April woes won’t alter spring training plans for Texas Rangers

By the end of April, the Texas Rangers had no where to go but up. And, boy, did they.

They overcame a 7-14 April, the by-product of number of factors, to win the American League West on the final day of the season.

The offense was dreadful, the rotation was thrown for another loop when Derek Holland was injured, the bullpen wasn’t offering much relief and Delino DeShields was glued to the bench.

Manager Jeff Banister, though, didn’t blame a lack of preparedness for the issues. As such, he isn’t planning to make any significant changes to the regiment players he put players through last spring.

Pitchers and catchers report to the Surprise Recreation Campus on Thursday, and their first workout is scheduled for Feb. 19.

“We didn’t swing the bat consistently like we felt we could or how we did the rest of the season,” Banister said. “I don’t think that was due to what we did or didn’t do in spring training. To think we’re going to restructure spring training, I don’t think we’re going to do that.”

The goal for his second spring will be the same as his first — to ramp up players and have them peak at the end of the Cactus League schedule and slide into the regular season.

Not all players are programmed the same way. It’s likely that none are, but the common goal is for each player to have his legs in shape and ready to go for the April 4 season opener.

That’s a tougher task for players like Adrian Beltre, Colby Lewis and Josh Hamilton. Veterans often work at a slower pace, and younger players and the handful of players positioning for roster spots play more early.

“We talked about where their sweet spot was as far as at-bats in spring training to where you deem them ready to compete,” Banister said. “Part of that is getting their lower half in shape. When you start looking at what shelves a position player, typically is they do have lower-half issues.”

Lewis, who had knee surgery in October, will be on a different program from the rest of the pitchers, but the Rangers have no concerns about his availability for Opening Day. Hamilton, who also had October knee surgery, will be monitored closely.

Some relievers who had heavy workloads in 2015 might not make their Cactus League debuts deeper into the schedule, said Banister, but there are no injury concerns.

Beltre extension update

General manager Jon Daniels said that he plans to meeting with Beltre and speak with agent Scott Boras early in camp about a contract extension for the third baseman.

Daniels said last month that the sides have had preliminary discussions to keep Beltre off the free-agent market after this season. More pressing business, particularly getting arbitration-eligible players under contract, have taken precedent of late.

“We’re all headed out to spring training next week, and we’ll circle back on a few of those important open-ended items we’ve got to address,” Daniels said.

All set?

Daniels didn’t dismiss the possibility of adding players to the spring roster before camp opens next week or during camp as he did last season with the acquisition of left-hander Sam Freeman.

Any trade would likely involve a reliever. The Rangers are thin at catcher, but most teams are.

“We’re always looking to improve,” Daniels said. “For me, there’s no one time of year to improve the roster. It’s a 24/7/365 opportunity to improve. Some of those are in spring.”

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 4:49 PM with the headline "April woes won’t alter spring training plans for Texas Rangers."