4 Texas Rangers players who need to play well to secure a roster spot

The Texas Rangers kick off spring training action today when they take on the Kansas City Royals. The long winter of inaction will melt away this afternoon. It will be Dane Dunning starting for Texas and Daniel Lynch IV starting for Kansas City. It begins a 32-game Cactus League schedule for the defending World Series champions. Most of the roster for Texas is pretty well set. There will still be competitions for spots on the Opening Day roster and also coaches will want to see certain players and how they perform against other major leaguers. These four players will need to perform well if they want to have a chance to make the team.

1. Brock Burke

Burke in 2022 was one of the Texas Rangers' best relievers. He had come back from shoulder surgery and dominated throughout that season. He was discussed as a potential closer in camp last year. Then, the season started. Burke saw his stats decline almost across the board. His ERA increased from 1.97 to 4.37. He pitched in far fewer innings. In 2022 Burke threw 82 1/3 innings and in 2023 it went down to 59 2/3 innings, but yet he still allowed more hits in 2023 than he did in 2022 with 64 hits allowed. His strikeouts fell from 90 in 2022 to 52 in 2023. The only number that improved was his walk total as it fell from 24 in 2022 to 9 in 2023. It just was not good enough. He went from reliable middle and late inning reliever to mop up reliever in just one season.

Burke is on the 40-man roster, but is far from guaranteed a spot on the Opening Day roster. He will need to be more effective with his slider and changeup this season. Hitters really hit him hard on those pitches. Those were two of his more effective pitches in 2022, but in 2023 hitters had better than a .300 batting average against both pitches. In 2022 Burke did a great job staying away from the middle of the plate. His slider was either down and away to left-handers or down and inside to right-handers. In 2023 he left more pitches in the middle of the plate. That led to struggles against both right-handers and left-handers.

Burke will need to show improved command. He did not walk a lot of batters in 2023, but he needs to show that he can get back to pitching on the corners. The last we saw of Burke he was struggling to get out any hitters he faced in the postseason. If he can show improved command and an ability to work clean innings then he will more than likely make the team. If he is still struggling like he did in September and October then he could be replaced by one of the young pitchers or non-roster invitees.

2. Justin Foscue

The 2020 MLB draft will go down in the history books for the Texas Rangers. That is the year they drafted Justin Foscue in the first round, Evan Carter in the second round, Thomas Saggese, and then signed Aidan Curry as an undrafted free agent. Carter made his debut last September and is positioned to be one of the young stars in baseball in 2024. Foscue is in camp this season and will be given a long look at making the team. He already is taking ground balls at first base as he is looked at maybe a backup first baseman for Nathaniel Lowe. He is in the running to be the starting DH and can play second and third base as well.

Foscue has been a great hitter at every level he has played at. He now has an opportunity to show out against major league pitching. Foscue in 2023 had a .266 batting average, 18 home runs 84 RBIs, and an .862 OPS. He spent the entire season at Triple-A Round Rock and played 122 games. He is not the best defender, but his bat will translate to the majors. The question becomes is he ready? The only way to find out is to throw him out there. I would expect him to stay in camp until the very end as Texas tries to determine the answer to the readiness question.

The one thing to watch with Foscue is how does he do if he gets behind in the count. In 2023 at Round Rock he had a .197 batting average, 41 strikeouts, and zero walks when he fell behind in the count. In the majors he will need to show an ability to work a count when he gets down 0-1 or 1-2. He can't give up on the at-bat. If he can get ahead that shifts to a .295 batting average. He will need to show that he can succeed when working from behind. He has the ability to hit left-handers and right-handers, he can hit with runners on base, and the ability to get on base. He just needs to show improvement when falling behind in the count. It would be a player development success story if he does make the team.

3. Jack Leiter

All eyes are on Jack Leiter this spring. It is his third spring training with the Texas Rangers and it is time for him to show results. He is Rule 5 draft eligible this winter. He needs to show that he can produce positive results in camp and once the regular season starts. Texas has been working with Leiter throughout his two seasons in the organization. It is time for him to show a return in the investment Texas has put on him. Leiter will make an appearance in the first game today out of the bullpen. I would expect him to make a few more appearances this Spring.

Leiter has the stuff to be a middle to top of the rotation pitcher. That is why he was drafted number two back in 2021. He just has to put it together. Patience will likely run thin with Texas if he struggles to another 5+ ERA like he has had in both 2022 and 2023. Leiter this season needs to show that he can pitch deep into games. He needs to show that he can attack hitters in multiple ways throughout a game. Leiter in 2023 had a bad habit of getting off to bad starts, rebounding in the second and third innings, and then progressively getting worse in the fourth through sixth innings. He never went more than six innings in a game in 2023.

This spring training I will be focusing on Leiter and his pitch efficiency. The strikeouts will always be there for Leiter. He struck out 114 in 85 innings in 2023. I want to see him have more 2-3 pitch at-bats and fewer 5 or more pitch at-bats. That is how he will get deeper into games. More 0-1 and 0-2 counts and fewer 2-2 and 3-2 counts. He does not need to let perfect be the enemy of good. Leiter in his first two seasons oftentimes seems to be trying to make the perfect pitch instead of the pitch that will get a hitter out. When he is out there focus on how many pitches every batter is making him throw to see what improvements he has made over the offseason. If he can be more efficient that will lead to him making his MLB debut sooner rather than later.