Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy mum on final two rotation spots ahead of Opening Day
The Texas Rangers rotation depth will be tested in the opening weeks of the season because of injuries suffered during spring training to expected starters Jon Gray and Cody Bradford.
Three of the spots in their rotation are secured by Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle.
However, Bochy isn’t ready to reveal who would join the trio, but said he was confident in his rotation.
“We have the three, but we talked to some guys that we need to talk to exactly what they’re, where they sit, what the days are, and what their role is,” Bochy said. “You have to like the way Nate (Eovaldi) throwing the ball tonight, ball well, of course, at the ground. He threw a bullpen yesterday. Really good session there. The other two, however, ... we’re confident that they will give us a chance to win. That’s all we’re looking for.
While Bochy did not reveal the starting rotation on Monday prior to the team’s exhibition game against Kansas City at Globe Life Field, he explained how it would work during the first series of the season.
Eovaldi will start on Thursday’s Opening Day against Bostonp. Tyler Mahle will follow on Friday, the yet-to-be-named pitchers will most likely take the third and fifth spots in the order of the rotation while deGrom will get the fourth.
The Rangers’ options to fill in at starting pitcher are a pair of highly touted prospects from Vanderbilt in Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker. Bochy previously mentioned as options to join the rotation during spring training.
Rocker and Leiter are the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked prospects in the organization according to MLB Pipeline.
During six spring training games, Leiter stood out going 1-0 with a 3.48 ERA in 20.2 innings. Rocker struggled in spring going 0-2 with a 13.0 0ERA in nine innings though his last start was his best of the preseason.
The team also has veteran options with the recently signed Patrick Corbin and Patrick Murphy.
Murphy is heading into his fourth major league season. He was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays with the No. 83 selection in the 2013 MLB Draft.
Murphy pitched in seven games during spring training, giving up one run off eight hits in 13.2 innings of work with 13 strikeouts.
Corbin, who was signed near the end of the preseason, threw a bullpen for the team on Monday and Bochy liked what he saw out of the veteran. The manager said he didn’t expect him on the opening-day roster, but said he couldn’t close that door.
“Good work by him. He threw 75 pitches. It’s evident that he’s been throwing a lot during training, not being with anybody,” said Bochy. “He’s pretty close, I like to bring through, so it’s really a good day for him. We will get together with him probably tomorrow, just to see where the game plan is.”
Gray, who fractured his forearm on March 14 against Tampa Bay, is on the 60-day injured list and will be reevaluated after a six-week no-throwing period.
Bradford is suffering from elbow soreness which has sidelined him since March 15. He will be reevaluated in a month.
