of a wall at Triple-A in 2019, but the 26-year-old Huang is still relatively inexperienced in the upper minors: since debuting in affiliated ball in 2015, he’s played just 43 games at Double-A or above. With that in mind, the lack of a minor league season in 2020 might be especially costly to his development; this year would have been pivotal for Huang.

Nonetheless, Huang has two option years remaining and, as mentioned, is just 26 years old. He’ll likely get another shot as a depth option with another club who can offer him more exposure in the upper minors.

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