MRI for Texas Rangers Pitcher After Spring Scratch

Texas Rangers pitcher Glenn Otto, who won seven games last year, missed his last spring start and will undergo further tests.

Texas Rangers pitcher Glenn Otto will undergo an MRI on Sunday after he was scratched from his scheduled start Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels due to right lat tightness.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said the club would have further updates once the results are available. 

Otto was supposed to be making his fifth appearance of the spring and his third start.

He was coming off a start on Monday in which he went 1 2/3 innings against Seattle, giving up four hits (including a home run) and six earned runs. He walked four and struck out two. It was, by far, his worst outing of the spring.

But he made no mention of any physical issues after the start.

“Overall, feel like the process is coming along, and feeling healthy and strong,” Otto said after the start. “Looking to carry that forward into the season. Accumulate as many innings as possible.”

There were no innings to accumulate on Saturday. Chase Lee took Otto’s place on the mound to start the game. Lee was sent to the Rangers’ minor-league camp on Sunday.

For the spring, Otto is 0-1 with an 11.88 ERA in 8 1/3 innings with 11 strikeouts and nine walks.

Otto pitched his first full season for the Rangers in 2022, going 7-10 with a 4.64 ERA. Otto ended up winning as many games as Jon Gray, the Rangers’ top free-agent pitching acquisition last offseason.

Otto showed improvement in one key area at the end of last season — walk reduction. He closed out his final seven starts by walking two or fewer in every start. In fact, he struck out 33 and walked eight in that span. His opponent batting average of .236 was a 100-point drop from 2021, when he only started a handful of games.

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