Texas Rangers open Cactus League season on Friday against Kansas City

For the Texas Rangers, it’s finally time to play baseball again.

The Rangers open their spring training schedule on Friday when they play the Kansas City Royals. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. at Surprise Stadium.

The two teams, who share Surprise Stadium, will play again on Saturday at the same time.

“It’s that time, guys are excited,” first-year manager Bruce Bochy said on Thursday. “They say it runs in cycles. You get the pitchers and catchers here, then you can’t wait for the full squad to be here, then the games begin. A week from now, they’ll be ready for the season (to start).”

Don’t expect to see any of the big-dollar free agent pitcher acquisitions in the opener.

The Rangers figure to throw Glenn Otto, Owen White, José Leclerc, Chase Lee and a few more minor leaguers against the Royals in the opener.

Otto finished the 2022 season in the Rangers’ rotation with a 7-10 record and a 4.64 ERA. With the offseason acquisitions and signings of pitchers Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney and Jake Odorizzi, Otto may be fighting for a place in the rotation this spring.

Eovaldi is expected to make the start on Saturday. He will be followed by Dane Dunning, Spencer Howard, Kyle Cody, Jonathan Hernández and Joe Barlow on the mound.

That said, Bochy said he expects most of his position starters to play either Friday or Saturday.

“We’ll have most of our regulars out there tomorrow,” he said. “They are all good to go right now and they want to go.”

The Rangers will play games in the Cactus League until March 25 when they pack up and return to Texas for two final exhibition games against the Royals at Globe Life Field, March 27-28.

They open the regular season on March 30 against Philadelphia.

This story was originally published February 23, 2023 at 3:46 PM.