Rangers Could Replace Joe Palumbo With Jesse Chavez
- The Rangers were planning on giving left-hander Joe Palumbo a chance to audition for a role in their thin rotation, but that may not be the case anymore, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. The 22-year-old Palumbo has started twice, including in Wednesday’s 10-4 drubbing at the hands of the Indians. The Tribe lit up Palumbo for seven earned runs on six hits (two home runs) in two innings. Reliever Jesse Chavez came in after Palumbo and tossed five innings of one-run ball. Although Chavez, 35, hasn’t started extensively since 2017, the Rangers are so hard up for stability in the back of their rotation that they’ll “consider” shifting him there, manager Chris Woodward said.
Rangers Re-Sign Nick Gardewine
- The Rangers have re-signed right-hander Nick Gardewine to a minor league contract, the team announced. Gardewine’s back with the Rangers shortly on the heels of his release last Thursday, five days after they designated him for assignment June 8. A seventh-round pick of the Rangers in 2013, Gardewine reached the majors for the first time in 2017 and then pitched to a 4.85 ERA with 4.85 K/9 and 4.85 BB/9 (that’s a lot of 4.85s) in 13 innings through 2018. The 25-year-old has missed substantial time over the past couple seasons because of injuries, though he has pitched 323 innings of 3.71 ERA ball with 8.8 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 during his minor league career.
Joey Gallo Begins Rehab Assignment
Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo is set to begin a rehab assignment at the Rookie level, the team announced. Gallo will have 20 days to work his way back to the majors, barring setbacks.
Gallo hasn’t played since suffering a left oblique strain June 1. The injury cut off a superstar-caliber start for Gallo, who was amid a career-best season when he went down. The lefty-swinging Gallo burst out of the gate with a .276/.421/.653 line (170 wRC+), 17 home runs and a personal-high 3.3 fWAR in 214 plate appearances. The 25-year-old looked like a strong bet to reach the 40-HR mark for the third straight season at the time of his injury, but it’ll be all the more difficult now considering the time he has missed. Gallo has sat out 17 games and counting to this point.
The Gallo-less Rangers have gone an impressive 10-7 in his absence, putting them in a dead heat with the Red Sox for the American League’s second wild-card spot. Even with Gallo, Texas is a long shot to actually end up in the postseason, but his return can only improve its odds of making a Cinderella run.
Rangers Sign Second-Rounder Ryan Garcia
- The Rangers announced the signing of second-round right-hander Ryan Garcia, the 50th pick in this year’s draft. The club gave him full slot value ($1,469,900), per TR Sullivan of MLB.com. Garcia came in at No. 98 in MLB.com’s pre-draft rankings. The former UCLA Bruin could develop into a No. 4 starter in the bigs, Jim Callis and colleague Jonathan Mayo write.
Rangers Release Chase d'Arnaud
- The Rangers have released infielder Chase d’Arnaud, according to the Pacific Coast League’s transactions page. Despite playing in the hitter-friendly PCL this season, the 32-year-old d’Arnaud posted a horrid .164/.275/.316 line (47 wRC+) in 178 plate appearances with the Rangers’ Triple-A club before his release. The major league journeyman and brother of Rays catcher Travis d’Arnaud is a .222/.273/.316 hitter (59 wRC+) in 599 PA at the game’s top level.
Rangers Place Hunter Pence On IL, Activate Willie Calhoun
The Rangers announced that they’ve placed outfielder Hunter Pence on the 10-day injured list with a right groin strain. His roster spot’s going to fellow outfielder Willie Calhoun, whom the Rangers activated from the IL after he missed just under a month with a strained left quad.
This is the first setback in what has been a stunning renaissance season for Pence, who’s a key reason why the Rangers are unexpectedly in wild-card position at the moment. Since signing a minor league contract in the offseason, the former Astro, Phillie and Giant, 36, has slashed .294/.353/.608 (143 wRC+) with 15 home runs in 215 plate appearances. For reference, Pence combined for a 145 wRC+ over the previous two seasons, when it appeared his days as even a passable major leaguer were long over.
While the loss of Pence is an unwelcome development for the Rangers, who are tied with the Red Sox for the AL’s last playoff spot, the return of Calhoun is encouraging. Acquired from the Dodgers in July 2017 for right-hander Yu Darvish, Calhoun fell short of expectations during his first year-plus in the Texas organization. But the 24-year-old got off to an excellent start this season at the Triple-A level, where he hit .302/.417/.540 with eight homers and more unintentional walks (24) than strikeouts (21) in 152 attempts, and carried that to the Rangers when they promoted him May 15. Calhoun batted .435/.458/.739 with a pair of HRs in 24 PA in the week between his call-up and his IL placement.
Hunter Pence, Nomar Mazara To Receive MRIs On Monday
Two Rangers outfielders will be receiving MRIs on Monday for leg ailments. Hunter Pence left today’s game in the fifth inning after suffering right groin tightness while chasing a fly ball. Pence was in right field in place of Nomar Mazara, who received a day off after coming out of Saturday’s game early due to right knee soreness. Mazara told MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan (article links) and other reporters that he has been dealing with the issue for a couple of weeks, though curiously, the injury “doesn’t hurt during games, more when I am just standing around,” the outfielder said.
Of the two injuries, Rangers manager Chris Woodward said “If I was a betting man, I would assume Hunter” would be the one heading to the injured list, if the team was forced to make a roster move. Mazara’s MRI sounds more precautionary in nature, and Woodward noted that the younger outfielder was already feeling better on Sunday.
If only one player hits the IL, Texas has a replacement ready to go in Willie Calhoun, who is finishing off a rehab stint from his own injured list stint from a left quad strain that has sidelined him since May 22. If both Mazara and Pence have to miss time, the Rangers’ outfield wouldn’t be shorthanded for long, as Joey Gallo is roughly a week away from recovering his rehab from an oblique strain, though the team is expected to be cautious with Gallo. These twin IL returns were lining up as a potential roster crunch situation for the Rangers in the outfield/DH mix, though this problem could be put off for a while longer if Pence and/or Mazara end up injured themselves.
An IL visit would interrupt the feel-good story that is Pence’s comeback season, as the popular veteran is hitting .294/.353/.608 with 15 homers over 215 PA. It seemed as if Pence’s career was winding down following subpar years with the Giants in 2017 and 2018, but after overhauling his swing in the offseason, Pence signed with Texas on a minor league contract and has suddenly delivered one of his very best seasons. Some regression is inevitable, as Pence’s .396 wOBA far exceeds his .368 xwOBA, though even the latter figure is more than respectable.
While Pence is overachieving at age 36, the 24-year-old Mazara has still yet to break out in his fourth Major League season. Considered one of baseball’s top prospects heading into the 2016 season, Mazara is hitting .265/.316/.435 this season, which is just about in line with his overall career numbers over 1995 PA in the big leagues. Between this lackluster offensive production and subpar defensive metrics, Mazara has only a 1.5 fWAR to show for 486 career games. One bright spot from this year’s numbers is a 45.2% hard-hit ball rate, easily the best of Mazara’s short career, though is also walking less and has a career-high swinging strike rate.
Rangers Notes: Gallo, Pitching, Gardewine, Petricka
The latest out of Arlington…
- Joey Gallo will start game-simulation workouts on Monday with the hope of being back from his oblique strain as early as next weekend, though the team will surely be as cautious as possible with the star slugger. With Gallo on the verge of a return and Willie Calhoun even closer to completing his own injured list stint, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News and T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com both address how the Rangers will handle this incoming glut of outfield/DH possibilities. Gallo had largely been playing center field at the time of his injury, but since the defensively-superior Delino DeShields has been hitting well in Gallo’s absence, manager Chris Woodward made it clear that “if DeShields is on the team, Delino will play center.” This leaves Sullivan thinking that Gallo will play in left field when he returns, though such a deployment would mean one of Hunter Pence, Shin-Soo Choo, or Nomar Mazara would have to sit every day, as the other two players would handle right field and DH duties. Grant notes that Gallo would be slotted in at first base since Ronald Guzman is optionable and isn’t hitting particularly well, though Woodward has hinted that he would prefer not to switch Gallo back to first base (his former position) in midseason.
- “We’ve probably pursued every starting pitching depth option out there,” Rangers assistant GM Shiraz Rehman told reporters, including Grant and Sullivan. “We’ve talked with a lot of clubs, but they are concerned about their depth, too. They need pitchers, also.” Aside from Mike Minor‘s ace-like performance and some solid work from Lance Lynn, the Rangers haven’t received much out of their rotation this season beyond some decent (but likely unsustainable) efforts from Adrian Sampson and Ariel Jurado, leaving Texas looking for controllable starting help as they both look ahead to their long-term plans while seeing if the team can stay afloat in the wild card race this season. Grant suggested that the Marlins’ Hector Noesi and the Giants’ Ty Blach could fit what the Rangers are looking for in the short term — experienced pitchers throwing at Triple-A, and potentially acquirable from teams that aren’t in the pennant race, and thus more apt to let such veterans go to a team that would offer them a Major League opportunity.
- One familiar arm could be back in the pitching mix, as Rehman said that the team is trying to re-sign Nick Gardewine after releasing the right-hander earlier this week. Gardewine has spent much of the season on the Triple-A injured list, and thus couldn’t be put through outright waivers after being designated for assignment, hence his release to create a 40-man roster spot. Gardewine has a 3.71 ERA, 3.12 K/BB rate, and 8.8 K/9 over 323 innings in the minors, plus 13 innings for the Rangers over the 2017-18 seasons.
- The recently-acquired Jake Petricka has been on the Rangers’ radar for a while, as Sullivan reports that the team was interesting in signing the right-hander to a minor league deal during the offseason. Petricka instead opted for a split contract with the Brewers, and appeared in six games for Milwaukee in April before being outrighted off the team’s 40-man roster.
Ronald Guzman Switches Agencies
Rangers first baseman Ronald Guzman has changed agencies and is now being represented by the Boras Corporation, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. As Grant notes, Guzman becomes the latest in a notable line of Boras clients on the Texas roster, including Joey Gallo, Elvis Andrus, and Shin-Soo Choo.
Signed out of the Dominican Republic as a teenager in 2011, Guzman has spent his entire pro career in the Rangers organization, steadily developing until a strong 2017 season earned him a spot (94th) on Baseball Prospectus’ list of the game’s top 100 prospects prior to the 2018 campaign. After making his big league debut last season, Guzman has shown hint of his left-handed power but below-average (87 wRC+, 88 OPS+) production and a 28.4% strikeout rate overall, hitting .230/.301/.423 with 22 homers over 574 plate appearances for Texas. Earlier this season, Guzman spent just over a month on the injured list due to a hamstring injury.
Guzman is still just 24 and controllable through at least the 2023 season, and the Rangers could gain an extra year of control (and avoid Guzman gaining Super Two status) by optioning the first baseman back to Triple-A at some point. He won’t gain arbitration eligibility until after the 2020 season and, at this point, doesn’t appear to be a realistic extension candidate for a Rangers team that is heavy on left-handed bats and first base/DH types.
Guzman’s change in representation can be viewed in MLBTR’s Agency Database. If you see any notable errors or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
Rangers Sign Fourth-Rounder Cody Freeman To Above-Slot Deal
- Rangers fourth-rounder Cody Freeman (No. 115) has signed for $900K – significantly more than his $502K slot value – Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. Freeman, yet another California high schooler, had committed to Baylor. Baseball America notes Freeman has “premium instincts” and offers a “well-rounded” package.