Another bump in the road for Rangers pitching no cause for concern

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- If there was one way to describe the Rangers’ rotation this season, it would be high-risk, high-reward.

That was the general consensus all winter as Texas continued adding arms with high upside on the field, but with obvious concerns about their abilities to do exactly that: stay on the field. Of the top six starting pitchers on the depth chart, Martín Pérez is the only one who did not land on the IL in 2022:

? Jacob deGrom (Mets): 64 1/3 IP (126 ERA+)
? Nathan Eovaldi (Red Sox): 109 1/3 IP (109 ERA+)
? Jon Gray: 127 1/3 IP (99 ERA+)
? Pérez: 196 1/3 IP (136 ERA+)
? Andrew Heaney (Dodgers): 72 2/3 IP (136 ERA+)
? Jake Odorizzi (Astros/Braves): 106 1/3 IP (90 ERA+)

And in the early days of Spring Training, the Rangers have run into more speed bumps than they would’ve liked.

First, deGrom entered camp with “left side tightness” that has limited the 34-year-old since pitchers and catchers reported. Then, Eovaldi came down with a similar issue following his first Cactus League start against the Royals on Feb. 25 and is expected to skip his next one. In addition, Odorizzi had some “arm fatigue” early in camp and has been limited to bullpen sessions.

One final curveball was thrown an hour before Friday’s Cactus League matchup against the Giants, which ended in an 11-7 win for Texas, when Gray was scratched from his second start of the spring with back tightness. His three IL stints in 2022 were for a blister, a knee sprain and an oblique sprain.

This is what the Rangers signed up for: a rotation with maybe the most upside in baseball that can -- and likely will -- be affected by injuries.

“I think it's usual for guys to go through minor aches and pains and soreness as the buildup occurs,” said general manager Chris Young. “I think for us, just given where we are in Spring Training, it's the prudent thing to do to play everything pretty cautiously.”

deGrom has thrown three bullpens since the initial four-day shutdown on Feb. 15, and should throw another bullpen this weekend before facing live batters soon enough. Eovaldi shouldn’t be too far behind, and Gray and Odorizzi are day-to-day at this point.

The silver lining is that it’s still only the first week of March. That’s why the Rangers are playing this cautiously, with Young pointing out that both deGrom and Eovaldi could, and would, pitch through the nagging tightness in the regular season.

And, well, this is also why the Rangers have all that depth. Behind those six veterans in the rotation are three young pitchers in Dane Dunning, Glenn Otto and Cole Ragans, all of whom have big league experience and can slot into the rotation at any time during the season, if necessary.

“I feel like y'all are always quick to jump to the panic [button], but it's all part of it,” Eovaldi said. “I feel like the training staff is always cautious with everybody, especially when it comes to pitching. If you have anything off, they want us to tell them. And that's the beauty of our rotation. In my eyes, essentially we have eight starters. It's OK if one guy goes down. … Again, this is very minor. I probably wouldn't have even said anything during the season."

Eovaldi is right. It’s just the second week of Cactus League games, and the Rangers' coaching and training staff don’t see any reason to be concerned just yet. On the outside, it’s understandable, but it’s clear that Texas is being overcautious with all its starters considering their age and injury history.

It’s not realistic that all five top starters will remain healthy all season long, but that doesn’t mean the sky is falling in mid-March.

“[There is] nothing of significant concern regarding these up to this point,” Young reiterated. “I think we're being very cautious with all of our guys and making sure that we get them through the early stages of camp as they build up, have new aches and pains. But obviously we want to see these things dissipate in the next five to seven days with each player respectively.”