The Rangers announced a series of roster moves today, activating right-hander Nathan Eovaldi from the injured list and selecting the contract of fellow righty Ian Kennedy. In corresponding moves, righty Josh Sborz was placed on the 15-day IL with a left hamstring strain while righty Glenn Otto was designated for assignment.
Kennedy, 38, signed a minor league deal with the Rangers and cracked the Opening Day roster. But he was lit up in the early going, allowing a 7.20 earned run average through 11 outings before being designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and elected free agency but rejoined the Rangers on a new minor league pact. Since that time, he’s been posting fairly solid results in Triple-A, with a 3.51 ERA in 25 2/3 innings, along with a 29.4% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate.
After many years as an effective big league starter, Kennedy moved to the bullpen in recent years with inconsistent results. He had a 3.41 ERA in 2019 but saw that jump to an even 9.00 in 2020. He got back on track with a 3.20 mark in 2021 but it nudged up to 5.36 last year before this year’s aforementioned struggles.
The Rangers bullpen has been a nightmare of late, a key reason why their previously strong division lead has gone up in smoke. The relievers have let many recent games slip away in the late innings, pushing the club to third place in the division and just half a game ahead of the Blue Jays for the final Wild Card spot in the American League. For the season as a whole, the relief corps has a collective 4.86 ERA that places them 25th in the league. They will mix things up by getting the veteran Kennedy into the mix to see if he can help.
Otto, 27, got a shot at a rotation job with the Rangers last year, making 27 starts with a 4.64 ERA, 18.2% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate and 43.1% ground ball rate. The Rangers then underwent an extremely aggressive offseason, overhauling their rotation by acquiring pitchers like Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney and Jake Odorizzi. That would have squeezed Otto either to the minors or the bullpen but he suffered a lat strain in March and was placed on the 60-day injured list on Opening Day.
He was reinstated from the IL at the end of June and has made six appearances for the big league club since then, but six home runs in just 10 2/3 innings have led to an ERA of 10.13. He’s also tossed 29 1/3 Triple-A innings over 10 appearances with a 3.38 ERA, striking out 32.5% of opponents in the process.
Since the trade deadline has passed, the Rangers will have no choice but to put Otto on waivers in the coming days. He’s not too far removed from being a notable prospect. In 2021, he registered a 3.20 ERA over 95 2/3 innings in the minor leagues, going from the Yankees to the Rangers in the Joey Gallo trade that summer. He went into 2022 ranked as the #15 prospect in the Rangers system.
Though he then had some tepid results that year and has been injured for much of this year, he could perhaps garner interest based on that previous prospect status. He still has two option seasons beyond this one and has yet to qualify for arbitration. That means he could be an intriguing depth arm for any club willing to give him a roster spot.
I’m excited to watch Ian Kennedy give up 17 runs first game back. The wheels are falling off for Texas haha
Angels fan or As fan? Sounds like wah wah to me
Surprised they gave up on Otto so early, especially with free-agent-to-be Brad Miller still on the 40. This makes no sense to me
Well, maybe Glenn can grab a plate o’ shrimp and get a job repoing cars.
Another piece off the Gallo trade. So the Yankees basically traded Duran for Clayton Beeler. Seems like a good trade.
My name is Otto and I like to get Blotto.
Little surprised at Otto DFA decision. Miller is a much more obvious 40-man cut than Otto. Not surprised Sborz to IL as he has simply looked terrible, so maybe it is a physical issue of some type. Would love to see Harris, Carter or Foscue come up for a taste. Maybe Kennedy can help in late innings so they can divide high-leverage innings with him, Chapman, Smith, Bradford, and Stratton, probably a good idea to keep Burke and Leclerc in low-leverage situations
It may be a mental issue that is spreading to the entire bullpen. Sonething is making them choke in clutch situations routinely. It’s quite awful.
There was confusion with the manager and coaches use of GLENN OTTO.
The uniform guy put Glenn’s last name on his uniform backwards.
I hate when that happens !
A rare Ian Kennedy feature article.
Pirates should pick up Otto
Future ray
Rangers don’t know how to develop pitching and that’s why they always have to sign pitchers in free agency or trade for them. it’s been a problem for them for the last 50 years.
They’re desperate, why not right. Sborz is conveniently being hidden on the DL with an injury called “sucking.”
I didn’t know that Kennedy was still pitching…at the MLB level…or MiLB level…or anything above Beer League.
The guy would be a beast for the WalMart Wackers. He’d be joining a championship team with Trevor Bauer, Yasiel Puig and Anthony Bass leading the charge.
It’s looking bad for the Rangers when they select Ian Kennedy. Not long ago, I thought they had a good chance at a championship.
Just select a different pitcher to blow out games. This pathetic team…
Looks like Maxy she&t the bed again.
This would be great shadenfreud if it weren’t so pathetic
Rangers bullpen is horrible! Sborz and Burke aren’t good enough to be in double A. The clubhouse is in desperate need of some good leadership. They have fallen apart. Bochey turned out to be a bad decision.