Who the Rangers Already Know Will Be on the Opening Day Roster

The Texas Rangers have less than three weeks to figure out what their opening day roster will look like coming out of spring training.

The Rangers will be in Philadelphia for opening day against the Phillies on March 26 and 26 players will make the trip. It will be the debut of Skip Schumaker as Rangers manager, who previously managed the Miami Marlins in 2023 and 2024.

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Some of his decisions are going to be hard. These won’t. These are the players that Texas knows will be on the roster come March 25.

Pitchers

Texas Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter throws a baseball — Texas Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter. | Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

Starters: Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jack Leiter, MacKenzie Gore, Jacob Latz/Kumar Rocker

Relievers: Latz/Rocker, Robert Garcia, Chris Martin, Cole Winn.

The first four spots in the rotation are set. The question is whether Latz or Rocker gets the fifth spot. Based on how both pitchers have thrown in camp so far, the question still doesn’t have an answer. But the good news is both have been good enough to give the Rangers a level of confidence that both can be on the roster at the same time. One will start and one will relieve. Ideally, it would Rocker starting and Latz relieving.

As for the bullpen, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker has already said that Garcia and Martin will get the early chances to close out games. That would indicate both are locks, barring injury. Winn has thrown well in camp and was a valuable option as a multi-inning reliever last year.

Outside of that, the bullpen has a wealth of candidates but no one with real guarantees to be on the team. Both Tyler Alexander and Alexis Díaz are in camp on MLB deals but are cheap enough to let go if they’re not good enough. The Rule 5 draft parameters won’t save Carter Baumler if he doesn’t perform. Texas could be quite draconian with what looks like four remaining spots.

Position Players

Texas Rangers left fielder Brandon Nimmo swings his bat at a baseball. — Texas Rangers left fielder Brandon Nimmo. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Catcher: Kyle Higashioka, Danny Jansen

Infielders: Josh Burger (1B), Josh Smith (2B), Corey Seager (SS), Josh Jung (3B)

Outfielders: Brandon Nimmo (RF), Evan Carter (CF), Wyatt Langford (LF)

DH: Joc Pederson

Utility: Sam Haggerty

The Rangers have committed to Higashioka and Jansen as the tandem. Higashioka’s balky back is worth monitoring. But barring injury they’re set. Smith has been hitting left-handed pitching well in camp, as has Carter, key questions for both players to make the roster. Smith is the player the Rangers want to win the job, and he’s played well enough to lock it in.

Haggerty is the only player that has played well enough in camp to be guaranteed a job off the bench. He’s shown he can play second base capably enough to be a back-up there when needed. That leaves two spots off the bench. One will be an infielder with versatility and the other is likely to be an outfielder with versatility in the corners. Texas is going to give Andrew McCutchen as much rope as possible to win the latter job.