The Rangers tend to announce their minor-league rosters later than most teams. Last year’s games began on April 9th, and the rosters weren’t publicized until the 6th and 7th. However, with some early assignments, local reports, and educated guesswork on my part, we can flesh out the rotations and some of the bullpens:
Derek Holland and Brandon McCarthy are already assigned to AAA Oklahoma City and will be in the rotation. A local report has 2006 14th-rounder Mike Ballard joining them. Ballard, as you might recall, came within inches of making his Major League debut in 2008 when Texas had no starter lined up for a July game. Instead, the Rangers used a committee headed by reliever Warner Madrigal, himself making just in fourth big-league appearance. Ballard’s AAA record is spotty; his excellent control has been betrayed by too many hits and too many homers.
I’ve already penciled lefty Kasey Kiker into Oklahoma City’s rotation, but no announcement has been made. If assigned to Frisco, his term there should be brief. Kiker is the rare player with a precisely steady rate of advancement, spending exactly one season on each rung on the organizational ladder since being drafted in 2006. If his future points to relief, he really needs to shut down lefties. So far, results are mixed. Kiker held lefties to a .178 average and homerless .244 slugging percentage in 2009, but he also gifted them 200 points of on-base percentage in walks and HBPs. The remaining spot probably belongs to Doug Mathis or Guillermo Moscoso, both of whom are fighting with Rule 5 pick Ben Snyder and non-roster invite Willie Eyre for the final spot in the Texas bullpen. Elizardo Ramirez will fill a swing role.
A local report has Omar Beltre headed for Oklahoma City, perhaps in a closing role. He’s already been optioned to AA Frisco, but that can be changed with the stroke of a pen. The hard-throwing but erratic Pedro Strop. Strop’s erratic delivery undermines a velocity that trails only Feliz and Scheppers in the Texas system. Other candidates include Geoff Geary, Clay Rapada, Jailen Peguero (who spent a few minutes in OKC last year), and whoever can’t crack the Texas bullpen.
Martin Perez and Blake Beavan are Frisco-bound, as expected, and Michael Kirkman has already been optioned to the RoughRiders. Interestingly, presumed reliever Alexi Ogando will begin the season in the rotation, albeit on a limited pitch count. The final spot likely belongs to one of three starters in Bakersfield’s 2009 rotation: Tanner Roark, Ryan Tatusko, or Richard Bleier. Another in that trio could be a tandem starter with Ogando.
What of Tanner Scheppers? He’ll begin the season in relief at Frisco, perhaps eventually being stretched out for rotation duty. I expect him to jump to AAA before long. Zach Phillips is assigned to Frisco already. Evan Reed, who spent all of 2009 with the Blaze, is destined for promotion. Determining the other four or five bullpen assignment might be the toughest task for Texas’s braintrust, who must sort through plenty of quality holdovers from last year’s Roughrider squad and several others seemingly deserving of promotion from Bakersfield.
After a virtually lost 2009, Michael Main probably will reboot in Bakersfield. Main has amassed a paltry 147 innings in three professional seasons because of a broken rib and last year’s mystery illness. I also expect the talented but mercurial Kennil Gomez to repeat at least part of 2010 with the Blaze. The other three starters should come from the quintet of Jake Brigham, Wilmer Font, Carlos Pimentel, Wilfredo Boscan, and Joe Wieland, all of whom spent the entirety of 2009 in low-A Hickory. I’d pick Brigham first despite him being the worst of the group statistically last year. He’s pitched very well this spring, is older than the others, and is entering his fifth professional season (which is to say, Texas must make a 40-man roster decision on him this fall). With the others I see plenty of reasons to promote but also a reason to keep them in Hickory, if only for a little while. A dark horse candidate is Andrew Doyle, last year’s 4th rounder who spent most of last season relieving in Spokane. Doyle ought to be starting in Hickory, if not Bakersfield.
Robbie Ross, Matt Thompson, Braden Tullis and Trevor Hurley composed 80% of Spokane’s 2009 rotation and should be starting or otherwise earning plenty of innings this year in Hickory. A local report has Neil Ramirez repeating Hickory, a logical destination given his uncertain performance and limited innings (66) in 2009. Texas didn’t use a strict “tandem starter” system in Hickory last year but still managed workloads carefully. The top seven in the rotation averaged 18 starts, six relief appearances, and 98 innings.
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