Rangers’ Opening Day second base job all but decided after injury update

Well, that settles it. The Texas Rangers have their new every day second baseman after news from the team confirmed one of their young players will miss nearly two months due to a lingering back issue.

Cody Freeman, 25, was diagnosed on Saturday with a stress fracture in his lower back that will keep him sidelined for four to six weeks, according to manager Skip Schumaker.

This injury, while not season-ending, effectively limits Freeman's reps during spring training and is ultimately locking up Josh Smith as the Rangers' every day second baseman to start the regular season.

Second base battle was set to be Rangers' most intriguing of spring training

With Marcus Semien's departure during the offseason, the every day second base slot was open for the first time in nearly four seasons. That entire stretch, the 28-year-old Smith has paid his dues going from a 73 game player in 2022 to 144 games last season and winning a utility Silver Slugger two seasons ago.

The immediate thought was Smith would be the team's new second baseman. While not a bad option, Rangers' fans were also curious whether the team would go out into the free agent or trade market and get another bonafide star to fill the hole.

After being named the Rangers' minor league player of the year in 2025, Smith spent the last few months up in the big leagues and turned a lot of heads. He was a leader in what became known as "The Little Rascals" and almost helped will the team into playoff contention during the final month of the season.

Ultimately, Chris Young decided to fill the spot internally and narrowed the competition down to Smith (the frontunner), Freeman and utility options Sam Haggerty and Michael Helman. That still could be the case but with Freeman's injury, Smith leapfrogs into that role with ease.

There are questions surrounding Smith's longevity to match a 140-150 game season as in his first true opportunity to do so in 2025, there were some cracks. While he hit .277 with eight homers and 24 RBIs and 16 doubles in the first half, his second half was a struggle hitting .208 and driving in just 11 runs in 60 games.

Other Rangers' injury news knocks pitching prospect out

It wouldn't be spring training without baseball games and injuries and just hours before the team's second game of Cactus League play there's two of them. Alongside Freeman's stress fracture, right-handed pitcher Winston Santos will be out for a month.

After taking a liner off his left hand in a live BP session earlier this week, the 23-year-old will miss about four weeks with a left hand fracture.

Santos, a dark horse candidate to make the Opening Day roster, was still hoping to have a productive spring after he returned to play late last season after missing majority of the year with a back injury. He returned to the mound in the Arizona Fall League, where he was named an AFL's All-Star.