Former Santa Clara University baseball pitcher Skylar Hales received an invitation to Major League Spring Training camp with the Texas Rangers after ranking among the Rangers' top-30 prospects a year ago.

Hales has played in the minor leagues for the past two seasons at different levels ranging from rookie ball all the way up to Double-A. Hales has continued to show exponential growth as a pro, dropping his season ERA from 4.22 in 2023, to 3.18 in 2024. He recorded 66 strikeouts in 56 2/3 innings last season with the High-A Hickory Crawdads and the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders.

Hales was selected by the Texas Rangers with the seventh pick in the fourth round (108th overall) of the 2023 MLB Draft after three seasons with the Broncos. During his junior year of 2023 he was an all-West Coast Conference second team honoree and was named WCC Pitcher of the Week after his performance against Villanova, where he struck out nine in three innings.

Hales went 6-5 with four saves in 22 appearances in that season. He had a career-best 3.42 ERA with 69 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings in 2023. As a sophomore in 2022, Hales appeared in 15 games with 12 starts, struck out 75 in 69 2/3 innings, and was named all-WCC honorable mention.

Hales is set to report to Surprise Stadium in Arizona on Feb. 12th, joining the Rangers' pitchers and catchers core for the start of Spring Training. Hales will be joined at camp with a number of Texas' top prospects, including No. 1-ranked Sebastian Walcott as the team begins preparations for the 2025 season.