McFarland: Ireland hopes to continue climb through Rangers’ organization after breakout 2025 campaign
Martin Academy alum Thomas Ireland (Regina, Sask.). Photo: Martin Academy
*This article was originally published on Saskatchewan Dugout Stories on February 3. You can read it here.
February 6, 2026
By Joe McFarland
Saskatchewan Dugout Stories
It’s still a little surreal for Thomas Ireland to see his “Homegrown Hero” banner up at the North Regina Little League ballpark.
Back home for the offseason after a very successful year in the Texas Rangers system, the 23-year-old was visiting his old stomping grounds with his wife, Jessica, and his parents to help with the program’s fall clean-up when he looked up at the banner again.
What makes it even more special in Ireland’s eyes is, just to the right of his banner, is the one for his idol, mentor, and fellow Regina native Dustin Molleken.
He couldn’t ask for more as he blazes his own professional trail.
“I have nothing but great things to say about Dusty and his family, and the amount of support he’s given me over the last couple of years,” Ireland told Saskatchewan Dugout Stories.
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Listen to Saskatchewan Dugout Stories interview Thomas Ireland here.
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“Just being able to pick his brain and go to him with stuff throughout the season and concerns and knowing that he understands the grind and what happens, it’s meant so much.”
For the first time since being drafted, he says he entered the offseason not feeling like he needed to make any major adjustments, allowing him to enjoy some time at home and help inspire the next generation of ball players coming up in Saskatchewan.
REALIZING A DREAM
It’s been a quick ascent in the baseball world for Ireland, who says he always knew what he wanted.
Growing up in North Regina Little League, the left-handed hurler started honing his craft at Martin Academy before earning a spot on Baseball Sask’s roster for the 2019 18U National Championships in London, Ont.
Like everyone else, his baseball journey had to take a brief hiatus during the pandemic, then he returned in 2021 to Polk State College in Winter Haven, Fla., where he led the Vikings in wins (6) and strikeouts (85) in 16 appearances.
Enough pro scouts liked what they saw, and it was the Rangers who took Ireland in the 13th round of that season’s Major League Baseball Draft.
He remembers being at home with his dad and then-girlfriend/now-wife, while they were on a call with his mom (who was at work), hoping to hear his name on the draft broadcast.
“It felt like a relief in a way, but also an absolute dream come true.”
As someone who had always wanted to be a professional baseball player, he was chomping at the bit to get things going.
OKAY AFTER T.J.
It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for the first couple of years in pro ball for Ireland.
He missed the entire 2022 season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery, then came back in 2023 to play with the Arizona Complex League Rangers and the Single-A Down East Wood Ducks.
Ireland posted a record of one win and two losses in 13 games to go along with a 3.27 earned run average and 43 strikeouts in 44 innings.
He played for the same two teams again in 2024, going 3-2 with a 4.37 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 18 outings totaling 68 innings.
More notably, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound twirler says the longer season provided more ups and downs than he had experienced before.
“Going into 2025, I had to think of it as, you know what, we can’t be too high and can’t be too low,” Ireland said. “It’s not neutral but you have to enjoy the highs when they come and you also have to learn from the lows when they eventually come.”
Working with Molleken again in the offseason, he worked on trying to find what he calls “the middle ground” of what’s working, what’s not, and finding a way to iron out the negatives.
MOVIN’ ON UP
With a renewed sense of confidence, Ireland entered the 2025 season hoping to prove he deserved to move up the Rangers’ depth chart.
He started the season in Single-A with a new team, the Hickory Crawdads, and for the first time in his career, spent more time as a reliever than a starter.
In 18 appearances, Ireland went 7-2 with a 2.69 ERA and was still averaging nearly a strikeout per inning.
The southpaw earned a promotion to the High-A Hub City Spartanburgers in September, where he sported a 4.50 ERA in six appearances, striking out another nine batters.
He finished out the season with another promotion to the double-A Frisco Roughriders, where he allowed two runs on two hits in three innings during his first outing, then pitched three scoreless innings in his final outing.
Despite the jet-setting and differences in levels, Ireland was very happy with his overall performance.
“It’s the same game at the end of the day,” he said. “You’re throwing the ball 60 feet and six inches, the plate is still 17 inches across, and the basepaths are still 90 feet, so going into each level with that mentality helped ease me into what it would bring.”
TEXAS-SIZED DREAMS
Coming off a good year, Ireland has taken the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” route to his offseason regimen.
He’s refining a few smaller things in his delivery and getting comfortable with his sinker, which he debuted this past season and felt comfortable throwing early on.
Ireland was also hoping to add a little more velocity to his pitches and really focused on putting himself in a good position to stay health for the entire season.
“Let’s just keep rolling, keep having a good time, refine some small things, and keep working on having a consistent delivery down the mound,” he said.
Reaching double-A also has Ireland starting to think about what might be next on the horizon if he keeps dealing as well as he did.
A quick call to triple-A and, as many pros will tell you, it’s a matter of timing with potential injuries, releases, trades or demotions and you might be the one to be heading to the big leagues.
He’s trying not to think about it too much, as he believes his time will eventually come.
“The only way my time will come is if I keep doing what I need to do,” Ireland said. “Once that time comes, I’ll be ready for it.”
When it does, he hopes it serves as inspiration for young Regina and Saskatchewan athletes wondering if there is a path in the game for them.
And maybe one day, they can join him with a spot beside him, Molleken and former ball player/current curler Ben Hebert as “Homegrown Heroes.”
“That would be great to see,” Ireland smiled.
Yes, it would.