The RailCats add RHP Jacob Coats, who was a free agent signing of the Houston Astros, and the Cats resign LHP Denso Hull, who played last season with the RailCats. Hull appeared in 30 games last season.

Jacob Coats was signed by the RailCats on March 17th. Coats is 26 years old from Schertz, TX; he is 6-6, 235 lbs. He played his Freshman and Sophomore years at Paris Junior College before transferring to Houston Baptist of the Southland Conference. Coats missed his 2020 season due to an injury. After his college career, he went undrafted.

In the offseason after the college season, Jacob would train with Tread Athletics to improve his pitch velocity. On January 11th of 2022, he signed with the Houston Astros as a free agent. He would play the 2022 and 2023 seasons. After being released from Houston, Jacob underwent Tommy John surgery and took the 2024 year to recover and come back into baseball healthy, both physically and mentally.

It looks like Manager Lamarr Rogers will use Coats as a late-inning reliever/closer.

Jacobs College stats with Houston Baptist 2019-21

Record 6-10, ERA of 5.85, 29 games played, 2 games completed, 103 innings pitched, 114 hits, 73 runs, 11 home runs, 49 walks, 91 strikeouts, 10 batters hit, 1.583 WHIP, H/9 of 10, HR/9 of 1, BB/9 of 4.3, SO/9 of 8, and SO/W of 1.86

Minor League stats 2022-23

Record 2-2, ERA of 6.04, 50.2 innings pitched, 51 hits, 40 runs, 34 ER, 6 home runs, 41 walks, 66 strikeouts, 2 hit batsmen, 1.816 WHIP, H/9 of 9.1, HR/9 of 1.1, BB/9 of 7.3, SO/9 of 11.7, SO/W of 1.61

I know Jacob doesn’t have a lot of saves, but I could see him being the main closer. Coats has the potential for his fastball to reach 99 MPH. I would rather give a guy throwing with that kind of speed the chance to close out the game so he can go all out for a win!

WELCOME TO THE SOUTHSHORE!

On March 18th, the RailCats signed LHP Denson Hull. Denson is 28 years old, 6-1, and is from Missouri City, TX. He was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2019 draft in the 28th round. He played 2 seasons in Minor League ball, reaching Double-A. After being released from the Minors, Denson played the next 2 seasons in the Atlantic with 3 teams; last season, he played 4 games with Sioux City before being signed by the RailCats.

In the 30 games Hull played with the RailCats, he had a record of 0-2, an ERA of 5.20, finished 9 games, pitched 36.1 innings, allowed 28 hits, 26 runs, 21 earned runs, 4 home runs, issued 30 walks, recorded 45 strikeouts, hit 11 batters, had a WHIP of 1.596, H/9 of 6.9, HR/9 of 1, BB/9 of 7.4, SO/9 of 11.1, and SO/W of 1.50.

Denson struggled at first with hitting batters, but I heard he set up a trash can in the batter’s box and would purposely hit the can so he wouldn’t hit batters in a game. I really think Denson fits well in the bullpen to help eat innings and pitch, and he got better throughout the year. I’m glad to have him back in the bullpen for the 2025 season.

WELCOME BACK TO THE SOUTH SHORE!