The latest Tyler Mahle news could showcase Rangers' pitching depth to start 2025

The Texas Rangers were dealt their first fairly serious injury on Tuesday as they inch closer and closer to the start of the regular season.

Right-hander Tyler Mahle was scratched from his scheduled start of spring training due to forearm soreness, according to General Manager Ross Fenstermaker. Texas says it's only "precautionary" and there is currently no MRI scheduled. Instead of Mahle, Jack Leiter started Tuesday's game against the Angels and went 2 2/3 innings, allowing one run, striking out five and walking five.

Mahle, 30, is in his second season with the Rangers and has only played three games with the team since he was signed two offseasons ago while in midst of recovering from Tommy John Surgery. Due to his recent injury history, it makes sense Texas is being extra cautious as a forearm injury can turn pretty serious if not taken care of.

What will the Rangers do if Tyler Mahle is out for an extended period of time?

Depth is everything for a baseball team. Throughout the season, you will need every bat, arm, runner or defensive replacement you can find to step in at any moment. For the Rangers, they don't have to look too far for starting pitching depth.

If his injury does indeed turn serious, Bochy will need to dip into that depth. Dane Dunning, Leiter and Kumar Rocker are probably the biggest candidates to take his spot but non-roster invitee Adrian Houser could be an option as well.

All make strong cases to fill the spot but Dunning and Leiter have performed at a higher level this spring than the other two options. It all determines what direction the Rangers want to go; either using another MLB experienced arm or taking a chance on a young arm looking to prove himself.

When Texas re-signed Nathan Eovaldi, they added him to a rotation that was getting two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom back from elbow surgery, the rise of Cody Bradford and the veteran experience of Jon Gray and Mahle. That rotation drew ESPN to rank the Rangers among the top 10 starting rotations in Major League Baseball for the 2025 season.

Dunning, Leiter and Rocker were three of those individuals to likely suffer an unfortunate fate to start off 2025, which was either the bullpen or being optioned to Triple-A Round Rock. However, the Mahle injury opens the door for one of them to not only make the Opening Day roster but be a piece in the starting rotation.