Rangers to open season with kiddie corps in relief

The good news out of the Texas Rangers’ bullpen Friday was that Shawn Tolleson has been given a clean bill of health and is expected to be on the Opening Day roster.

He joins fellow closer Neftali Feliz and newcomers Logan Verrett and Sam Freeman as relievers who know that they will be in Oakland on Monday for the season opener.

With only one exhibition game remaining before the Rangers depart for the decrepit O.Co Coliseum, the other three relievers who will be in the bullpen haven’t been revealed.

Kyuji Fujikawa (right groin) won’t be one of them. He’s going to start 2015 on the disabled list, and Tanner Scheppers (left ankle) is likely to join him.

Keone Kela has likely made the team after an impressive spring.

That leaves Jon Edwards, Roman Mendez, Phil Klein and Alex Claudio competing as the final four candidates for the last two spots.

“I believe in these guys, and I believe where they’re going to be,” manager Jeff Banister said. “We’re going to put them in play. We’re right on top of where we want to be. We have a good sense of where we’re going.

Klein and Mendez, both right-handers, and the left-handed Claudio auditioned Friday in a 5-0 exhibition loss to the New York Mets. Edwards might not throw again before the decisions are made.

Mendez and Edwards were most impressive during spring training, and each was given a taste of the majors last season. So was Claudio, whose roster chances could be enhanced by the injury to Fujikawa, thought to be the Rangers’ best reliever against left-handed batters.

But the waiver claim of Verrett could hurt Edwards’ chances. Verrett will be asked to work multiple innings, something that Edwards also was expected to do, and Verrett has to be on the 25-man roster because of rules governing Rule 5 picks.

“Barring something extreme, I’d expect he’d open up with us,” general manager Jon Daniels said of Verrett, who pitched at Baylor and lives in Arlington.

No matter how it shakes out, the Rangers will open the season with an inexperienced bullpen. Feliz rates as the veteran, and Tolleson and Freeman have logged big-league time each of the past three seasons.

Verrett, who allowed one run in 2 1/3 innings Friday in his Rangers debut, has never pitched above Triple A. Kela, who allowed his first three runs of the season, has never pitched above Double A.

Mendez is fourth to Feliz, Tolleson and Freeman in big-league innings — with a whopping 33. Klein has 19, and Edwards, the Keller resident who has 8 1/3 innings, used to be an outfielder before converting to the mound in 2011.

“We’re going to be pretty young, and there are going to be nights when we’re going to need to be patient,” Banister said. “It’s going to be a growing process for a lot of guys.”

Kela, Mendez, Klein and Edwards, though, have power arms to go with good stuff, which will help them navigate through the tough times.

“It’s gives you a little room for error sometimes,” Edwards said. “It’s part of the process and developing whatever you can do to go out and help your team. That’s the ultimate goal.”

But only four Rangers relievers know for sure that they will be in the bullpen on Opening Day. The final three spots will be revealed Saturday. The end of the competition is almost over.

“You just stay focused on the process and just concentrate on getting hitters out,” Edwards said. “If you keep that mindset, it keeps you from getting distracted with all the other things going on.”

This story was originally published April 3, 2015 at 11:12 PM with the headline "Rangers to open season with kiddie corps in relief."