Texas Rangers News: 6 players selected to Opening Day roster

With less than one week until Opening Day, the Texas Rangers are narrowing their roster size down and have told six that they’ve made the cut.

The Texas Rangers‘ Opening Day roster is beginning to take shape after Wednesday’s roster moves.

Chris Woodward announced that six players were going to make the Opening Day roster, as well as optioning two players to AAA and assigning two others to minor league camp.

Most notably, Fort Worth native and soon-to-be Rangers’ utility man Brock Holt has made the Opening Day roster after a very impressive spring.

Over 22 at-bats,  Holt hit .273 and got on-base at a .407 clip. He’s added two RBIs and stolen bases with four doubles.

Holt had an opt-out in his minor league deal that he could have exercised on Wednesday, had the Rangers not selected his contract.

Not only does Holt make the Opening Day roster, but he has received very high praise from manager Chris Woodward.

"“He’s got a championship mentality. Everything he does, the way he plays, the way he carries himself. His commitment on a daily basis is everything that I want our younger players to see and witness. I’m really excited to have him on board.” – Chris Woodward"

The Texas Rangers also told four pitchers that they had made the Opening Day roster: Wes Benjamin, Dane Dunning, Taylor Hearn and John King.

We have a slightly clearer picture of who will make the Texas Rangers’ Opening Day roster

With the Rangers implementing the “piggyback” starters, it paved the way for Benjamin, Dunning and Hearn to make the roster.

More than likely, lefty John King will be used out of the bullpen, while the others will piggyback each other in the rotation.

For instance, if Jordan Lyles gets the start, Taylor Hearn will come in after the third inning, or vice versa. The same goes for Benjamin and Dunning, as well.

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Lastly, Jonah Heim has been told that he will make the Opening Day roster as the backup catcher.

Now, that’s not to say we won’t see Drew Butera at some point this season if an injury occurs, but his dismal .083 batting average didn’t help his cause.

Heim wasn’t much better this spring statistically, but has put together nice at-bats and gotten some hard outs in recent weeks.

He has a .105 average on the spring with two driven in and one run scored, including a double that was ripped into the left-centerfield gap.

Four players have been notified they won’t be making the Rangers’ roster to begin the season.

Lefties Kolby Allard and Joe Palumbo were optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Wednesday, while outfielder Jason Martin and righty Spencer Patton were assigned to minor league camp.

Palumbo has been on the rebound from his battle with ulcerative colitis and was scheduled to begin the year with Round Rock.

Allard, on the other hand, had a chance to make the team out of camp as a long reliever, but will be first in line if an injury occurs.

This is just the first wave of roster moves Ranger fans should expect to see. With several pitchers down for the count, and the recent injury to Khris Davis, roster spots will need to be filled soon as Opening Day is right around the corner.