Examining Texas' rotation options after Gray, Bradford injuries

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Rangers¡¯ rotation was built for depth. That depth is being put to the test before Opening Day.

President of baseball operations Chris Young spoke to the media on Saturday morning regarding Rangers pitching injuries, revealing that they will definitely be down two rotation arms in Cody Bradford and Jon Gray to start the regular season.

Gray will miss ¡°extended time¡± with a right wrist fracture he sustained during a March 14 Cactus League matchup with the Rockies when he took a 106.4 mph comebacker off his arm. He will not throw for at least six weeks, but it¡¯s unclear if he needs surgery yet so the timeline is fluid.

¡°Anytime a pitcher sustains an injury or a fracture to their throwing arm, it's concerning,¡± Young said. ¡°Our hope is that we get good news, that this is just a clean crack, so to speak, and that it'll heal up, and he'll be able to jump right in. My guess is that the throwing arm will be immobilized for a period of time. That has an impact on the muscles, the tendons, the ligaments. This is severe. We're going to have to make sure we're cautious.¡±

Bradford will not throw for at least four weeks with elbow soreness. He was shut down on March 12 and though the MRI came back clean, the Rangers still want to slow play him early in the season.

The plan, for now, is to shut him down for the four weeks and then build him back up however they feel necessary at that point in the season.

¡°I think some of that will depend on what we feel like the best role is for Cody,¡± Young said. ¡°We probably expedite it if we wanted to get him back on a shortened down role. It will take more time if we lengthen him out to start. Some of that may depend on where we are from an injury standpoint, and who's throwing well and what the need is.¡±

Here are the Rangers' options to fill the back end of the rotation:

Rookies

Rookies Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker are obviously the next men up in this situation.

That said, Young didn¡¯t hesitate to point out that nothing is automatic in this game.

¡°It is a performance-based game, and they have to earn it,¡± Young said. ¡°We have a high level of confidence in both of those players that they are going to be -- and can be ¨C quality Major League players. I think they have to continue to finish out Spring Training and perform. They shouldn't be given anything.¡±

Non-roster invitees

One or both of the Vanderbilt arms are intriguing options, but manager Bruce Bochy and Young both went out of their way to point out that non-roster invitees like Adrian Houser and Patrick Murphy, both of whom have performed well in Cactus League play, are hot on the radar.

Houser has a 1.69 ERA in 10 2/3 innings, while Murphy has a 0.00 ERA in 10 innings. Both figured to be long relief options before injuries decimated the rotation, but now the pair are options for either role at this point.

¡°They¡¯ve attacked the strike zone, they've thrown strikes,¡± Young said. ¡°We've got a great defense and don't want to put guys on base. We want to attack the strike zone and really be aggressive and depend on guys that are not going to beat themselves. Those guys have shown the ability to do that. Murphy especially, has been very, very good. We saw his outing against the Giants a couple days ago was very impressive, and we'll continue to see more of that as we get down to the last week of camp.¡±

External options

There are still a number of cheap free agents out there, including former Rangers Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn. But the Rangers feel pretty confident in their internal depth options at this point in the spring. Nothing should be ruled out, but Texas may decide to stick with who they¡¯ve got.

¡°I think it depends on what the market looks like,¡± Young said. ¡°There are limits [monetarily], but we're going to have those conversations and see if their market aligns with what we can do. That's our job, to continue to find ways to improve the team and support the team. We'll have those conversations. I think it¡¯s to be determined.¡±