Chris Young also gave some early indications on what the team’s bullpen might look like coming out of spring training.
Chris Young also gave some early indications on what the team’s bullpen might look like coming out of spring training.Texas Rangers pitcher Kumar Rocker signs autographs for fans following a spring training workout at the team's training facility on Wednesday, Feb.
12, 2025, in Surprise, Ariz.Wednesday than a year ago when they reported as defending world champs. Only a handful of fans showed up on a blustery, chilly day. Be hard to call those that showed up “a crowd.”Just consider last year: The Rangers arrived in camp with Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Tyler Mahle and Kumar Rocker all recovering from surgeries. Corey Seager was, too. They had plans to slowly ramp up Adolis Garcia and Jonah Heim due to lingering injury or 2023 workload issues. The whole theme of camp became: “Get through the first half of the season.” They didn’t. Wednesday felt different. Even though there are few position players on hand - the first full workout isn’t until Sunday - the camp felt more, um, robust. Healthier. Yes,, expected to have a key role in the bullpen, is dealing with some “nerve irritation” in his left forearm and won’t throw for several days, but that and Josh Sborz’s ongoing recovery from shoulder surgery constituted the extent of the injury update. Everybody else is expected to be able to go without limitation when the full team reports. Even on Sborz, Young all but indicated the reliever is a bit ahead of schedule.DeGrom has already thrown eight bullpens this offseason. He went back and counted for the assembled media. He threw on Tuesday, a day ahead of the start of camp and will throw again on Friday. The Rangers begin camp with too many starting options for the rotation, not still trying to figure out how to cover innings. That could, and often does change, during spring training. But camp at least starts with the Rangers having to consider how to pare down rather than how to stretch out. The former is significantly more realistic than the latter.’s situation this spring to Wyatt Langford’s in 2024. The point being it certainly seemed like Langford had all but made the team when camp began and it feels like momentum is moving in that direction for Rocker. Young said the situations are very different, but certainly didn’t downplay Rocker’s chances of being in the opening day rotation even though the Rangers have deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Tyler Mahle and Cody Bradford. And, no, they aren’t considering a six-man rotation. We asked about that, too.“I think our pitching options are significantly different than where we were with our outfield options last year,” Young said. “We are very excited about Kumar. I think he has the opportunity to make our team and we are going to see how it goes. We’ll see who’s healthy and how guys have thrown the ball. But he’s certainly one who is in our plans. Can’t tell you exactly how, at this point.”— Young indicated that five bullpen spots are essentially spoken for, which isn’t surprising considering the Rangers added five big leaguers to the 40-man roster over the winter:, the club’s 2023 Pitcher of the Year, is still going to have earn his spot on the staff. It’s interesting because Dunning would seem to be the natural fit as spot starter/multi-innings reliever. And the Rangers will need more than one multi-inning guy with deGrom, Rocker and Mahle all likely to have lighter workloads to start the regular season to better monitor workloads after their long rehabs., all seem like strong candidates to round out the bullpen. But it’s clear that Dunning, who had to take a pay-cut to avoid being non-tendered last winter, has lost standing in the pitching pecking order.— Bruce Bochy’s afternoon was spent on a Zoom with MLB officials to discuss the experimental Automated Ball Strike challenge replay system that will be in place in five spring training stadiums in Arizona, including Surprise. The Rangers said they will play 28 of their 33 Arizona exhibitions in parks where there will be an ability to challenge the ball-strike call. They are limited to two unsuccessful challenges. As long as challenges are successful, they retain them. Bochy said he wants his players, both at bat and in the field , to not hesitate to use the challenge system, even though it won’t be in place for the 2025 regular season. “I’m looking forward to seeing how it works,” Bochy said. “We’ve seen it in the minors and it seems like there is great interest in it. It goes pretty quickly, since you have to challenge right away. It’s created interest with the fans. We will see how it goes. “We want them to use it. It will be a little trial and error. You learn to trust some guys and some others you will go ‘Uh, wait a minute.’ But we want them to try it. It’s not going to be easy for some hitters because a lot of times they don’t think it’s a strike immediately, but it is a strike. So we’ll encourage them to find out how it works.”As Bruce Bochy sorts through bullpen, could Rangers benefit from role-free approach?Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.Evan has covered the Rangers since 1997. He has twice been named one of the top 10 beat writers in the country by the AP Sports Editors. His passions outside of covering baseball are his wife, Gina, his two step kids, two crazy dogs & barbecue. Let's not discuss the cat. Evan graduated from Georgia State University, but oddly is a Georgia fan.
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