Rangers Have Some Decisions to Make

Tanner Scheppers and Joe Saunders will be ready to go soon for the Texas Rangers. Right now, the Rangers have a very young rotation in Yu Darvish, Colby Lewis, Robbie Ross, Nick Martinez and Nick Tepesch. Lewis is the old guy right now, but Saunders hopes to change that soon.

“For me it’s all about starting and helping this team win games as a starter,” Saunders told ESPN Dallas. “It’s what I signed to do and what they signed me to do.”

We all know that Joe Saunders wants to be a starter, and we all know that the Texas Rangers are in need of a starter right now. In fact, they are in need of a few starters. I personally would like to see how Martinez, Ross and Tepesch will do before Joe Saunders gets inserted back into the rotation.

Then there is the question of what to do with Scheppers when he returns. Scheppers was a fantastic reliever last season and he was even being groomed for the closers role by Joe Nathan. I believe that his starter days should be over, but sometimes necessity outweighs what needs to happen for a player.

I would really like to see the Texas Rangers not need to insert Saunders and Scheppers back into the rotation, and the only way that is going to happen is if the young guys step it up and pitch above their pay grade. It has happened before, and I am hopeful that it will happen again this season with Ross, Martinez and Tepesch.

We have at least another time through the rotation before we see either Tanner Scheppers or Joe Saunders, and my hope is that they will not be needed in the rotation when they are ready.