One man’s Texas Rangers 2021 Opening Day roster projection. Wild changes possible
Opening Day for the Texas Rangers is fast approaching. The same goes for the April 5 home opener.
Only 16 days remain for the to finalize the 26 players they will take to Kansas City for the April 1 season opener against the Royals.
The Rangers were off Monday in Surprise, Arizona, and won’t be off again until March 31. They are in a stretch of 15 games in 15 days, and each one will factor into their final roster decisions.
By now, with the top prospects moved to the minor-league workout group and enough evidence at hand and some genuine reading between the lines, it might seem like predicting the roster would be an easy task.
Naturally, that isn’t the case, but let’s do it anyway.
Position players
Catchers (2): Jose Trevino, Drew Butera
Just missed: Jonah Heim
Injuries: Sam Huff (hamstring)
Trevino has all but locked up the job as the starting catcher. The Rangers love his defense, which has been his calling card since being drafted in 2014, and saw his bat take a major jump last season.
His backup will be Butera, a veteran who will edge out rookie Jonah Heim. Heim, acquired in the Elvis Andrus trade with Oakland, has more talent but has played only 13 MLB games. Teams typically want young catchers actually catching rather than working as a backup. That will prove to be the case here.
Infielders (6): 1B Ronald Guzman, 2B Nick Solak, 3B Rougned Odor, SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa, UTIL Brock Holt, 1B Nate Lowe
Just missed: UTIL Charlie Culberson, 3B/2B Andy Ibanez
Warning: This could change wildly.
Guzman isn’t going to win any Gold Gloves as an outfielder, but his willingness to play the outfielder corners gives manager Chris Woodward just enough flexibility to allow Lowe to also make the team.
Odor will be in the Opening Day lineup, though at a new position. Holt has the edge on Culberson because is a better offensive player, though not by leaps and bounds, and can play shortstop without being a liability. That one could go either way, but give it to Holt, the Stephenville native, for now.
Outfielders/DH (4): LF David Dahl, CF Leody Taveras, RF Joey Gallo, LF/DH Khris Davis
Just missed: Eli White, Delino DeShields, Adolis Garcia, Jason Martin
Injuries: Willie Calhoun (groin)
Warning: This could also change wildly.
The Rangers are weighing whether White can beat out Taveras, who has lost his early grip on the leaoff spot and needs to show more to solidify his roster chances. If Taveras is the choice, the Rangers won’t want White sitting as a backup and will move him to Triple A.
Dahl could be the backup center fielder, and Guzman could play left field on the days Taveras sits. Davis is an emergency outfielder, and he will share bats at DH with the lefty-hitting Guzman and Bird.
Calhoun’s groin injury appears to be worse than initially thought.
Pitchers
Starting rotation (7): RHP Kyle Gibson, RHP Mike Foltynewicz, RHP Kohei Arihara, RHP Jordan Lyles, RHP Dane Dunning, RHP Kyle Cody, LHP Wes Benjamin
Just missed: LHP Kolby Allard, LHP Hyeon-Jong Yang
Warning: This could change, just not as wildly as other positions.
This weird, wild rotation plan the Rangers have developed is actually a good thing for their development. They will get a chance to evaluate several young pitchers for the future while also monitoring their innings.
Four pitchers will make up two rotation spots, working in tandems. Three of them have minor-league options and could be easily be swapped out for Allard and Yang during the season.
Bullpen (7): RHP Jose Leclerc, LHP Brett Martin, RHP Matt Bush, LHP Joely Rodriguez, LHP Taylor Hearn, RHP Ian Kennedy, RHP Josh Sborz
Just missed: RHP Brett de Geus
Injuries: RHP Jonathan Hernandez (elbow), RHP Demarcus Evans (lat)
Warning: This could change, perhaps wildly but perhaps not wildly.
Hernandez’s elbow woes creates the need for Hearn to fill a key multi-innings role in the bullpen. Otherwise, he would be in the rotation. The Rangers like the power stuff Sborz can offer in the late innings, and Bush is pitching well and has the experience to be the closer.
The Rangers have spoken highly of de Geus, the Rule 5 pick, but he will be too difficult to stash on the active roster for a full season. There’s a chance Rodriguez isn’t healthy to start the season, and that could change things for de Geus.
This story was originally published March 16, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
