Veteran pitcher could have been long gone, but he stayed behind to mentor bullpen
Edinson Volquez could have been headed home or on the golf course.
The 13-year veteran who started Monday’s spring training game against the Cleveland Indians at Globe Life Park, instead, spent the last two days in Arizona hanging out with pitchers in the bullpen, talking, listening and teaching.
Pitching coach Julio Rangel was headed up the tunnel when he stopped to say goodbye to the pitchers in the bullpen and noticed Volquez holding court.
“What are you doing here?” Rangel asked Volquez. Volquez didn’t blink.
“My flight is later. I don’t have to go anywhere,” he replied.
“That was cool,” Rangers’ manager Chris Woodward said. “It meant a lot. That just shows you. He did it all spring. Preaching the gospel. It’s awesome for us.”
For Volquez, who didn’t pitch in 2018 after having Tommy John surgery in August 2017, the long road back is as much about the love of the game, as it is about a paycheck. Outfielder Hunter Pence, Woodward said, provides the same type of veteran stability to the Rangers’ clubhouse.
“Their experiences, their teammates, that’s what they value,” he said. “That means more to them than any dollar amount they’ll every make.”
