The list started out much longer at the beginning of spring training than it is now, which is the way these things usually travel. We all knew about Martin Perez and Kyle McCellan (now out with injury), we all knew that the Rangers were looking at Kyle Loshe (now not going to happen), and we all knew the Rangers signed veteran Randy Wells. Justin Grimm is out (in my opinion) because of how bad his spring has been. His ERA is now 9.64 in 9.1 innings pitched, and he has walked six and given up two homeruns in that time as well.
I believe that he spot is down to basically 3 guys.
1. Nick Tepesch – Nick is a rookie and has really had a great spring. He has a 3.46 ERA and has struck out ten batters in just 13 innings. We all know that the Rangers like to grow from within, and Nick would be a great chance to do that. He has shown that he is ready for the challange in my opinion and I would like to see him get a shot at this. We also need to remember that this is only a temporary position since Colby will be back by late May/early June.
2. Michael Kirkman – I don’t remember Kirkman getting serious consideration to be in the rotation at the beginning of camp, but he is now. Michael has pitched very well so far in spring, posting and ERA of 0.00 in nine innings while striking out eight. I think he may be the front runner if they decide they can afford to remove him from the bull pen.
3. Robbie Ross – Robbie has pitched 14.2 innings so far in the spring, and is posting a nice 3.07 ERA. His problem so far has been the walks, of which he has already given up seven. Robbie needs to cut down on the free passes if he wants to be a rotation guy at the start of the season. I stil think he can do it, but I think his bull pen value might be a little too much for the Rangers to give up right now, especially with the other canidates they have to be the fifth starter.
I believe that the pen is pretty much set at this point, or at least, that Daniels and his crew know who is going to make the club, now they just need to decide who is going to hold down that fifth spot while they wait for Colby to get healthy.
