Rangers' Woodward Officially Names Kyle Gibson Opening Day Starter

Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward has named his third Opening Day starting pitcher in three years.

Author:
Chris Halicke
Mar 16, 2021 5:37 PM EDT

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In his Zoom call with the media on Tuesday, Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward announced Kyle Gibson will start Opening Day in Kansas City. Woodward said he told Gibson the news on Tuesday.

"That was a cool moment," Woodward said. "He's never started Opening Day. ... To be able to have the honor to do that was pretty special. I know Gibby was pretty excited."

With the departure of Lance Lynn and Corey Kluber, Gibson was the most likely choice in the Rangers' pitching staff.

Woodward has selected three different pitchers to start Opening Day in his three years as the Rangers' skipper (Mike Minor in 2019, Lance Lynn in 2020).

Willie Calhoun "Unlikely" For Opening Day

With last week's report of Willie Calhoun's groin injury, the Texas Rangers stressed wanting to take it slow in his recovery.

On Tuesday, general manager Chris Young confirmed that Calhoun is "unlikely" for Opening Day. They want to give the injury a couple of weeks to "calm down." With the first game of the season only 16 days away, that makes a stint on the Injured List all but guaranteed.

"Willie's a competitor," Young said. "Certainly, he wants to be back out there. He wants to compete. He was obviously disappointed that this has not healed as quickly as he would have liked.

"I had a great talk with Willie. [Jon Daniels] has talked to him, [Chris Woodward] has talked to him; our medical staff. e gets it. He understands that having Willie Calhoun healthy is more important to the Texas Rangers than having Willie at 80 percent or 90 percent."

Latest on Other Rangers Injuries

Brett de Geus left Sunday's game with abdominal cramping, and is dealing with a gastrointestinal issue. He is currently undergoing testing and nothing alarming has come back yet. He has no restrictions at this time, but the Rangers are proceeding cautiously with him.
Demarcus Evans has yet to throw off a mound. Initially, he was set to throw off a mound by mid-March, but the Rangers really want to take it slow with Evans.
Sam Huff had an MRI on his hamstring, and is making "good progress" from his grade two strain. He will see increased baseball activity over the next couple of weeks. It is still unlikely he will play in Cactus League games before the end of spring training.

Chris Halicke covers the Texas Rangers for InsideTheRangers.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHalicke.
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