MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (JUNE 8, 2014) - The Texas Rangers have made the following transactions that affect the roster of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Third baseman Joey Gallo and right-handed pitcher Alex "Chi Chi" Gonzalez have been promoted to Double-A Frisco. Outfielder Jose Gonzalez Cardona joined the Pelicans from Extended Spring Training; outfielder Chris Grayson arrived from Double-A Frisco, and infielder Nick Vickerson joined the Birds from Class-A Hickory. Additionally, outfielder Zach Cone was placed on the 7-day disabled list.

Gallo leaves as the team leader in a handful of offensive statistical categories and shares the professional lead in homers with 21. Gonzalez has been a stalwart in the Pelicans rotation, tied for the team in lead in wins and second among starters in ERA.

Gallo, 20, earns his first promotion to Double-A after two months with the Pelicans. The slugger departs the Carolina League as the league leader in home runs (21), RBI (50), runs scored (53), on-base percentage (.463), slugging (.735), walks (51), and is third in the league in hitting (.323). He averaged a home run every nine at-bats, by far the best pace in the league. His total of 51 walks this season has already set a new career-high for him in a single season. He shares the professional lead in home runs with Yankees farmhand Peter O'Brien and Orioles outfielder Nelson Cruz. Gallo has the best slugging percentage, OPS (1.199), and the most walks among all active and qualifying minor leaguers. Despite a season with the Birds of just 58 games, Gallo is tied for the fourth most home runs in a season by a Myrtle Beach hitter. He is also eighth on the team's all-time career home run list. He led all of minor league baseball with 40 home runs last season. He hit multiple homers in a game five times this season, including two three-homer games, and has 14 multi-homer games in his three-year professional career. The third baseman earned Carolina League Player of the Month for May, Texas Rangers Minor League Player of the Month in April, and Carolina League Player of the Week on three occasions, most recently for the week of May 12-18. He played in 58 of the Pelicans' 60 games, making 57 starts, 53 of which came at third base. The Henderson, Nevada native was selected by the Rangers in the first round of the 2012 Draft out of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas.

Gonzalez, 22, gets the call to Double-A a year and two days after the Rangers made him their first selection in the 2013, going 23rd overall in the 2013 Draft. The right-hander won the first game of his professional career on April 27 at Wilmington. It began a string of five wins in as many starts. The Delray Beach, Florida native departs the Grand Strand with a 5-2 record and a 2.62 ERA. He is tied for the team lead in wins and has the fifth-best ERA in the Carolina League. He is also third in WHIP (1.10) and fourth in (.222) among qualifying Carolina Leaguers. In 65 1/3 innings over eleven outings, all starts, Gonzalez struck out 49 and walked 16. Seven of his 11 starts were quality starts. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning at Frederick on May 20, finishing with seven innings of one-run ball for his fifth win. During a three-start stretch from April 28 through May 8, Gonzalez strung together 14 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, the longest such stretch by any Pelicans pitcher this season.

Both Gallo and Gonzalez were elected to the California League / Carolina League All-Star Game. They were two of the eight Pelicans who were scheduled to make the trip to the All-Star Game in Wilmington a week from Tuesday.

The two were both on the Pelicans Opening Day roster and join Ryan Bores, Edwin Garcia, and Keone Kela as members of the initial 25-man Pelicans roster to make it Frisco this season.

Cone, 24, is in his first season coming off an injury that held him out of action for almost the entire 2013 campaign. In 43 games, the outfielder hit .181 for the Birds with one home run and 15 RBI. He also stole three bases.

Cardona, 20, is in his fourth professional season and second season stateside. This is his first full-season assignment. He spent 2011-2012 in the Dominican Summer League. Last year, the outfielder began the year with the Dominican Summer League Rangers before a promotion to the Rookie Arizona League. Over the two levels in 2013, the San Nicolas de los Garza, Mexico native hit .282 with 12 doubles, two triples, and a home run. He knocked in 19 runs and scored 34 runs.

Grayson, 24, makes his fourth trip to Myrtle Beach and second this season. The Monroe, Louisiana product spent the last month of the 2012 season with the Pelicans, all of the 2013 campaign with the club, and spent two weeks with the team in early May. A 13th round selection in the 2011 Draft, Grayson hit .250 (8-for-32) in 10 games for the Pelicans in his most recent stint in Myrtle Beach with three doubles, an RBI, and two steals. He opened the season in Frisco and went back to Double-A after his time with the Pelicans this year; in 22 games in Double-A, the outfielder hit .278 with one home run and 14 RBI.

Vickerson, 24, gets his first call to the Advanced-A level. The utility man is the third player promoted from Hickory to Myrtle Beach this season. Playing in his fourth professional season, the Limestone, Maine native was batting .299 with four home runs, and 25 RBI with the Crawdads while logging time at both first and third base. In his career, the former Mississippi State Bulldog has also played second base, left field, right field, catcher, and has worked on the mound as a pitcher in two ballgames, most recently last season with Hickory.

Gonzalez remains on the Pelicans roster. A corresponding move to make room for him on the active roster of Double-A Frisco will be announced.

With a spot on the active Pelicans roster vacated on Sunday when Nick Williams was placed on the disabled list, the Pelicans roster is now at 25 active players, which is the Carolina League limit.

The Pelicans complete their series with the Frederick Keys on Sunday night at 6:05 p.m.

Season Seats, Mini Plans, Flex Books, and single game tickets are available to see the Pelicans in 2014. For more information on tickets, please call (843) 918-6002, e-mail [email protected], visit www.MyrtleBeachPelicans.com, or visit the Pelicans box office, which is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.