How Rangers Can Handle Life Without Resurgent Star Cal Quantrill

The Texas Rangers may be dealing with another injury to its pitching staff. Here’s how they could handle it.

Texas Rangers pitcher Cal Quantrill. Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

An injury to Cal Quantrill being a major blow to the Texas Rangers playoff hopes probably wasn't done anyone's bingo card back at spring training.

The Rangers signed him to a minor league deal as a backstop in case neither Kumar Rocker nor Jacob Latz could win the fifth starter job. Now, Quantrill has been the Rangers’ best starting pitcher since August.

He moved into the rotation for an injured Jack Leiter, was named the Rangers pitcher of the month for August, has taken the ball every fifth day and given Texas exactly what it needed.

His final fifth day of the regular season is now in question after leaving Saturday’s start after just 12 pitches with right lat tightness.

How to Live Without Cal Quantrill

Texas Rangers relief pitcher Nathan Eovaldi. Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said that Quantrill would get an MRI on Sunday but didn’t have a further update after the game. He also wasn’t sure of the severity. What was clear was that his velocity dropped on his fastball by six miles per hour, per Statcast.

Quantrill pitched 1.1 innings on Saturday. He went six innings in his last start against Arizona last Sunday but did leave with back tightness. That subsided to allow him to make Saturday’s start.

Quantrill's next turn in the rotation won't be until Friday in Minnesota. Texas has a one-game lead in the AL West and while they can't afford to be without anyone, they're better equipped to handle his absence than they might have been a few weeks ago.

The Rangers have three former starters in their bullpen, and each has thrown in this series. Trevor Williams provided four brilliant innings to the Rangers in their victory over Toronto on Friday.

Schumaker said after Friday's game that Williams going four innings allowed Texas to have both Nathan Eovaldi and Jordan Montgomery available for Saturday's game.

Schumaker was going to use Montgomery in the ninth inning of Friday's game until Williams said he could take the ball for a fourth inning. That gave Schumaker the ability to have two starters from the Rangers 2023 World Series team available on Saturday to absorb the innings that Quantrill left behind.

None of those three pitchers are properly stretched out to start a game. A potential scenario could be using two of those pitchers with left-hander Tyler Alexander in an engineered bullpen game. The Rangers have deployed Alexander as an opener several times and he's been effective in the role. Texas could also start Eovaldi or Montgomery and then use the other behind him as a bulk relief option.

Had this happened while Eovaldi was still on the injury list, the Rangers might have been in trouble. But with the roster expansion, which led to them signing Williams on Sept. 1 and Eovaldi’s return from the IL, for the first time in a couple of months the Rangers are properly covered to handle a starting pitching injury — if Quantrill needs to miss a start.