The Other Guys on the Rangers Forty Man Roster Part One

Sep 30, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Members of the Texas Rangers look out from the dugout in the 9th inning of the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Rangers Ballpark at Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

We all know the nine position players, the four (at the moment) starters plus the other guys that may be the fifth starter, the main seven bull pen guys, but what about the other guys on the Rangers forty man roster? What about guys that are important enough to be on that roster but you may not know much about. I thought I would take a look at the remaining players that we don’t hear much about except for Spring Training.

Pitchers:

1. Lisalverto Bonilla – Bonilla (23) was bounced between Frisco and Round Rock in 2013. He had a great run at Frisco, getting into 21 games as a reliever and saving six games in six opportunities. He was 2-0 with a 0.30 ERA with 50 strikeouts and only 9 walks in 21 innings of work. Things didn’t go quite as well at Round Rock though. Bonilla went 5-5 with a 7.96 ERA, striking out 56 but walking 24 in 26 innings of work. He also got two starts at Round Rock.

2. Wilmer Font – Font is the Rangers sixth ranked prospect after recovering from Tommy John surgery and pitching last season. Font pitched in 32 innings pitched at Frisco in relief posting an ERA of 1.41, striking out 45 while walking 24. At Round Rock for the Express Wilmer had an ERA of 0.45, striking out 26 and walking 10 in 20 innings pitched. I would not be surprised at all to see Font at the major league level at some point in 2014.

3. Roman Mendez – Mendez is the thirteenth ranked prospect in the Rangers organization and he is known for having a ton of arm strength but having a lack of total command. He also had a stint on the DL in 2012. He only got into 16 games at Frisco last season (24.2 innings), but he did well, posting an ERA of 1.82, striking out 24 while walking 11. I don’t expect to see him at all in 2014.

4. Chaz Roe – Roe came to the Rangers after spending last season in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Roe got into 21 games for Arizona last season, pitching 22.1 innings and posting a 4.03 ERA with 24 strikeouts and 13 walks. He split most time between Arizona and in Farm system in both AA ball and AAA ball. At AAA he had an ERA of 1.23 in 22 games (also 22 innings) with 20 strikeouts and 4 walks. I would expect Roe to get a chance to see some time with the Rangers in 2014.

5. Ben Rowen – Ben played in 31 games at Frisco and 20 games at Round Rock in 2013. The 25 year old pitcher was able to perform at a high level at both stops, finishing at Frisco with an ERA of 0.53, striking out 58 anf walking 17 in 33.2 innings pitched. At Round Rock Rowen pitched in 32 innings and sported an ERA of 0.84 with 28 strikeouts and 11 walks. It will be interesting to see how well his extremely low ERA will translate when he finally does make his major league debut.

This concludes part one of the other guys on the Rangers forty man roster. Check back later in the week for the exciting conclusion!