'She Cried': Rangers' Ezequiel Duran Calls Mom After Call-Up
The Rangers' No. 4 prospect went without a hit in his MLB debut, but Texas manager Chris Woodward intends to keep playing him
Ezequiel Duran learned he was going to join the Texas Rangers on Friday night, shortly after third baseman Josh H. Smith injured his shoulder against the Seattle Mariners.
The Rangers’ No. 4 prospect, who was playing for the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders, was in Wichita, Kansas for a long Texas League road trip. The coaching staff told Duran he was getting the call.
The first person he called was his mom.“She cried,” Duran said said through an interpreter after his Major League debut on Saturday against the Mariners.
He went 0-for-3, started at third base for Smith and was charged with an error. The Rangers won, 3-2.
The Rangers didn’t finalize their transaction or their lineup until less than 90 minutes before the game, in part because they needed Duran to get back from Wichita.
Duran arrived in enough time to take batting practice with the Rangers. Texas manager Chris Woodward slotted Duran in the seventh spot in the order.
“It was a great moment,” Duran said. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”With Smith on the 10-day injured list, and other options at third base banged up, it sounds like Duran will get a look at that position while he’s up with the Rangers.
“I don’t know how long he’s going to be here, but he’s going to get a look there,” Woodward said.
While Duran talked with the media after the game, Smith was in another part of the clubhouse with ice on his injured shoulder. Smith’s injury on Friday required a sling for his left arm.
Duran, like Smith, came to the Rangers in the Joey Gallo trade last year. He’s the third prospect from that trade to join the Rangers, after pitcher Glenn Otto — who got the win on Saturday — and Smith.