Surprise Five: Perez cleans up PETA's bull mess
Spring training comes to an end Saturday, not that anybody is keep track of that, and the Star-Telegram Surprise Bureau has plenty of work left to do.
Trash day is Friday, so the trash needs to get out. The refrigerator needs to be cleared out and put in the trash, which needs to be taken out again.
It's personal policy to go home with a suitcase full of clean clothes, so the washer and dryer will be working overtime.
Linens must be stripped from the bed and placed in the washer.
A farewell beer must be consumed at the local watering hole.
This is heavy stuff.
Not quite as heavy as what the Texas Rangers are dealing with. I know where I'll be Opening Day.
Here's the Surprise Five from Thursday.
1. It was only a matter of time until PETA chimed in on Martin Perez's decision to slaughter the spooked bull that spooked him and led to the fall that broke his right elbow.
If such a high-profile organization were to send out a news release, it seems like it would be good business to speak to the person the were about to call out before calling him out.
That wasn't the case with the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. Had it been, they might have thought twice about making a spectacle of Perez.
Perez said "I killed him and I ate him" when asked Sunday about the whereabouts of the bull. Almost everyone, including the media, assumed that revenge was Perez's primary motivation.
It turns out he was joking. No, the bull is dead and eaten, but Perez did it to help feed his family in Venezuela and some folks in the surrounding community for an event he was holding in the area.
Perez is a rancher. He raises cattle and sells it for slaughter. He feeds himself.
For those at PETA who haven't heard, socialism is ruining Venezuela and causing mass poverty throughout the country. People are having a difficult time finding food. Some have resorted to eating garbage.
PETA made a mistake, and Perez wasn't pleased that they shot first and never asked any questions.
"I'm not a bad guy," he said.
He was actually being a good guy.
Speaking of good guys ...
2. ... All indications, except the final word, are that Kevin Jepsen will be on the Opening Day roster.
He certainly deserves it, and the return of his velocity and stuff plus his veteran leadership will be a welcomed addition. The out on his minor-league deal is Saturday, but his agent has been told that Jepsen isn't going anywhere.
But who will go to make room for him? Well, the easy answer is to put Tony Barnette on the disabled list to start the season. He said that the threw at 110 feet Thursday without any issue and he had an interrupted off-season of outdoor throwing in Arizona.
Backs are tricky (trust me), and seasons are long. The Rangers might not see the need to stomp on the gas to get him ready for Opening Day next week.
As of now, the bullpen looks like this:
Right-handers: Jepsen, Keone Kela, Matt Bush, Chris Martin, Jesse Chavez
Left-handers: Alex Claudio, Jake Diekman
The Rangers are still considering eight relievers. One of them could be Jose Leclerc, but a sect in the organization wouldn't mind if ...
Assistant pitching coach Dan Warthen remembers the 2015 postseason, when he was the New York Mets' pitching coach and Colon moved from the regular-season rotation to playoff bullpen. Colon did quite well.
There are multiple advantages to giving Colon a bullpen spot.
Colon, who allowed only three hits and a walk over 5 1/3 innings in a split-squad game vs. Seattle, could be the spot starter when the Rangers want to add a day of rest for the rotation. They are planning to do that during the season-opening stretch of 14 games in 14 days.
Colon could serve as a true long man, allowing Chavez to work multiple innings multiple times a week.
Colon could continue serving as a mentor to the young pitchers on the staff. He has had a very big impact on Perez, who is scheduled to start Friday.
It makes a lot of sense to keep Colon, but there's one not so little problem.
He doesn't have a spot on the 40-man roster. Neither does Jepsen. The Rangers don't have any openings on the 40-man roster, and their three candidates for the 60-day disabled have already been moved there.
Barnette (back), Ricardo Rodriguez (biceps) and Tim Lincecum will start on the 10-day DL. The reason Lincecum is headed there isn't just him not being ready. He has a ...
4. ... Blister on his right middle finger, and it is bothersome enough to scratch him from his spring debut about an hour after it was revealed that he was scheduled to pitch one inning Friday.
The right-hander could be seen looking at the finger Tuesday during his second live batting practice, and it was described as minor. But, hey, why push it?
The Rangers want to see Lincecum throw in a game before the season, either in the dwindling number of games in Arizona or the two exhibitions against the Cincinnati Reds before the season.
It looks as if a lucky scout or two will get to hang around the Surprise Recreation Campus a few extra days to provide a report once Lincecum is back on the mound.
Once he and Barnette come off the DL, that will create an entirely new round of roster decisions. At least they have spots on the 40-man roster.
So does ...
5. ... Carlos Tocci, the Rule 5 selection who might have an inside track on Drew Robinson for the last bench spot if the Rangers goes with a three-man bench.
Wait ... the backup catcher, at this point Juan Centeno; the backup infielder, Jurickson Profar; and Tocci? It's a possibility, which would result in Ryan Rua as the everyday left fielder.
Oddly, it is being considered even though Rua is having the worst of his four big-league camps. He hasn't hit like he normally does, and he botched a flyball along the left-field line behind Mike Minor.
Minor, by the way, surrendered six runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. He retired the final 10 he faced, though, and surpassed the innings total the past two days of Doug Fister (2 1/3 innings) and Matt Moore (two-plus) but allowed six runs. Combine that with the seven allowed by Fister and the five allowed by Moore, and the Rangers' starters ERA the past three games is 16.75.
That's not great.
"I'm not judging any results," manager Jeff Banister said. "I'm more so looking at the stuff, and the stuff is there for all of them."
Back to Rua, Tocci and Robinson. Rua was the Opening Day left fielder in 2015. If not for him, Sonny Gray tosses a no-hitter at Oakland.
Rua started the Rangers' home opener that season, too. It's remembered as the game when Derek Holland left after one inning with a shoulder strain, but Rua left later with a foot and ankle injury that essentially ruined his season and cost him his job.
He's never gotten it back. In the season of not being all-in, of evaluating young players, the Rangers need a long look at Rua. Don't be shocked if he gets it to open the season.
Seriously.
That's why Tocci over Robinson is a real possibility if the bench is only three-deep. But the Rangers are going to need a 40-man spot. His would be the easiest to open.
There might not be any resolution until rosters are due at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 10:20 PM with the headline "Surprise Five: Perez cleans up PETA's bull mess."