Friday, June 05

When the Rangers traded Jose Trevino to the Yankees during Spring Training of 2022, former president of baseball operations Jon Daniels said the two pitchers they got in return were: “One for now and one for later, so to speak.”

At the time, Albert Abreu made that year’s Opening Day roster, though he only lasted weeks with the club before he was designated for assignment. 

And Robby Ahlstrom had yet to make his professional debut, after being selected in the seventh round of the 2021 Draft out of the University of Oregon. 

That “later” that Daniels talked about all those years ago finally came to fruition this week. Ahlstrom was called up from Triple-A Round Rock on Monday and made his MLB debut two days later at Busch Stadium.

“It's been some ups and downs, and just figuring out who I am as a person, as a teammate, as a pitcher,” Ahlstrom told reporters in St. Louis. “It's been a lifelong dream. I don't think I really have many words for it. It hasn't fully set in. I don't really have the best answer for it right now.”

In Wednesday's loss, Ahlstrom retired all four batters he faced, collecting two strikeouts in the process. 

“I thought he was outstanding,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “He sat 94-97, he was throwing strikes, slider was very effective. He got a big league strikeout -- a couple of them. That was awesome, he did a fantastic job.”

For Ahlstrom, it goes without saying that this was a dream come true.

From the time he was a kid, he just wanted to be big enough to play on the same team as his brother, Tommy, who is two years older. 

Tommy never played past college. Robby finally got his opportunity.

“When he was done playing, I told him I'm going to do it for us,” Robby said. “I called him, quoted 'The Rookie' and said, ‘You have my sports coat? Apparently, there's a dress code in Arlington.’

"He got a good kick out of that. It was one of our favorite movies growing up. So he knew what I was getting at. It was pretty cool.”

Ahlstrom doesn’t hide that it’s taken him a long journey to get here. He was obviously an unfinished product when he got to the Rangers organization.

But he’s learned a lot on this journey. 

“I feel like I've gotten a lot closer with my faith, with Jesus, and I think that's just allowing me to be free, be who I am, not try to be someone that I think someone else wants me to be,” he said, “and just be a better teammate, be a better guy around the clubhouse, just go about my work, knowing that if this didn't come true, I'd be OK with that. 

“But now that it’s here, it’s pretty freaking cool.”

The 26-year-old lefty had appeared in 21 games for Round Rock this season, posting a 2.76 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP, a .185 opponent batting average and 10.13 K/9 rate in 29 1/3 innings. 

When he was called up, he ranked among Pacific Coast League leaders (min. 25 IP) in WHIP (first), opponent on-base percentage (first, .241), opponent slugging (second, .269), opponent OPS (second, .510), K/BB ratio (second, 4.13), ERA (fourth) and opponent average (fourth).

The southpaw carries a career 14-18 record, 17 saves and a 3.70 ERA over 181 Minor League games (18 starts) spanning five seasons in the Rangers organization.

And while the debut had been front of mind, right now, he’s just focused on helping a Rangers pitching staff that has been in much need of reinforcements lately.

“Pitching-wise, I'm just trusting myself, trusting my strengths, not trying to do too much,” Ahlstrom said. “Again, not trying to be someone else or be a different pitcher. I’ve been finding out what works and figuring out how I can repeat that, and just fine-tune that.”

The Rangers have a short homestand, including three games against the Cleveland Guardians this weekend at Globe Life Field. Here are the giveaways:

• Friday: Captain Plush Keychain presented by 7-Eleven 

• Saturday: Mexican Heritage Night presented by State Farm

• Sunday: Brandon Nimmo Bobblehead presented by Toyota

Phase 1 of All-Star voting is open. Here's a breakdown of the Rangers on the ballot:

• 3B Josh Jung

• 2B Ezequiel Duran

• SS Corey Seager

• RF Brandon Nimmo

• DH Joc Pederson

• 1B Jake Burger

• C Danny Jansen

• CF Evan Carter

Phase 1 is open until June 25 at 11 a.m. CT and fans can vote up to five times a day. The leading vote-getters in each league will automatically receive a spot in the starting lineup. The top two finalists at every other position (and the top six outfielders) will advance to Phase 2.

To subscribe to Rangers Beat, visit this page and mark "Rangers Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Rangers or that they're checked as your favorite team.

View Online

© 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Please review our Privacy Policy.

You (mlb-newsletters@mlb.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB. 

Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.

Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.