Thursday’s Recap: Matt Harrison has More Back Trouble

The Texas Rangers went into camp with one of their main starters on the DL in Derek Holland, and one more of their starters coming off of three surgeries last year in Matt Harrison. Matt today had back stiffness and was shut down, had an MRI and will be sent back to Dallas to have his back evaluated. This is a big blow to the Texas Rangers pitching staff either way, because at best Matt will be shut down for an extra week.

Now either Colby Lewis, Tommy Hanson, Nick Tepesch or even a Daniel Bard or Armando Gallaraga is really going to have to step up, if Harrison’s back is serious and shuts him down for the long-term. But Ron Washington doesn’t seem to be phased by the setback.

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Geovany Soto is also dealing with left Achilles soreness, according to Davidson. He can do everything but run, according to the tweet. Russell Wilson announced that he is planning on coming to camp the first week of March, according to Russell Wilson and re-tweeted by Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas.

This week will probably be a big boost in media and it should be good for the Texas Rangers to get to hang out with a Super Bowl winning champion. He is a winner and I think that the Texas Rangers hope he can some of his preparation and attitude with the team. If nothing else it will be a fun experience for both parties.

Yesterday started a day of full workouts for the team, and as mentioned Ron Washington gave a speech to the entire squad before the first workout. According to T.R Sullivan blot Postcards from Elysian Fields, Tommy Hanson was a big fan of Washington’s speech.

"“Absolutely it pumped me up,” Hanson said. “I was ready to go right there and play somebody. It was probably the best clubhouse speech I’ve ever heard.”"

Everyone took batting practice that could and all baseball activities have now started.

To see more batting practice videos you should visit Anthony Andro and Richard Durrett on Twitter.

Now we all have to wait and see what happens with the Matt’s back, Jurickson’s shoulder, Geovany’s left Achilles, and any other problems that arise. Hopefully today will be a day filled with good news. Enjoy Spring Training today everyone and don’t forget to follow Nolan Writin on Twitter and Facebook and follow all of our great writers! Have a great Friday!