Texas Rangers Starting Rotation Needs One Thing to Be Truly Special

With the regular season getting closer for the Texas Rangers, excitement to get back on the field is starting to build.

Injuries were unfortunately a main storyline for the Rangers in 2024 after winning the World Series in 2023. With players from both the starting lineup and pitching rotation missing time, Texas understandably under achieved in 2024.

However, expectations will be higher coming into 2025 with the team being healthy and talented in multiple areas. For the starting rotation, they will feature not only potentially some high-end talent, but also some exciting young arms to keep an eye.

This mix of veterans and youth has created a good amount of depth for the organization, and there is no such thing as having too much pitching in baseball.

Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report recently wrote about what the starting rotation could look like on Opening Day for the Rangers. Despite the unit dealing with a ton of injuries in 2024, they have the potential to be special this coming season with multiple key arms expected to be healthy.

That's the caveat for this group — health.

When looking at the potential rotation for Texas in 2025, it will start with Jacob deGrom. The former Cy Young Award winner hasn’t pitched much for the Rangers since signing his big deal due to Tommy John surgery, but he appears to be all systems go to start the year.

After deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi will operate as the anchor of the staff as arguably the most reliable pitcher. In addition to Eovaldi, they will have another veteran, Jon Gray.

Where things get exciting for the Rangers is looking at some of the young arms. Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter and Cody Bradford all have nice potential. Rocker and Bradford missed time last year due to injuries.

While there is certainly a lot of talent on the staff and a great mix, they do have a good amount of injury concerns. Rocker, deGrom, and Tyler Mahle all recovered from Tommy John surgeries last year, making a couple of starts at the end of the year.

Knocking off some of the rust and getting a full Spring Training will be important for them heading into 2025, but pitching over 180 innings might be a stretch.

Especially if deGrom returns to form and is a Cy Young contender, this rotation could be special.

Overall, there is a lot to like about the unit that Texas has put together. If healthy, they could be one of the best units in the league. However, that is a big if considering the number of injuries they dealt with last year.