Rangers injury update: Wyatt Langford to return soon, Robert Garcia pitches this week

The Texas Rangers are considering themselves lucky on the injury front this spring. Which is a much welcomed sight when we flash back to this time last year when several players were already suffering lingering issues before games even began.

Not saying the Rangers have experienced a clean bill of health this spring but they are in better shape now. Outside of sickness causing a few players to miss a day or two, the team suffered its first major injury when their fifth overall prospect Alejandro Rosario suffered a UCL tear and would need season missing surgery. At the same time, pitcher Robert Garcia and outfielder Wyatt Langford have yet to play in a game due to injuries.

But all signs are pointing toward those struggles being short lived with Garcia and Langford expected to return to action this week.

Early in camp before the full squad reported to Surprise, lefty Garcia was shut down due to nerve irritation in his forearm. The good news is he was only on pause for a short time after he returned to throwing and live bullpen sessions soon after. Despite that he still has yet to appear in a spring game for Texas.

That is changing though as Bruce Bochy said Garcia will make his spring debut on Monday against Kansas City.

Garcia, 28, was acquired this offseason from the Washington Nationals in a trade that sent first basemen Nathaniel Lowe to the nation's capital. Texas expects him to be a major contributor in the Texas pen this season so getting him into a game is a big step.

For Langford, Bochy told reporters on Sunday that he is "about ready to go" and the team expects him to make his 2025 spring debut sometime this week.

The 21-year-old was shut down from baseball activities on Feb. 20 after suffering a mild oblique strain. Since then he's returned to practice and has been throwing, running and taking swings in the cage.

Obliques are intense injuries if not taking care of properly could cause a player to miss extended period of time from playing. Thankfully Texas was cautious and shut him down at the first sign of irritation and they will get Langford back to action in plenty of time to ramp him up for Opening Day later this month.

With the return of Garcia and Langford and Friday's first start of the spring coming from Jacob deGrom, the Rangers are in a good spot to now getting a glimpse of what their full roster will look like to kick of the regular season.