Mahle's forearm soreness has Texas in 'wait-and-see' mode

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Tyler Mahle was scratched from his Tuesday start against the Angels at Surprise Stadium due to “a bit of forearm soreness,” general manager Ross Fenstermaker said just an hour before first pitch.

Rookie Jack Leiter replaced Mahle for the Cactus League matchup against the Angels. The status of Mahle’s next scheduled start is still unknown.

"It's still at the point of spring where we have time,” Fenstermaker said. “It was something that he felt he could push through and pitch, but we didn't feel it was necessary. We’re just trying to be cautious.”

Any type of forearm injury is concerning for anyone -- but especially for a guy like Mahle.

The Rangers signed Mahle to a two-year, $22 million deal entering 2024 knowing he would miss much of the year as he recovered from Tommy John surgery.

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He finally debuted for Texas on Aug. 6, but only made three starts, allowing seven runs in 12 2/3 innings. His velocity was slightly down in his final start against the Twins on Aug. 18, and he landed on the injured list with right shoulder stiffness two days later. He was shut down for the rest of the season on Sept. 3 with what was defined as a stress reaction in his shoulder.

That being said, Mahle has looked good this spring, though the velo has fluctuated. He’s allowed just three runs in nine innings of Cactus League play.

"Ultimately, he's had a great spring so far,” Fenstermaker said. “We feel really good about where things are with him. It's just something that we didn't want to push through. It's wait-and-see. We’re working on the conservative end of things here. We’re just going to play it by ear over the next few days and see what happens. We're going to be extra precautious.”

Mahle has struggled with injuries throughout his big league career; 2021 is the only Major League season in which he threw more than 130 innings (180). Additionally, he has only pitched 38 1/3 big league innings over the past two seasons due to Tommy John.

The Rangers do have a good bit of depth in the rotation, which is headed by ace Jacob deGrom with Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Cody Bradford, Leiter and Kumar Rocker following behind him.