Texas Rangers: Opening Day pitching mix becomes clearer with Cody, de Geus

Piece by piece, the Texas Rangers are continuing to assemble their Opening Day roster ahead of their April 1 regular season kick-off against the Kansas City Royals.

On Thursday, manager Chris Woodward announced that center fielders Leody Taveras and Eli White would both make the team out of spring training, while indicating Wednesday that six others (including Brock Holt) would also be joining the team on their first road trip of the season.

We can now confirm that pitchers Kyle Cody and Brett de Geus will also be added to the Opening Day roster mix ahead of next Thursday.

The Texas Rangers are carrying two more right-handed pitchers on their Opening Day roster

Cody and de Geus, both right-handers, are expected to occupy bullpen roles, which will be particularly important as the unit has sustained injuries to major relievers like Jose Leclerc and Jonathan Hernandez.

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de Geus’ case for the roster was relatively straightforward: as a Rule 5 selection from the Los Angeles Dodgers, he must remain on the Texas Rangers’ roster all season or be returned to the Dodgers organization.

His solid but unspectacular 4.05 ERA in spring training didn’t hurt his odds, either.

As for Cody, one could say his roster status was more tenuous entering spring training. The big righty and No. 22 prospect made his debut in 2020 with a 1.59 ERA as a starter, but regressed in 2021 spring training to a 7.15 ERA.

He impressed in his most recent start, however, whiffing six batters in three innings.

That proved to be enough when it mattered most.

Cody has had arm troubles and injuries in the past, so his bid for the starting rotation in 2021 was likely curtailed, and a bullpen role better suits him anyway.

With the announcements of Cody and de Geus to the Texas Rangers Opening Day roster, we’re inching closer to finding out the full 26-man group that will travel to Kauffman Stadium on April 1.

For now, though, we’ll have to be content in piecing things together.