We are now less than three weeks away from opening day. As we get closer to that day who will make the 25 man roster will come into focus more and the number of players on the team will be cut down. That means we will start to see more of the actual team and less of the minor leaguers and non roster invitees who are trying to make a good impression. We are now into the third rotation of the starting pitchers. That means each of these 5th starter candidates have probably two more appearances before Ron Washington will make his decision. So far everyone is still in the race including newly signed starter Joe Saunders. Over the weekend almost all of the candidates pitched and Colby Lewis came out looking the best. He pitched two innings on Sunday in his second start and showed improved control and did not give up a run. Nick Tepesch then came in and gave up 3 runs in his two innings and was lucky it was not more than that. The Mariners singled and doubled him to death in those two innings. On Saturday Tanner Scheppers and Robbie Ross both pitched and both had almost identical lines: 2.2 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, and 2 strikeouts. The only difference was that Scheppers walked two and Ross walked one. So while they both pitched well neither is really pitching so well that they need to stay in the rotation. I imagine with Saunders now being brought in that it is almost a guarantee that one or both will be back in the bullpen. Joe Saunders is expected to make his first appearance with the Rangers today when they go up against the Chicago White Sox. He is probably scheduled to throw 2 innings. So we will see how that goes.

In other news Matt Harrison is expected to also throw an inning in today’s game. It will be his first action in a game this spring training. As it is his first appearance he is probably still 3 weeks away from being ready which would put him probably starting the season a week late. If he doesn’t injure his back he should be ready by the second week of the season. The Rangers are likely to take it slow with him, because he is very valuable and important to this staff.

Also, Jurickson Profar is expected to be able to get out into the field and start throwing this week. Profar who has been limited to playing DH this Spring Training has been hitting very well and leads the team with 11 rbi’s. This will be good as he should still have plenty of time to get his timing down in the field and be ready for the start of the season.

Finally, Yu Darvish made his third appearance of the Spring yesterday in a Rangers 8-2 win against the Reds. Darvish who was only expected to go 4 innings was able to keep his pitch count low enough and so Washington ended up letting him go 5 innings. That is one of Yu’s goals this season is to cut down his pitch count and be able to go longer in games. That may mean he won’t strike out 277 hitters like last season, but he will have more innings and therefore the bullpen won’t be counted on as much in his starts. I would just like to see him out there in the 8th more. It seemed like last season he would fatigue in the 6th or 7th inning. A guy as big and strong as him should be able to go at least 8 innings and pitch a few complete games. That is one area he needs to improve and I think he recognizes that. If he does do that then that should make the whole staff better.

Countdown to Opening Day: 20 days