Dillon Tate, the Texas Rangers' first round draft pick (#4 overall) in the 2015 draft, has been promoted to low-A Hickory, and will make his debut for the Crawdads tonight, per Mark Parker.

Tate, a righthanded pitcher out of UC-Santa Barbara, had been with the Spokane Indians since the Northwest League kicked off in June, but pitched sparingly, making an appearance for one inning on June 26, and having another one inning outing on August 8.

My assumption is that Tate will likely only go an inning, maybe two, today. Tate had a heavier workload than he'd ever carried before this spring while at UCSB, and the Rangers have sought to allow him time to rest his arm and recuperate from that level of activity. The promotion gives him an opportunity to get some exposure to full season ball and a higher level of competition, while still most likely having his innings limited.

UPDATE -- Because of rain that delayed tonight's start, Tate will pitch Saturday instead.