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Brock Holt To Make Rangers’ Opening Day Roster

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The Rangers have informed utilityman Brock Holt he’ll break camp with the team, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News was among those to report. He has been in camp as a non-roster invitee, so the club will need to officially select his contract to the 40-man roster. Holt had the ability to opt out of that deal if not added to the roster this week, Grant notes. Texas has an open 40-man spot after passing right-hander Joe Gatto through outright waivers yesterday.

Holt, 32, was a valuable utility piece for the Red Sox between 2013-19, even earning a trip to the All-Star game in 2015. He stumbled to a miserable .211/.283/.274 line between the Brewers and Nationals in 2020, though, forcing him to settle for a non-roster deal this winter. Between a productive few weeks in Spring Training and the Rangers’ uncertain third base situation (where Rougned Odor appears the favorite for playing time), Holt will get another opportunity in Arlington. By making the club, he’ll lock in a $1.75MM base salary.

Among the others who’ll be on the season-opening roster (via Grant and Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram): Dane Dunning, Taylor Hearn, Wes Benjamin and Jonah Heim. None of that group is particularly surprising. Hearn and Benjamin played important roles in last year’s bullpen, while Dunning and Heim were acquired in offseason trades. All four are already on Texas’ 40-man roster.

Fellow offseason acquisition Khris Davis won’t be ready for the start of the season. He suffered a Grade 2 strain of his left quadriceps and will be out three to four weeks, per Wilson. Presumably, he’ll start the year on the 10-day injured list.

Rangers Exercise Chris Woodward’s Option For 2022

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The Rangers announced that they have exercised manager Chris Woodward’s option for 2022. The former major league infielder is now in line to spend at least four seasons as the Rangers’ skipper.

Now 44 years old, Woodward became the Rangers’ manager going into 2019. Before he went to Texas, Woodward worked as the third base coach for the Dodgers.

The Rangers have gone just 100-122 during Woodward’s reign, though it’s hard to fault him for that subpar record. The team has been in a rebuild, after all, and it looks as if this will be another difficult year in the standings for Texas. Nevertheless, the Rangers appear as if they’ll lean on the power structure of president of baseball operations Jon Daniels, new general manager Chris Young and Woodward for at least the next two years.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/22/21

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Rangers announced that right-hander Joe Gatto has been outrighted to Triple-A.  The 25-year-old Gatto was a second-round pick for the Angels in the 2014 draft and he spent his entire career in the Halos organization before signing a Major League contract with Texas back in December.  Gatto will receive $570.5K in guaranteed salary though he has yet to pitch in the big leagues, posting a 4.80 ERA and 18.3% strikeout rate over 448 1/3 career innings in the minors.  The move opens up a 40-man roster spot that could be filled by one of many non-roster invitees (i.e. Ian Kennedy, Matt Bush, Charlie Culberson, Hunter Wood) in the Rangers’ camp, and the team may have more 40-man moves in the offing to accommodate several of these players.

Jose Leclerc To Miss “Extended Time” With Elbow Soreness

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Rangers closer Jose Leclerc is suffering from elbow soreness that will cause the righty to miss “extended time,” according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link) and multiple reporters.  Leclerc has already left the Rangers’ Spring Training camp and headed to Texas for further examination.  In more unfortunate injury news, southpaws Joely Rodriguez and Brett Martin will also begin the season on the injured list, though their absences aren’t expected to last as long.

With Jonathan Hernandez already out through at least the first part of April due to a UCL sprain, Leclerc’s injury represents another long-term hit to the Texas bullpen.  Any mention of an elbow problem naturally raises the concern of Tommy John surgery, which would keep the 27-year-old Leclerc out of action until midway through the 2022 season.

This is the second significant injury in as many years for Leclerc, who pitched in only two games last season due to a tear of his right teres muscle.  His return to action was marked by a late arrival at camp due to visa issues, and then Leclerc didn’t have his usual velocity over 3 2/3 Cactus League outings, which perhaps isn’t unexpected as he was rebuilding his arm strength.

Despite it all, Leclerc was the provisional favorite to enter the season as the Texas closer.  He was first promoted to the job back in 2018, during a season that saw Leclerc post a 1.56 ERA/2.60 SIERA and a whopping 38.1K% (eighth-highest of any pitcher in baseball with at least 50 IP) over 57 2/3 frames out of the Rangers’ bullpen.  His performance took a step back in 2019, due in part to both an increase in walks and a big decrease in batted-ball luck (a .306 BABIP in 2019, as opposed to a .211 BABIP in 2018), but it should be noted that most of Leclerc’s struggles that year were contained to the month of April.

Prior to that 2019 season, Leclerc signed a contract extension that paid him a guaranteed $14.75MM through the 2022 season, with the Rangers holding club options on his services for both 2023 ($6MM, $750K buyout) and 2024 ($6.25MM, $500K buyout).  While not a huge financial investment, this extension will end up looking like something of a bust for Texas should the worst come to pass and Leclerc does require TJ surgery.

Rodriguez (sprained ankle) and Martin (back) haven’t yet pitched during Spring Training, but both left-handers could end up spending a relatively short time on the IL, perhaps even just a minimal 10-day absence.  Their returns will be greatly welcomed by a Rangers bullpen that is now suddenly thin on arms.  It remains to be seen who will be the first choice for save with both Leclerc and Hernandez out, and the role could fall to minor league signings Ian Kennedy or Matt Bush.

Rangers’ Prospect Josh Jung Out 6-8 Weeks With Stress Fracture

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Rangers’ top prospect Josh Jung will undergo surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). The injury likely puts Jung on the shelf for six to eight weeks. A generalized timetable projects his return to come a couple of weeks into the minor league season.

Jung, 23, is the 63rd-ranked prospect in baseball per MLB.com. The Rangers took Jung with the eighth overall pick out of Texas Tech in the 2019 draft. Jung departed the Red Raiders as one of the best position players in school history.

Though he is not on the Rangers’ 40-man roster, he was invited to Major League camp. Generally speaking, he’s believed to be closer to the Majors than one might assume, given that his last game action took place in Single-A during his first professional season. Though the Rangers like what they’ve seen from Jung, he was not going to be on the opening day roster, despite their need at the position. Rougned Odor is set for significant playing time at the hot corner this season, while Sherten Apostel, 22, stands as the most obvious roadblock to Jung’s long-term future at the position. Apostel is likely to find his way back to the Majors at some point this season after debuting in 2020.

It’s an unfortunate setback for the Rangers’ consensus top prospect, but the Rangers hope it turns out to be a minor one. Per Grant, President of Baseball Ops Jon Daniels said, “That opportunity, as far as Josh is concerned, I don’t think has moved back a whole lot. Once he goes out and gets rolling and is productive, if he’s knocking the door down and performing at a level that we feel like he’s ready for the next challenge, we’ll respond.”

Jung was likely to begin the 2021 season at Triple-A, though Texas could decide to start him him in Double-A, given the injury. In the long term, the Rangers are hopeful that Jung will establish himself as the third baseman of the future at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

Willie Calhoun Could Begin Season On Injured List

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  • Willie Calhoun has been bothered by a groin injury during Spring Training, and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link) believes the Rangers could be cautious and place Calhoun on the injured list to begin the year.  An IL stint certainly wouldn’t be welcome for Calhoun considering his injury-shortened and unproductive 2020 campaign, though it might be necessary to ensure that the young slugger is both fully healthy and fully prepared for the season.  A former top-100 prospect, Calhoun seemed to taking a step forward with a solid .269/.323/.524 slash line over 337 PA in 2019.

MLBTR Poll: Who Will Win The AL West?

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George Springer, Marcus Semien, Liam Hendriks, Lance Lynn….it seemed that for much of the offseason, the news out of the AL West focused on what stars were leaving the division, rather than joining.  It has made for an intriguing divisional race as we approach Opening Day, so let’s run down the contenders as per Fangraphs’ projected standings.

The Astros are judged to be the best of the bunch, projected for an 89-73 record despite losing Springer, potentially losing other still-unsigned free agents (i.e. Josh Reddick, Roberto Osuna), and losing Justin Verlander last season to Tommy John surgery.  On the plus side, the Astros brought a couple of key offensive players back into the mix by re-signing Michael Brantley and Yuli Gurriel, and they added Jake Odorizzi to a bolster an injury-hampered rotation.  There are certainly some question marks on Houston’s roster, but the core group of talent might be enough to capture the division.

Clocking in with an 84-78 projection, matching this record would give the Angels their fourth-highest win total since 2012 — Mike Trout’s first full season in the big leagues.  The Halos’ inability to build a winner around their superstar has been a sore point for both Orange County fans and perhaps the baseball world at large, but comparatively speaking, the Angels also didn’t suffer as many major personnel losses this winter as their division rivals did.  While the Angels didn’t make any blockbuster acquisitions, they did aim to get better, adding such second-tier veterans as Raisel Iglesias, Jose Quintana, Alex Cobb, Jose Iglesias, Dexter Fowler, and Kurt Suzuki.  With Trout and Anthony Rendon anchoring the lineup and Shohei Ohtani perhaps healthy again, do the Angels have enough to finally get back to the postseason?

The reigning AL West champion Athletics are projected for a modest 83-79 mark, as Oakland lost some significant veteran talent in Semien, Hendriks, Robbie Grossman, Joakim Soria, and Tommy La Stella.  Of course, the A’s have made a habit of overachieving in the Billy Beane era, and they do have a lot of promising young arms.  If the pitching staff can healthy and even a couple of hurlers make the proverbial leap, the A’s might have one of the sport’s better rotations.  On the offensive side, Oakland is hoping Elvis Andrus thrives with a change of scenery, and that Matt Chapman and Matt Olson hit a bit more like their usual selves.

If the three front-runners all have their weak spots, is there an opportunity for an underdog to emerge?  Fangraphs doesn’t thinks so, as both the Mariners (74-88) and Rangers (72-90) are projected to fall well back of the pack, yet it isn’t as if either team is bereft of talent.  Seattle has a lot of promising young players that could possibly break out early and help Marco Gonzales, Kyle Seager, and bounce-back candidate James Paxton steal some wins.  The Rangers made some interesting additions in Dane Dunning, Nate Lowe, and David Dahl, plus you figure Texas is due for some better offensive luck considering virtually the entire team (even star Joey Gallo) had down years at the plate in 2020.

So, the question remains, who will end up as AL West champions?  (Poll link for app users)

Rangers Prospect Bayron Lora In Car Accident

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MARCH 14: Lora has been released from the hospital, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). An investigation into the accident is ongoing.

MARCH 13: Rangers outfield prospect Bayron Lora is in hospital after a recent car accident in his native Dominican Republic, Hector Gomez of Deportivo Z 101 (Twitter links) reports.  One of the passengers in Lora’s car was killed in the collision.  Lora and the other passengers are in serious condition, though in a follow-up tweet, Gomez writes that Lora “has been recovering satisfactorily.”

The Rangers released a statement, saying “We are aware of the accident involving Bayron Lora and several other individuals today in the Dominican Republic. We are working to gather more information at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with the individuals who were involved in this accident and with their families. We have will have no further comment until we have more information on the accident. Thank you for your understanding.”

The 18-year-old Lora signed with Texas during the 2019-20 international signing window, inking a deal that contained a $3.9MM bonus.  Lora was considered one of the top hitting prospects of the 2019-20 int’l class, with MLB Pipeline’s scouting report citing his “prodigious bat speed and strength.”  Pipeline ranks Lora 20th on its list of the Rangers’ top 30 prospects, and gave Texas fans a noteworthy comp in saying that Lora is “looks like Joey Gallo’s tag-team partner and produces similar exit velocities.”

Rangers Plan To Limit Lyles To 50-60 Pitches Per Start

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Jordan Lyles won’t get turns as a traditional starter to open the season for the Rangers, and he’s not thrilled about it, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). Rangers manager Chris Woodward told the 6’5″ right-hander that he’s likely headed for 50-60 pitch outings, at least to start the season. Lyles surrendered more earned runs than any other pitcher in 2020, finishing with a 7.02 ERA/5.95 FIP in 57 2/3 innings. Outside of a 2-inning outing to start the season, Lyles served as a starter, though he did twice enter the game following an opener. Despite his struggles, Lyles averaged 88 pitches per outing as a starter/follower. The Rangers presumably want to protect Lyles while getting an extended look at some of their younger hurlers like Taylor Hearn and Brett Martin. Staying in Texas…

Matt Bush Has Opportunity To Make Rangers' Bullpen

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  • Non-roster invitee Matt Bush has a good chance to earn a spot in the Rangers’ season-opening bullpen, writes Kennedi Landry of MLB.com. That’s especially the case now that Jonathan Hernández will open the year on the injured list. After a strong two-year start to his MLB career from 2016-17, Bush had a rough 2018 season. He struggled for much of the year, then suffered a UCL tear that September. After rehab failed to correct the issue, Bush underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2019. The timing of that procedure kept him out through the end of 2020.
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