ARLINGTON — Now here’s something you don’t hear every day: The Rangers are moving a starter to the bullpen and he likes it. He really likes it.
Even better for the Rangers, the move seems to fit a glaring need.
Rangers right-hander Jon Gray, who suffered a fractured right forearm in spring training, was activated from the 60-day injured list ahead of Wednesday’s game with the Parts Unknown Athletics and moved into the bullpen. Most likely he will serve as a replacement for Chris Martin, who will be out for a significant amount of time with a strained calf.
“It just feels more raw; I like it,” Gray said of the bullpen role. “It’s more just taking your best stuff and going in, instead of trying to create specific plan to beat the whole offense three times.
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“In this role, I knew I was facing each guy once, maybe twice, so it was just take your best stuff and go at him. And that was just easy for me. It freed me up a lot.”
Gray’s fastball, which averages about 95 mph, and his devastating slider give him an excellent two-pitch combo for attacking hitters once in a game. He has no fear of showing hitters too much in an at-bat because they aren’t likely to see him again.
Gray, 33, has made only five regular-season relief appearances in his career, four of them last year as he was coming back from various injuries. But he also pitched in relief three times during the Rangers’ World Series run in 2023 with effectiveness. In those seven relief appearances for the Rangers, Gray has allowed just two runs in 12 ⅔ innings with 18 strikeouts and three walks. He allowed just four hits.
“I think he really adjusted well to that role,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “You come in every day, you don’t know if you’re in there. As a starter, there’s a lot of time to think and prep work. In the bullpen, the phone rings and you get up and. I thought he responded well to that. And I think he’s resilient.”
Bochy left open the possibility that he could use Gray as a “drop-in” starter, particularly when the Rangers have a long stretch of games without a day off. Starting Friday, when Atlanta comes to town, they play 13 straight. With Gray and lefty Jacob Latz, the Rangers have a pair of guys they could use in the spot starter role to give the rest of the rotation five days off between starts.
What is uncertain is how well Gray will respond to occasionally being asked to pitch on consecutive days. Bochy said he probably wouldn’t ask Gray to do that initially, but wouldn’t hesitate later in the season, particularly in a stretch drive. Gray has never pitched on back-to-back days. He pitched on two days rest during the World Series.
Since Gray was on the 60-day IL, the Rangers also had to create a spot on the 40-man roster when he was activated. To do it, they DFA’d Luke Jackson, who began the season as closer, but had been moved to more of a setup man of late. Though he had a 4.11 ERA for the season, it was 3.57 since June 1 and 3.00 since he was taken out of the closer’s role in late April.
There could also be a money-saving component of this move. The Rangers will save about $600,000 in salary if a team claims Jackson. If a team doesn’t claim him on waivers and he goes to free agency, the Rangers would remain responsible for everything above the pro-rated MLB minimum.
If he does go to free agency, though, he’d also lose the ability to earn incentives in his Rangers’ contract. Jackson had appeared in 39 games and he had incentives of increasing value at every increment between 20 games and 60. He had already earned $450,000 in performance bonuses and was due another $175,000 at 40 games. He would have earned another $475,000 if he got to 50 appearances. If he’s traded or claimed the Rangers will owe a pro-rated portion of any further bonus levels he reaches.
The Rangers would like to add a reliever to the team ahead of the trading deadline and have limited space under the $241 million competitive balance tax threshold. Saving even an amount less than $1 million could go towards picking up the contract of a closer in a trade.
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