Surprise Five: No Holland. No Cabrera. No Kela?

Seventy-five percent of the Wilsons are back in Texas after the third annual trip to spring training, and left-hander Jake Diekman was assured that the 3-year-old has been locked in a cage (not really, DPS).

She made her only appearance at the Surprise Recreation Campus a memorable one, at least for her father, as she hopped the rope around the Texas Rangers' stretching field and ran across it while Diekman loosened for his inning in a simulated game.

Oh, lord.

Fortunately, he and some members of the training staff just stood and watched her run by giggling, while her helpless father followed behind, as if children ran freely all the time. But the missus was assured that that has never happened in at least the past 11 springs.

The 5-year-old, meanwhile, attempted to hit just about everybody who crossed his path with a batting-practice ball he was given. He also choked when given the chance to talk to his favorite player, Adrian Beltre, but took a good photo with him.

Ah, the stories I'll be able to tell.

Back to Rangers baseball stories. Here's the Surprise Five from Thursday.

1. General manager Jon Daniels told the beat guys that it is unlikely the Rangers add a left fielder or closer from outside the organization, so don't believe those Melky Cabrera and Greg Holland rumors.

Those who chose to react to my tweet of the news essentially were disgusted, calling the Rangers cheap (which has been established) or that Daniels isn't trying to win this season (don't forget he takes orders, too).

Would they make the Rangers better? Holland, yes. Not so sure on Cabrera.

But here's the thing: It's not like Cabrera or Holland are going to suddenly make the Rangers a complete team ready to take on the Houston Astros and New York Yankees.

The Rangers missed several chances to do that, watching Yu Darvish go to the Chicago Cubs for only $21 million a year and all kinds of relievers come off the board late and on the cheap.

So, the Rangers are going with TBA at closer and probably a Ryan Rua-Drew Robinson platoon in left field, though the addition of Destin Hood would give them a hell of a ringer on the company flag-football team.

They will not go with ...

2. ... Jurckson Profar in left field, even though he has played there before and has been hailed as one of the Rangers' best players this spring. He's been a better left-handed hitter than Robinson.

For now, though, Profar will remain limited to the infield. He will be the utility infielder, the only one, no matter how many bench players the Rangers have. Assuming the regulars stay healthy, Profar isn't looking at very much playing time.

To keep one of them, third baseman Adrian Beltre, healthy, the Rangers will try to get him to DH more. But how many times a week? Once a series? Second baseman Rougned Odor, right or wrong, played 162 games last season. Shortstop Elvis Andrus was the Rangers Player of the Year last season.

The best Profar is the one who gets regular at-bats. The second-best Profar, though, might be the one who doesn't have to worry about playing left field.

Rua and Robinson will handle that duty. It seems like Rule 5 pick Carlos Tocci will make the team if the Rangers go with a four-man bench, though he isn't as good at the plate as Hood and wouldn't have the same company flag-football impact.

But the Rangers might not have much use for outfielders when ...

3. ... Doug Fister is their starting pitcher. The right-hander kept the ball on the ground for the most part over four scoreless innings in a 6-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, allowing only three hits while on the attack with his sinker.

It's all about the two-seamer, whether in a meaningless Cactus League game or a regular-season start.

"Woo golly, that wind was blowing, huh?" Fister said. "Not a bad outing. Overall, I kept the ball on the ground, but there were some definite flyballs that the boys ran down. If I'm in the air, I'm screwed. That's not to put it lightly. I've got to keep the ball on the ground, and if it doesn't, it doesn't stay in the park too often."

Staying down is a constant thought process and focus for Fister, who has put together a nice spring no matter where he has pitched. He is in line to be the Rangers' No. 2 starter behind Cole Hamels, and said that he has entered the fine-tuning phase of spring training.

It was Fister's first Cactus League game after pitching on the back fields his first three times. Manager Jeff Banister likes to get starters into A games to help ratchet up their adrenaline, even in front of crowds that don't top 10,000.

Banister just wants to get ...

4. ... Keone Kela into games, and that happened for the first time in 10 days. He tossed one inning, in which he allowed an Eric Sogard homer but hit 97 mph with his fastball, for the first time since coming up with stiffness in his right shoulder.

(FYI, Sogard isn't a power hitter. He's more of a bunter, at least as far as Matt Garza is concerned.)

Banister said that it was the typical spring stiffness and nothing related to the shoulder woes that slowed Kela last season. But the stiffness is part of a trend for Kela that is now in his fourth season, and it has put his availability for Opening Day in question.

He has trouble staying on the mound.

Kela's inability to pitch regularly is one reason he isn't the Rangers' closer. No one doubts that he has closer stuff.

Kela declined the opportunity to discuss his outing, leaving the manager on the hook for nearly six minutes of questions on him. Banister said that there is still time for Kela to be ready by March 29, but he must be able to recover from each outing and be able to throw in a game again quickly.

The Rangers can't afford to carry a reliever who can only pitch once a series or once a week, no matter how talented he is. If Kela hasn't shown the ability to do that by the end of camp, he could be headed for the disabled list.

"Being available and go out and give us consistent innings for us. That’s what we are looking for from every reliever, not just one guy," Banister said. "They are all meshed together. You can’t have one out there you have to maneuver around. He needs to log in innings before he gets to the back-to-back portion of it. Got to be able to throw. He’s got to throw his bullpen sessions and his game sessions."

There are enough relievers, like Kevin Jepsen and Steve Delabar, who have pitched well this spring and could cover Kela's innings. There are even a few spots that can be created on the 40-man roster to add them because of ...

5. ... Injuries to righties Clayton Blackburn, who has a Grade 1 tear of his ulnar collateral ligament, and Ronald Herrera, who hasn't thrown a pitch this spring because of an issue with his labrum.

Blackburn won't throw for four to six weeks and then will be evaluated again. The goal is to avoid Tommy John surgery. Herrera received an injection of platelet-rich plasma and isn't throwing.

Left-hander John Niese has a tear of his subscapularis muscle, the same injury that felled Derek Holland in 2015, and is also four to six weeks away from throwing.

Blackburn and Herrera, though, are on the 40-man and can be taken off it by placing them on the 60-day DL. That would create openings for, say, Hood, Jepsen, Delabar, Bartolo Colon, Brett Nicholas or Curt Casali.

Just not Cabrera or Greg Holland. Stop whining about it already.

This story was originally published March 15, 2018 at 6:40 PM with the headline "Surprise Five: No Holland. No Cabrera. No Kela?."