Rangers consider Frisco starter Sadzeck for relief help

The Texas Rangers are considering all internal options before the July 31 trade deadline to determine if they need to acquire relief help for the stretch run.

To that end, Double A right-hander Connor Sadzeck appeared in relief Saturday night and will continue working out of the bullpen for the next few weeks. Sadzeck is a starting pitcher, but also profiles as a reliever.

He’s big, at 6-foot-7, and throws a fastball that has been clocked this season at 100 mph. He is also throwing more strikes this season with all of his pitches.

“Obviously, he’s got a great arm,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “ That skill set plays up in a bullpen role. Sometimes it doesn’t, but we want to give him a chance, take a look at it, and then make a decision. We feel like he has the ability to start long-term, but we thought where we are on the calendar it kind of makes sense to see what our internal options are.”

A promotion is not imminent.

Sadzeck, who is on the 40-man roster, allowed one run in an inning Saturday and his fastball sat in the upper 90s. He will pitch as many as two innings and possibly work back-to-back days, but the Rangers are likely at least two weeks away from having a good read if Sadzeck can help them this season.

The Rangers could have right-hander Tony Barnette (ring finger) back by Saturday. He will join Triple A Round Rock on Tuesday for one inning of relief work before throwing two Thursday.

Jeremy Jeffress (lower back strain) is also on the disabled list. The Rangers are also concerned about the innings that are piling up on Alex Claudio, Keone Kela and Jose Leclerc.

Righties Tanner Scheppers and Ernesto Frieri have shown well since joining the past two weeks.

This story was originally published June 25, 2017 at 1:32 PM with the headline "Rangers consider Frisco starter Sadzeck for relief help."