2 under-the-radar pitchers making a run for the Rangers' Opening Day roster

Every spring, a player or two makes their name known, impressing the eyes of their respective Major League Baseball organization and earns a spot to prove their success on the Opening Day roster to start the year.

These two have taken advantage of their early opportunities in Cactus League play and if maintained could find themselves part of a rebuilding bullpen looking to shock the league in 2026.

2 Rangers' arms who could make impress, make 2026 Opening Day roster

Gavin Collyer, RHP

Impressing the organization that drafted him in the 12th round back in 2019, the 24-year-old right-hander had made four appearance this spring to the tune of a 2.25 ERA.

Collyer is about to enter his sixth full season of professional baseball, making it to Triple-A Round Rock last season for a 14 game stretch to close out the season. Ranked the 30th prospect in the Rangers' organization, Collyer's fastball can touch triple digits with a devestating mid-80s slider.

His biggest weakness has been walks, issuing free passes to 16 percent of the batters he faced last year. So far, among his four innings and 65 pitches thrown he's struck out four batter and walked just two. If he can show ability to command the strike zone this spring, I like his chances.

Patrick Murphy, RHP

In his second spring training stint with the Rangers, Murphy is hoping a strong performance in Surprise finally gets him at least a bullpen spot when they travel to Philadelphia later this month.

The 30-year-old Arizona native is off to a smooth start this year with two scoreless innings on the books. This comes after he put up 13.2 innings with 13 strikeouts, two walks and just one run allowed for Texas last spring. However, Murphy suffered a late camp injury and returned to Triple-A Round Rock in May.

Not sure where he'd fit in the bullpen but this is as good a time as any as Texas is rebuilding their bullpen once again. There's fixtures like closing frontrunners Chris Martin and Robert Garcia but Skip Schumaker is keeping his remaining options open.