Rangers Announce Pitching Lineup for Monday's Game vs. Reds

The Texas Rangers will send out two pitchers who will compete for their countries in next month's World Baseball Classic.

Martín Pérez will make his first start of spring training as the Texas Rangers announced their pitching lineup for Monday’s game with the Cincinnati Reds.

The game will be the Rangers’ second spring training game away from Surprise and will take place at the Reds’ complex in Goodyear, Ariz. The Rangers also played in Goodyear on Sunday against Cleveland.

The probable lineup for the Rangers on Sunday includes Pérez, a left-hander, along with LHP Taylor Hearn, RHP Josh Sborz, LHP Brock Burke, RHP José Leclerc, LHP John King and RHP Fernery Ozuna.

Ozuna is the only pitcher from the Rangers’ minor league camp scheduled for Monday’s game.

Pérez was the Rangers’ best pitcher a season ago. Pérez went 12-8 with a 2.89 ERA in 32 games. He made his first All-Star Game appearance and was named the Rangers Pitcher of the Year by the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

The Rangers re-signed Pérez on a bargain one-year, $4 million deal for the 2022 season. The Rangers retained him for 2023 on a one-year qualifying offer of $19.65 million.

Pérez will play for the Venezuelan national team next month in the World Baseball Classic.

Hearn, Sborz, Burke, Leclerc and King were all part of the Rangers’ pitching staff last season .

Hearn went 6-8 with a 5.13 ERA in 31 appearances (13 starts). He had two holds and one save (first of his career) in 100 inning pitched. He was sharp as a reliever in the final two months of last season.

Sborz went 1-0 with a 6.45 ERA in 19 games (one start), with one hold.

Burke was 7-5 with a 1.97 ERA in 52 games (all in relief). He had nine holds. The Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America named Burke the Rangers’ Rookie of the Year.

Leclerc is making his second appearance of the spring. He went 0-3 with a 2.83 ERA in 39 appearances (all in relief). He had seven saves and four holds.

King went 1-4 with a 4.03 ERA in 39 appearances, all in relief. He had eight holds.

---

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

Catch up with Inside the Rangers on Facebook and Twitter.

Need to catch up on the Rangers? Check out our Texas Rangers Offseason Central Page!

Need to get ready for Spring Training? Check out our Rangers Spring Training Tracker