Rangers Notes: Jung, Foscue, Church
A pair of injuries have hit the Rangers’ infield mix, as both third baseman Josh Jung and former top prospect Justin Foscue will be out of action for at least the next 10 days. Manager Skip Schumaker told reporters (including MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry) that an MRI revealed that Jung has a Grade 1 adductor strain, while Foscue has a right hamstring strain.
Neither injury is thought to be particularly serious, and Schumaker felt Jung in particular was going to be back on the field earlier than expected. In Foscue’s case, while his hamstring isn’t a major concern from a health perspective, the missed time is a setback in Foscue’s bid to win a spot on the Opening Day roster.
“It doesn’t change anything as far as [Foscue’s] chances,” Schumaker said. “He’s just gonna lose at-bats, which sucks for him. But…he’ll still have two weeks left of camp, really, to try to build up. He should get more at-bats.”
Jung is penciled in as the Rangers’ top choice at third base, and the former eighth overall pick is still looking to firmly establish himself as he enters his fifth Major League season. After making the All-Star team and helping Texas win the World Series in his 2023 rookie season, Jung was limited to 46 games due to a right wrist fracture in 2024. He was healthy last year, but struggled to a .251/.294/.390 slash line and 91 wRC+ over 511 plate appearances and was briefly demoted to Triple-A in July.
Now that Jung has become eligible for salary arbitration, the clock may be ticking to some extent on his future in Texas. He is earning a modest $2.9MM salary in 2026, but if Jung doesn’t take a notable step forward at the plate, he could be a non-tender candidate next offseason if the Rangers decide against giving him more chances at a higher price tag. Schumaker did praise Jung’s development in camp, and felt the third baseman’s work was “about to translate on the field.”
Foscue has only three hits over 53 PA at the big league level, translating to a .192 OPS for his brief MLB career. While a small sample size, the rather extreme nature of these struggles has already raised doubts about whether or not Foscue (also a former first-round draft pick, selected 14th overall in 2020) can eventually even hold his own against Major League pitching.
There have also been questions about Foscue’s ability to stick at second base, and the Rangers have been experimenting with Foscue as an outfielder this spring in an effort to increase his versatility. Being able to handle a corner outfield spot as well as first or second base would help Foscue’s chances of sticking on the 26-man roster, but everything will be on hold until he is healed up from his hamstring strain.
In other injury news from the Texas camp, Marc Church has been sidelined due to a teres major strain, but the right-hander is slated to throw a pair of live bullpen sessions this week, Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News writes. Assuming his throwing progression goes as planned, Church should probably get in some game action before Spring Training is over, and he might still have a chance to break camp as a member of the Rangers’ pen.
The teres major strain is another unwelcome setback for Church, as he has been limited to just 38 2/3 total innings (33 in the minors, 5 2/3 in the majors) over the 2024-25 seasons. He missed a big chunk of the 2024 minor league season due to a rotator cuff injury, and he dealt with elbow inflammation, lat problems, and an oblique strain in 2025. If he can finally get healthy, Church is an intriguing candidate for a relief role, as he has a plus slider and splitter to go along with a fastball in the mid-to-high 90s.
Rangers Notes: Langford, Smith, Foscue
Spring Training is the most common time of year for teams and players to discuss extensions. As exhibition play gets underway, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News chatted with Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford about the possibility of a long-term deal.
While Langford broadly expressed an openness to the conversation, he didn’t seem to feel pressure to get something done. “Amazing stadium, facilities, people and leadership here. So there’s really a lot to like about it. I definitely would be open to it. There’s no rush to do anything,” the 24-year-old said. “That’s my … view on it. No matter what, I’m going to be here for four more seasons, unless I get traded or something.”
Langford broke camp in 2024 and has exactly two years of MLB service. He’ll be eligible for arbitration for the first time next winter. As he mentioned, he’s four years away from free agency (barring a massive change to the process in the next set of collective bargaining negotiations). He’s on track to hit the market before his age-28 season.
While Langford has played for roughly league minimum salaries in each of the last two years, he banked an $8MM signing bonus as the fourth overall pick in 2023. He has also earned close to $1MM over the past two seasons via the pre-arbitration bonus pool. Langford should be well positioned financially to go year by year if he wants to bet on himself.
Grant writes that there haven’t been any recent conversations on the extension front. He reports that they had some brief talks last offseason that didn’t progress and haven’t resumed. It’d hardly be a surprise if the front office checks in with his representatives at Wasserman closer to Opening Day.
Langford is coming off a .241/.344/.431 showing with 22 homers and stolen bases apiece across 573 plate appearances. He’s an excellent corner outfield defender who could play center field if the club needed. They’re likely to use him primarily in right field alongside Evan Carter and Brandon Nimmo, but Langford could kick in to center if Carter suffers another injury.
He’s a year closer to free agency than Jackson Merrill was when he signed an eight-year, $135MM extension last April. He’s a better defender than Tyler Soderstrom, who signed for $86MM at the same age and service class in December. Langford isn’t going to approach the $289MM guarantee which Bobby Witt Jr. commanded as a franchise shortstop, but his camp could seek between $150-200MM to sign away multiple free agent years.
Langford is locked into an everyday outfield role, but Texas has a few position battles to sort through during camp. Although second base appeared to be one such position, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News writes it seems to be Josh Smith’s job to lose. The utilityman has started both of his exhibition appearances at the keystone and been lifted mid-game along with the team’s other projected everyday players.
Smith seemed the in-house favorite to replace Marcus Semien from the time that Texas dealt the veteran infielder to the Mets for Nimmo. Cody Freeman had the best opportunity to push him for that job, but he’s going to miss virtually all of Spring Training after being diagnosed with a fracture in his lower back. Ezequiel Duran should step into Smith’s previous role as a utility infielder.
Former first-round pick Justin Foscue has taken the bulk of his minor league work at second base. Foscue has virtually no MLB track record, however, and Texas is planning to get him some outfield work in camp. That’d give him a better chance of winning a bench job. That hit a bit of a snag this afternoon, as the 26-year-old left Monday’s game with right hamstring discomfort (relayed by Kennedi Landry of MLB.com). Foscue had started the game at first base. He singled in his first at-bat but was removed after one inning.
Rangers Notes: Foscue, Helman, Santos, Nimmo
Spring Training is the time for players to experiment at new positions, particularly when said players are fighting for spots on a 26-man roster. The Rangers’ camp is no exception, as manager Skip Schumaker told reporters (including Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News) that career infielder Justin Foscue will get some work as an outfielder.
Foscue has mostly been a designated hitter over his 19 career big league games, with a couple of appearances at first and second base. The bulk of his time over five seasons in Texas’ farm system has come at second base, with a good chunk of time at both corner infield slots, and exactly zero appearances as an outfielder.
As outlined by Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, Foscue isn’t being viewed as a full-time candidate for a position change, but the Rangers want to be able to use Foscue in a corner outfield slot if necessary. The starting outfield alignment of Brandon Nimmo, Evan Carter, and Wyatt Langford is set, but the right-handed hitting Foscue could spell the lefty-swinging Nimmo in right field, or other lefty bats like Josh Smith at second base or Joc Pederson at DH.
“If I do what I’m supposed to do offensively, it should take care of itself, regardless [of position],” Foscue told Grant. “But having the ability to play outfield gives me some versatility with whatever matchups they want to throw out there, and it makes my game better. So I’m obviously open to that.”
The 14th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Foscue has posted impressive numbers (.266/.379/.471 with 46 home runs) over 1235 Triple-A plate appearances, but he hasn’t yet shown anything during his brief time in the majors. Foscue has only three hits over 53 PA in the Show, translating to a pitcher-like .059/.094/.098 slash line. More consistent playing time could help Foscue find a groove, but by the same token, it is hard for the Rangers to justify giving chances to a player who has thus far looked totally overmatched against Major League pitching.
Foscue, Michael Helman, Ezequiel Duran, Sam Haggerty, and minor league signings such as Mark Canha, Tyler Wade, Nick Pratto, and Jonah Bride are among the candidates competing for jobs on the Rangers’ bench. Cody Freeman was part of this mix before being sidelined for 4-6 weeks by a lower back fracture. Helman is also dealing with an injury of an apparently much less serious nature, as Schumaker told McFarland and company that Helman was scratched from today’s game due to soreness in his hip and groin area.
In other injury news from the Texas camp, right-handed pitching prospect Winston Santos will miss roughly four weeks after sustaining a fracture in his left hand. MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry was among those to report the news that Santos suffered the injury during a live batting practice session, when Santos’ non-throwing hand was struck by a Kyle Higashioka comebacker.
Santos (who turns 24 in April) is no stranger to injuries, as back problems limited him to 17 1/3 total innings at the Double-A and Triple-A levels in 2025. His 6.75 ERA in this small sample can probably be attributed to his bad back and an incredibly unlucky .528 BABIP, as Santos still had impressive secondary metrics like a 33.3% strikeout rate and a nine percent walk rate.
MLB Pipeline ranks Santos as the third-best prospect in the Rangers’ farm system, with Baseball America ranking him seventh (behind infielder Sebastian Walcott and five other right-handed pitchers). The two outlets are split as to whether Santos’ changeup or slider is his second-best offering, but his 97mph fastball with a ton of break is seen as a plus pitch. There’s a decent chance Santos will make his Major League debut at some point in 2026 as at least a bullpen arm, though missing a big chunk of Spring Training is an unfortunate setback for the young righty.
On the flip side of the injury coin, Nimmo’s first spring in a Rangers uniform has allowed the team to get its first look at Nimmo’s purposely limited Spring Training regimen. Evan Grant details how Nimmo played in only 37 total spring games with the Mets from 2022-25, as the outfielder has focused more on workouts and live at-bats in controlled situations (like live BP sessions) rather than in-game action.
The change may have contributed to Nimmo’s increased durability. Plagued by injuries in the early portion of his Mets career, Nimmo went from player who had trouble staying on the field to a veritable workhorse, as he has played in 609 of a possible 648 regular-season games over the last four seasons. While Nimmo hasn’t been entirely healthy during this time, the results speak for themselves, as Nimmo has hit .259/.346/.434 with 88 homers over 2670 PA since Opening Day 2022. He’ll look to continue that production in his first season in Texas after being dealt for Marcus Semien in a one-for-one swap back in November.
Rangers Likely To Fill Second Base Internally
Last month’s Marcus Semien-for-Brandon Nimmo swap created a hole at second base in Arlington, but the Rangers don’t plan on going outside the organization to find help at the position. Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports reports that Texas currently plans to fill that void internally.
That should be good news for 28-year-old Josh Smith, who’s bounced all over the diamond in a utility role over the past few seasons but now looks like a strong candidate for regular work at second base — at least against right-handed pitching. The lefty-swinging former second-round pick was a roughly average hitter in 2025 and a fair bit better than that in 2024. Over the past two seasons, he’s slashed a combined .254/.336/.380 (107 wRC+) with 23 homers, 53 doubles, three triples and 23 stolen bases in 1155 plate appearances (293 games).
Second base has actually been Smith’s least-frequent position of the many in which he’s dabbled at the MLB level. He’s played just 41 innings there, although part of the reason for that is Semien’s iron man status at the position. Semien missed a total of four games over his first three seasons in Texas, leaving few opportunities for anyone else at second base. He “only” appeared in 127 games this season, but Texas was also using Smith at the hot corner and in the outfield to help cover for other injuries, so he appeared in just four games at second base. Cody Freeman, Dylan Moore and Ezequiel Duran were more frequent options there in place of Semien.
Duran and Freeman both remain with the organization and are on the 40-man roster. That’s also true of former first-round pick Justin Foscue. Anyone from that group could step up and grab a more prominent role at second base, but none of that group has hit nearly as well as Smith in the majors.
Duran showed some promise in 2023 but has hit just .237/.278/.309 in 504 plate appearances dating back to 2024. Freeman had a terrific showing in Triple-A last year, hitting .336/.382/.549 with just an 8.7% strikeout rate in 97 games. That didn’t carry over to the majors, though. Freeman hit .228/.258/.342 with a 15.7% strikeout rate in 121 turns at the plate. Foscue posted league-average offense in Triple-A this past season but has a bleak .059/.094/.098 slash in an admittedly tiny sample of 53 plate appearances. He’s also long faced defensive questions and has been splitting time between second base and first base in recent seasons.
The most exciting option is likely still a ways down the road. Sebastian Walcott is widely regarded as one of the ten best prospects in the sport. He’s just 19 years old but already held his own against much more advanced Double-A pitching last year, hitting .255/.355/.386 with 13 homers, 32 steals, a 12.7% walk rate and an 18.9% strikeout rate. Walcott, who’ll turn 20 in March, is a shortstop but could move to second base with Corey Seager entrenched at shortstop.
Regardless of exactly what shape it takes, it seems the Rangers will avoid bringing in free agents or trade candidates of note to plug that gap at second base. Given the team’s stated goal of reducing payroll, signing someone like Bo Bichette never seemed viable, but this latest report also strongly suggests that second-tier infield targets like Jorge Polanco and trade targets like Brendan Donovan or Brandon Lowe aren’t going to be a priority.
Adding some additional depth on minor league deals and/or an opportunistic one-year deal for a bargain-bin pickup late in the offseason don’t seem out of the question. Wilson notes that GM Ross Fenstermaker said the club will be opportunistic on that front. For now, however, a splash of any real note doesn’t appear to be in the cards.
In a smaller but notable bit of Rangers news, president of baseball operations Chris Young made clear that he hopes to re-sign reliever Josh Sborz after non-tendering him last week, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Young said his team is “extremely” interested in bringing Sborz back but prefers it to be on a minor league deal.
Sborz didn’t pitch this season after undergoing shoulder surgery in November 2024. The hope was that he’d make his way back to the mound at some point in 2025. He set out on a minor league rehab stint in mid-July but struggled both with results and velocity; Sborz’s fastball was down more than three miles per hour. Texas started and stopped his rehab stint multiple times before shutting him down entirely in early September.
The 31-year-old Sborz (32 in a couple weeks) had a bizarre campaign in 2023, pitching well for much of the season (3.83 ERA through mid-August) before being torched for 13 runs in 7 2/3 frames down the stretch, thereby ballooning his ERA to 5.50. Sborz then bounced all the way back — and then some — in the playoffs, serving as one of then-manager Bruce Bochy’s most trusted relievers. He pitched a dozen innings and allowed only one run (0.75 ERA) on four hits and four walks. He fanned 13.
If another club is willing to put Sborz on its 40-man roster — or offer him a larger salary on a non-guaranteed contract — the Rangers might be hard-pressed to retain the right-hander. Coming off a lost season, however, that’s far from a sure thing. If Sborz does ultimately re-sign on a minor league pact, his track record and familiarity with the organization could give him an inside track on winning a roster spot — provided his shoulder is back up to full strength.
Rangers Place Chris Martin On IL With Calf Strain
4:15pm: Manager Bruce Bochy says Martin will miss four to six weeks, per Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News.
3:30pm: The Rangers announced a series of roster moves today. Third baseman Josh Jung, infielder/outfielder Michael Helman and righty Cole Winn have all been recalled from Triple-A Round Rock. In corresponding moves, they have optioned infielder Justin Foscue and outfielder Alejandro Osuna to Round Rock and placed right-hander Chris Martin on the 15-day injured list due to a left calf strain.
Martin was removed from last night’s game after a visit from the training staff. After the game, the club announced to reporters that it was due to a calf strain. It is apparently severe enough that he’ll sit out at least the next few weeks. It’s the second IL stint of the year for Martin. He also missed a couple of weeks in late May and early June due to right shoulder fatigue. He’s still been effective when on the mound, with a 2.36 earned run average, 25.7% strikeout rate and 4.3% walk rate.
The Rangers will now be without one of their better relievers for a while, a tough blow at a tough time. The club is one of many bubble teams who are sort of near contention but also not firmly in buyer mode ahead of next week’s deadline. The Rangers are 3.5 games back of a playoff spot, with four other American League teams behind them by two games or fewer. For many of these clubs, the next few weeks could determine whether the club buys or sells or to what degree. As the club tries to win these key games in the next week-plus, they will have to do so without Martin.
The recall of Jung is also notable. When healthy, he’s been the club’s regular third baseman for a few years now. However, he fell into a bad funk this year and was sent down to the minors for a reset. He had a .277/.321/.440 slash line and 113 wRC+ through the end of May. But then in June and early July, he slashed .158/.208/.221 for a wRC+ of 19.
He hasn’t exactly been brought back to life on his optional assignment. He has a .205/.225/.410 batting line and 47 wRC+ in eight Triple-A games, though he did hit homers in two of his past three games.
His recall might have more to do with other developments, as the Rangers recently put Jake Burger on the IL. With Joc Pederson also on the IL, they’ve been light in the first base/designated hitter area. Rowdy Tellez was recently added to the roster but backup catcher Kyle Higashioka has been DHing a lot. If Jung retakes the third base job, Josh Smith could be freed up to play some first base or serve as the DH. Jung is in the lineup at third tonight with Smith at first. The Rangers are facing a lefty starter, so Tellez is on the bench with Cody Freeman in the DH spot.
What’s also notable for Jung is that he has been recalled fairly quickly. He came into this year with his service clock at two years and 27 days. A lengthy optional assignment of more than a month could have prevented him from getting to the three-year line in 2025, which would have pushed his free agency by a year. However, he’s been recalled within three weeks of his optioning. He could still be optioned again later in the year if he doesn’t get back on track but he still has a path to get to the three-year service mark.
Photo courtesy of Lon Horwedel, Imagn Images
Rangers Select Chase Anderson, Option Dane Dunning
5:15pm: The Rangers have officially announced the selection of Anderson’s contract and optioned right-hander Dane Dunning to the minor leagues in a corresponding move. Dunning, 29, was a standout member of the club’s pitching staff last year but has struggled to a 5.38 ERA in 90 1/3 innings of work this year. Texas also announced that infielder Justin Foscue had been recalled to fill the active roster spot vacated by Grossman.
3:50pm: The Rangers are set to select the contract of right-hander Chase Anderson, according to a report from Robert Murray of FanSided this afternoon. Anderson will need to be added to the club’s 40-man roster, though a corresponding 40-man move will not be necessary after the club lost outfielder Robbie Grossman to the Royals on waivers earlier today. A corresponding active roster move will still be necessary despite the open space made by Grossman’s exit, however, as the Rangers already have 13 pitchers on their active roster.
Anderson, 36, is a veteran of eleven big league seasons who will suit up for his ninth big league club when he first dons a Rangers uniform. Most recently, the right-hander pitched for the Red Sox earlier this year after signing a big league deal that guaranteed him $1.25MM. He pitched primarily in a multi-inning relief role with Boston and posted middling results overall with a 4.85 ERA that was 10% worse than average by ERA+ and an elevated 5.60 FIP in his 52 innings of work. Those lackluster results were accompanied by disappointing peripherals, as while Anderson averaged a career-best 93.8 mph on his fastball with the Red Sox he still struck out just 15.6% of batters faced, a career low for the righty.
Those struggles in Boston didn’t stop the Rangers from signing him to a minor league deal earlier this month. The early returns on his time in the organization have not been promising, however, as he’s been shelled to the tune of a 6.94 ERA in 11 2/3 innings of work across four starts at Triple-A Round Rock to this point. Both Anderson and the Rangers are surely hoping that a move back to the majors and away from the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League will do the righty some good. The Rangers remain without Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom, and Tyler Mahle in the rotation, a reality which has forced the club to rely on the likes of Cody Bradford, Andrew Heaney, and Jose Urena for starts this year.
Though Urena recently rejoined the bullpen, that’s still left the club relatively thin in terms of capable multi-inning arms in their relief corps. That’s a void Anderson should have no trouble filling, as he’s swung between the rotation and bullpen on a regular basis as needed since 2020 after spending the early part of his career as a prototypical back-end starter with the Diamondbacks and Brewers. The results have left much to be desired over the past half decade, but the veteran should be well-equipped to soak up innings for a Rangers club that has no real hope of defending its 2023 World Series championship in the postseason this year as they navigate the stretch run.
Rangers Make 11 Roster Moves
5:33PM: Gray will miss roughly a month of action, Bochy told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (X link) and other reporters.
3:43PM: The Rangers announced a massive slate of roster moves this afternoon. Third baseman Josh Jung and left-hander Cody Bradford were each reinstated from the 60-day injured list while the club also recalled infielder Ezequiel Durán and righty Gerson Garabito. To open roster spots for that quartet, right-hander Jon Gray was placed on the 15-day IL with a right groin strain, and Texas optioned three others to Triple-A — catcher Andrew Knizner, and infielders Justin Foscue and Jonathan Ornelas. To open 40-man spots for Jung and Bradford, outfielder Evan Carter was transferred to the 60-day injured list and infielder Davis Wendzel was designated for assignment. Additionally, righty Austin Pruitt (who was on the 60-day IL) has been released.
Jung and Bradford are each set for their first MLB action since April, as Jung is returning from a complicated wrist surgery and Bradford was dealing with both a back strain and then a stress fracture in his rib. Jung broke his wrist after being hit by a pitch in his fourth game of the season, while Bradford had an impressive 1.40 ERA in his first three starts (19 1/3 IP) before he was sidelined.
Emerging as the Rangers’ regular third baseman during his impressive rookie season, Jung helped the Rangers win last year’s World Series and was expected to continue developing in his sophomore year. The good news for Texas is that Josh Smith‘s strong work as the fill-in third baseman has helped the team make do in Jung’s absence, and with Jung now back, Smith can be bounced around the diamond to left field or DH so the Rangers can keep his bat in the lineup.
Despite Bradford’s great early numbers as a starter, the Rangers have already announced that he’ll return in a bullpen role. Bradford was pressed into rotation duty at the start of the year due to the lengthy list of Texas pitchers on the IL, but with many of those arms now back, the Rangers find themselves with a pitching surplus on paper if everyone is healthy. To this end, the club felt comfortable enough to subtract from this depth by trading Michael Lorenzen to the Royals.
However, the injury bug bit again yesterday when Gray injured his groin while warming up for his scheduled start against the Blue Jays. Gray departed without throwing a pitch, and the right-hander will be out for at least the next 15 days. Bradford has only worked as a multi-inning reliever during his rehab assignment and isn’t fully stretched out to start, but the Rangers have an off-day on Thursday and Tyler Mahle is on the verge of his own return from the IL, so Mahle seems the likeliest candidate to take Gray’s spot in the rotation in a week’s time.
This is Gray’s second groin-related IL stint this season, as he missed a couple of weeks in May and June with his previous injury. When healthy, the righty has a 3.73 ERA and an impressive 5.8% walk rate over 94 innings, though he has allowed a lot of hard contact and his 19.7% strikeout rate is the lowest of his career over a full season.
Carter hasn’t played May 26 due to a lumbar sprain in his back, so he could technically return at any time since he has already missed over 60 days. However, manager Bruce Bochy told MLB.com and other media that Carter is set to visit a back specialist to explore some recurring soreness, and the Rangers have shut the outfielder down from the baseball activities Carter was taking part in prior to this recent development.
More will be known once Carter sees the specialist, but it’s obviously a concern that that the 21-year-old doesn’t appear to be any closer to a return. Carter’s huge numbers after his Major League debut late last season and through the postseason provided the Rangers with a huge spark on their route to the championship, but with his bad back hampering him this year, Carter has hit only .188/.272/.361 in his first 162 PA of the 2024 campaign.
Pruitt signed a minors deal with Texas during the offseason, and that contract was selected to the active roster in April. Pruitt appeared in only four games before a right meniscus injury sent him to the 15-day IL and then the 60-day IL. He has spent the last month rehabbing in the minors and was at the end of the 30-day window for minor league rehab assignments, so the Rangers opted to release the righty rather than bring him back to the 26-man roster. A veteran of seven MLB seasons, Pruitt will hit the open market again, though it might not be a surprise to see him re-sign with Texas pretty quickly on a fresh minor league deal.
Wendzel was selected 41st overall by the Rangers in the 2019 draft, and he made his big league debut this season the form of 27 games and 49 plate appearances. He saw some work at third base during Jung’s IL stint, but Wendzel mostly came off the bench, and he hit just .128/.163/.234 in his first look at MLB pitching.
The 27-year-old has hit well at Triple-A over the last two seasons, including a 30-homer campaign for Round Rock in 2023. Wendzel has mostly played third base and shortstop during his minor league career with a few other looks at the other two infield spots and in left field, so between this defensive versatility and his Triple-A numbers, he might be a candidate to be claimed by a team in need of infield depth.
Rangers Designate Derek Hill For Assignment
The Rangers announced that outfielder Derek Hill has been designated for assignment. The move opens up roster space for Texas to call up infield prospect Justin Foscue from Triple-A.
Hill has been DFA’ed multiple times during his pro career, and this is the second time the Rangers have designated him in as many months. The previous designation in June saw Hill clear waivers and then choose free agency rather than an outright assignment, but he quickly re-signed with the Rangers on a new minors contract. Hill’s deal was selected again to the Texas roster last month, and overall he has hit .256/.289/.465 with three home runs over 45 plate appearances and 16 games this season.
While Hill provided a bit of extra pop during his brief stints on the 26-man roster, he’ll again be exposed to the DFA wire since he is out of minor league options, and thus can’t be just cleanly sent down to Triple-A. Since Hill has been outrighted in the past, he has the right to again elect free agency if he clears waivers and Texas again tries to outright him off the 40-man, or we could see a repeat of the earlier scenario where Hill just rejoins the organization as Triple-A depth.
Appearing in each of the last five MLB seasons, Hill has a career .232/.280/.334 slash line in 349 plate appearances with the Rangers, Nationals, and Tigers. The lack of hitting has limited Hill’s playing time, but the 28-year-old can provide solid glovework at all three outfield positions and outstanding speed, making him an interesting bench option. Selected 23rd overall by Detroit in the 2014 draft, Hill has also crushed Triple-A pitching in his minor league career, including an 1.045 OPS in 176 PA with Triple-A Round Rock this year.
Foscue made his Major League debut this season and appeared in two games for the Rangers before suffering an oblique strain that has sidelined him for over three and a half months. A highly-touted hitter during his college days at Mississippi State, Foscue was picked 14th overall in the 2020 draft, and delivered big numbers during his time in the Texas farm system. His excellent contact skills and decent power hint that Foscue’s bat may be ready for the Show, even if it isn’t yet clear which position (if any) will be his eventual landing spot. Since Marcus Semien is blocking Foscue’s natural second base position and Nathaniel Lowe has first base covered, Foscue could be used as a DH or as a third baseman with Josh Jung still injured.
Rangers Option Ezequiel Duran Amid Series of Roster Moves
The Rangers announced a series of roster moves today, most notably optioning utility player Ezequiel Duran to Triple-A Round Rock. The team selected outfielder Derek Hill to take Duran’s place on the active roster, while designating right-hander Yerry Rodríguez for assignment to open a space on the 40-man. The team also activated Justin Foscue from the 60-day IL and optioned the 25-year-old infielder to Triple-A. To free up another spot on the 40-man roster, right-handed pitcher Cole Winn was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.
Duran, 25, was a productive hitter for last year’s World Series-winning squad, hitting .276/.324/.443 (107 wRC+) with 14 homers and eight steals while logging defensive time at all four infield positions and both outfield corners. He’s continued to bounce all over the diamond in 2024, but his offensive contributions have withered considerably. In 187 plate appearances, Duran is hitting .256/.294/.324 (74 wRC+) with just two homers.
Things have gone particularly poorly for Duran as of late. Since the calendar flipped to June, he’s turned in a miserable .211/.219/.296 batting line with just one walk in 73 plate appearances. While he’s actually cut his strikeout rate a bit from last season, the overall quality of Duran’s contact this season has plummeted. His ground-ball and infield-fly rates have both spiked, while his average exit velocity has dropped by nearly three miles per hour and his hard-hit rate has cratered (43.9% in 2023, 36.6% in 2024). The Rangers surely still view him as a potential long-term contributor — he’ll be controllable for four seasons beyond the current year (or five if he doesn’t return to the majors for at least 10 days) — but are taking the opportunity to give him a reset and get him back on track in the minors.
Hill will start this afternoon in center field against the Brewers. The former first-round pick (Tigers, 2014) signed a minor league deal over the winter and had a brief stint with Texas earlier this season, going 2-for-9 in limited action before being designated for assignment and outrighted to Round Rock. He’s putting up monster numbers in Triple-A, slashing .350/.415/.631 with eight homers, a dozen doubles, four triples and seven steals (in eight attempts).
The Rangers’ lineup has been reeling of late, with center fielder Leody Taveras (who’s out of minor league options and can’t be sent down without being designated for assignment himself) struggling in particular. After a very productive month in May, he’s hitting just .121/.194/.167 in June. Hill will start in his place today and could see further opportunities as Texas looks to inject some life into a struggling offense.
Rodriguez, 26, pitched 17 innings out of the Rangers’ bullpen this season but has been rocked for a 6.88 ERA, due in no small part to a bloated 14.1% walk rate and massive 2.65 HR/9 mark. The 96.6 mph average on his heater this season is an impressive mark but nonetheless down from last year’s 97.2 mph mark in a season that also saw the righty struggle in a limited sample of innings.
In all, Rodriguez has totaled 31 2/3 innings for the Rangers over the past three seasons but been touched for a 7.11 earned run average. His lack of command has undercut the power of his arsenal, evidenced by the fact that he hasn’t missed nearly as many bats as one would think for a pitcher whose fastball lives in the upper 90s. Rodriguez has fanned only 18.9% of his big league opponents against a rough 11.5% walk rate. He’s regularly missed bats and racked up strikeouts in the upper minors, but skill hasn’t carried over to the big league level.
The Rangers will now either trade Rodriguez or place him on waivers within the next five days. Waivers would be an additional two-day process. Within a week’s time, he’ll know the outcome of his DFA. He’s in his final minor league option year, so a new club that acquires him could send Rodriguez to Triple-A without needing to first pass him through waivers themselves.
Foscue, the No. 14 overall pick in 2020, went 1-for-2 earlier this season in his MLB debut but has been out more than two months with an oblique strain. He’s a bat-first infield prospect who could eventually be called upon to help the lineup himself, but he’s still played in only four Triple-A contests during his rehab stint. He went 1-for-8 in that time and drew a hearty eight walks as well. He’s batted .263/.398/.462 in 595 Triple-A plate appearances dating back to 2023.
Winn, another former first-round pick, landed on the IL with shoulder discomfort last week and will now be out through at least mid-August. His prospect stock has faded as he’s struggled in the upper minors. Texas used him in a bullpen role earlier this season but saw the 24-year-old struggle with an ERA north of 7.00 in 17 1/3 innings.
Rangers Notes: Carter, Mahle, Bradford, Foscue
The Rangers placed Evan Carter on the injured list last week, initially announcing the issue as back tightness. Manager Bruce Bochy provided more specifics yesterday, telling reporters (including Kennedi Landry of MLB.com) that the rookie left fielder is dealing with a stress reaction. Texas expects Carter to miss upwards of a month.
It has been a challenging first full MLB season for Carter. The 21-year-old top prospect debuted late in 2023 and immediately cemented himself as a key piece of the franchise’s first World Series run. Carter hit .300/.417/.500 in 17 postseason games, making him a popular Rookie of the Year pick in 2024. He has had a much tougher go through this season’s first couple months, running a .188/.272/.361 line with a 26.5% strikeout rate over 162 plate appearances.
Carter admitted he played through back discomfort for a couple weeks before the IL placement. That certainly could’ve played a role in his middling offense. He remains an integral piece of the Rangers’ plans for this season and beyond, but he’ll be down for a few weeks. Wyatt Langford has stepped into left field, opening some DH at-bats for Robbie Grossman and Ezequiel Duran.
Texas received better news on a few other injured players this week. Offseason signee Tyler Mahle threw to hitters on Wednesday for the first time in his recovery from Tommy John surgery (link via Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News). Mahle is ticketed for three more live sessions before he could head on a minor league rehab stint. If all goes smoothly, he should be on track for his Rangers debut a couple weeks after the All-Star Break.
Mahle is around 13 months removed from the elbow procedure that ended his tenure with the Twins. The right-hander was barely able to pitch for Minnesota. He was a mid-rotation starter with the Reds before that, pitching 180 innings of 3.75 ERA ball while striking out more than 27% of opponents three years ago. The Rangers guaranteed him $22MM on a backloaded two-year deal in December.
Texas has a full rotation on the injured list. Jon Gray has had a fairly brief stint related to a groin strain, but the other four pitchers have faced long recovery timelines. Mahle, Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom are still rehabbing from 2023 surgeries. Cody Bradford has been out since mid-April with a stress fracture in his rib. The southpaw told reporters that he has progressed to throwing from 120 feet on flat ground (X link via Landry). Bradford opened the season as the fifth starter and turned in a 1.40 ERA over 19 1/3 innings in three appearances before the injury.
On the position player side, Texas has been without rookie infielder Justin Foscue for nearly the entire season. The Rangers called up the former first-round draftee on April 2. He took two plate appearances before sustaining a left oblique strain that pushed him to the 60-day injured list. Foscue will be eligible for reinstatement in the next few days and seems to be on track for a return. Texas assigned him to the Arizona complex league to begin a rehab assignment tonight. The Rangers might not have an immediate MLB roster spot for Foscue, as Josh Smith has played very well at third base while Josh Jung has been on the shelf.