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3 Up, 3 Down, and 3 Things to Watch for: Texas Rangers Spring Training Week 4

By Michael Sanders |
Spring Training
Spring Training / Ben Ludeman/Texas Rangers/GettyImages
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We are nine days away from every baseball fan's favorite day of the year and that is Opening Day. The Rangers are five days away from closing up the 2023 camp and heading east to Arlington to finish up Spring Training and kick off the 2023 season. It was a good week as the entire rotation is back and healthy. All members of the rotation will be in camp this week as Martin Perez and Venezuela were eliminated by the United States on Saturday night in a classic. I wrote about that last week if you want to read about the start by Perez. Here is the last Spring Training edition of 3 up, 3 down, and 3 things to watch for.

3 UP

1. Robbie Grossman

He earns the number one spot, much like he earned being named the starting left-fielder by manager Bruce Bochy. He has been really good at all phases of the game. He made a diving play in left field on Monday. He continues to get on-base and has even stolen 3 bases. So far this spring he has put up a .382 batting average, a .488 on-base percentage, and two home runs. There will be no platoon as Bruce Bochy feels comfortable with him from both sides of the plate. He is the big winner of the week.

2. Nathan Eovaldi

It is not just that he was back on the mound in an "A" game. It is not just that he pitched well in that game. It is the high-90's velocity that has returned that puts him on this list. Last season with the variety of injuries he saw his velocity dip down to 95.7 last season. That was a significant drop from past seasons when he was around 97-98mph. The media covering the game last week said he was regularly hitting 98 and 99mph. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweeted this during Eovaldi's start. If he is able to maintain this velocity throughout the season the Rangers rotation will be much better than anyone thought possible

3. Dane Dunning

He had a great week as well. He made two starts. He went five innings, no runs, one hit, with six strikeouts, and one walk against the Royals last Wednesday. He followed that up by pitching 6 innings on Monday giving up five runs. The problem with Dunning is that even though he is pitching well enough to be in the rotation there is no room in the rotation for him. The team will be making a decision by Opening Day on whether or not to put Dunnings or Cole Ragans in the bullpen or have them remain on a starting pitching schedule at Round Rock.

3 Down

4. Sam Huff

Sam Huff lost out to the numbers game this week as he was sent to minor league camp. He will once again start the season with Triple-A Round Rock. The Rangers have two proven catchers in Jonah Heim and Mitch Garver and want Huff to get everyday at-bats for Round Rock. Garver becomes a free agent after this season which could open a door for Huff to be on the team in 2024. He needs to do two things this season to earn a spot in 2024. First, prove he can stay healthy throughout the season. Second, increase his contact rate. He hits the ball harder than almost anyone in the minor league system, but he doesn't make enough contact. If he can increase his contact rate and stay healthy he will come up in 2024 for good.

5. Jake Odorizzi

He has been through a lot since being traded to Texas back in November. He was the first pitcher Texas acquired in the off-season when they made the trade with Atlanta for Kolby Allard. The trade was made with the thought that he would come here and be the fourth or fifth starter. The Rangers then went and signed Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney, and Nathan Eovaldi. Odorizzi then went from back-of-the-rotation starter to long-man in the bullpen. Spring training starts and he is dealing with arm fatigue and is not able to pitch in a game. Now he will start the season on the injured list(IL). To recap, Odorizzi went from being in the rotation, to being in the bullpen, to starting the season on the IL. There is no timetable on when he will make it back.

6. Glenn Otto

Otto has had an up-and-down camp so far. He had a three inning scoreless appearance against Colorado back on March 6th. He also had an appearance before that against San Diego where he allowed three runs in less than two innings and an appearance where he allowed six runs against Seattle in less than two innings. On Saturday he was scratched from a start against the Angels with right at tightness. He had to undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury. Opening Day is now nine days away it would seem likely that he will also open the season on the IL.

3 Things to Watch For

The first thing to watch for is roster decisions. The Rangers have five games left in Arizona before departing for Arlington on Sunday. Most questions have been answered to this point, but there are some roster decisions that still need to be made before Opening Day. The two biggest are who will be on the bench and who will be in the bullpen.

The bench decision comes down to whether or not to include both Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran or just one of them. Smith and Duran have both played that utility role this Spring. Josh Smith even got playing time in center field on Monday. Duran has been playing all over the infield and playing in left field as well. Bochy and the front office have to weigh long term development for these players and their ability to help the team win now. The other bench spots figure to be filled by Bubba Thompson and either Clint Frazier or Travis Jankowski. This decision might not be made till right before Opening Day.

The bullpen is the next spot and it is unknown how many spots are up for grabs. Marc Church and Chase Lee were sent down last weekend. It is down to Josh Sborz, Ian Kennedy, Reyes Moronta, Zach Littell, and John King for maybe 2 or 3 spots left in the bullpen. Sborz is the player to watch because of his presence on the 40-man roster. If he is not on the roster that would open up a spot on the 40-man for Kennedy, Moronta, or Littell. Bochy has not given a definite answer on how many spots in the bullpen that are open. Over the next seven days, the bullpen picture will come into focus as players are sent out or retained. Much like the bench, the bullpen decisions may not be finalized until Opening Day rosters are finalized.

The second thing to be watching for is the health of Leody Taveras. The clock is ticking louder for Taveras to be ready for Opening Day. According to Levi Weaver of The Athletic Taveras is taking full swings from his left side as he recovers from a low grade oblique strain. He is a switch hitter though and swinging left-handed is just one checkpoint of a few he has to hit before being allowed to play. He has to be able to swing right-handed. He also has to be able to move fluidly in the outfield and be able to start and stop as well as being as to run full speed. There are only a few days left of the camp and only seven games left to play in. By the end of this week, we should have an answer on whether or not Taveras travels with the team to Arlington next week or stays in Arizona to rehab.

The last thing to watch for is potential trades. Teams will start to finalize rosters this week and that includes designating for assignments veterans that will not make rosters. There could be a flurry of trades before Opening Day as veterans that do not fit on one team, but do fill a hole for another team. The bullpen is one area where if the Rangers do not feel comfortable with the in-house options they could look to improve externally. Additionally, if Josh Sborz does not make this team they also could look to trade him rather than just lose him to a waiver claim.

It will be a busy final week as Spring Training 2023 in Surprise, Arizona is wrapped up and the team heads east to Arlington. Games start to wrap up, pitchers continue to add to their pitch counts, and roster decisions will be made. The countdown to Opening Day continues for fans as March 30th gets closer to this highly anticipated Rangers season.

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