Texas Rangers Make Two More Intriguing Roster Moves in Preparation for Opening Day

The Texas Rangers are working on cutting down their roster in preparation for Opening Day, and recently made two more moves to continue that process.

Texas Rangers third baseman Jonathan Ornelas hits an RBI double against the San Diego Padres at Globe Life Field. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers have been making roster moves for most of the spring, finding players they want to keep around for the Opening Day roster and sending those who won't make the cut to their minor league system.

Ahead of their March 13 matchup with the San Francisco Giants, they made two more moves to cut down the size of the roster.

Per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com, they optioned infielder Jonathan Ornelas and pitcher Gerson Garabito to Triple-A Round Rock.

Both players were having relatively solid showings in spring training so far, but ultimately did not do enough to beat out the players above them on the depth chart.

Ornelas was given 14 games worth of playing time, and in that span, he hit for a .375/.423/.458 slash line with four RBI, two runs, seven strikeouts and one walk across his 24 at-bats.

While the strikeout numbers were not ideal, especially considering he only drew one walk, the rest of his game was clicking.

If he can continue that momentum in Triple-A, he may be a call-up candidate later in the year, having been one in September of last season as well.

Garabito had a little bit more difficulty this spring, but he showed flashes of his strikeout potential which was a positive sign.

He was given four games to show his skillset, and in 5.2 innings pitched, he had a 3.18 ERA with a 0.882 WHIP, seven strikeouts, two walks and two home runs allowed on three total hits.

This stat line has been somewhat of a constant for the veteran reliever.

He has had success wracking up punch outs across varying levels of both the minors and Major Leagues, but his earned runs and home runs allowed are what plagues him.

All-in-all, both moves make sense given the current state of the team.

The bullpen is pretty strong at the moment and Garabito did not show enough to break into that group just yet. Ornelas, on the other hand is a little more surprising considering he could have had a bench role. But at only 24 years old, he still has time to break back into the MLB roster and show his talent.