The Rangers threadbare rotation.

Starting his second full season on the job and already Chris Young has mastered advanced-level general manager speak. In his first spring press conference, Young told Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News that any notable acquisitions are unlikely at this point.

Notable. Unlikely. Always good to use gray words. 

Before diving into that, though, there is no way Chris Young doesn’t expect at least one of the five pitchers in the Rangers rotation will get injured. Pitchers always get injured. Quite often, it happens during spring workouts. 

If either Eovaldi, Gray, Heaney, Dunning, or Bradford develops even anything as slight as a blister, the Rangers are out of luck. They have no back up, no sixth starter, or even seventh starter. They barely have five. Cody Bradford has eight major league starts.

So, who then? 

Owen White? He got into two games last season, both in relief. Put up an 11.25 ERA. That would qualify him for front-of-the-rotation status in the Jon Daniels era, but that era is thankfully behind us.

Brock Burke? He started six games in 2019, then didn’t make it back to the Rangers until 2022. Pitched great out of relief that year. Not great out of relief last year.

Jonathan Hernandez? He’s started two games, lasting 2.2 innings in each. A gloried opener. He fell off the bullpen radar last year.

Cole Winn? His ERA the past two years in Triple-A: 6.51 followed by 7.22. He hasn’t shown he can step in. 

Neither has Jack Leiter. Kumar Rocker is coming off injury.

So, back to Chris Young’s proclamation that “any notable acquisitions are unlikely at this point.”

Notable will be debatable. Unlikely will be highly likely. Young will make a deal for a starter. He has to. And, ever the general manager, he will declare that the market changed, and we didn’t think this player would be available, that that certain trade came out of the blue. 

Don’t get too worked up with the Rangers threadbare rotation. At least four of the five have excellent pedigrees. In the past Rangers fans were lucky if any of the five did.