The pitching trend that swept into baseball last season, including in September with the Texas Rangers, hasn’t been completely ruled out for 2019 by pitching coach Julio Rangel, but The Opener likely won’t be utilized as much as thought six months ago.
The Rangers have five starting pitchers, and Mike Minor, Lance Lynn, Edinson Volquez, Drew Smyly and Shelby Miller are going to be given a chance to pitch every fifth day.
The Opener, in other words, won’t be a part of the Rangers’ rotation has it was last season with the Tampa Bay Rays much of the season and Oakland A’s down the stretch.