Rangers’ Geovany Soto out 10-12 weeks
By Matt Fisher
It seemed to be a Spring doomed from the start. After pitcher Derek Holland went down with a knee injury early this year, things have just gone downhill for the Texas Rangers.
Rangers’ Executive VP of Communications John Blake sent out a tweet saying that catcher Geovany Soto will be out 10-12 weeks. The projected starting catcher will undergo surgery in his right knee to repair torn lateral meniscus cartilage. The move is unrelated to the bone that Soto needed to have extracted from around his Achilles’ heel.
In the second inning of the Rangers’ Spring Training game against the Padres on Sunday, Soto caught a pitch from struggling starter Joe Saunders. Upon throwing the ball back to Joe, Soto clutched at his right leg, prompting trainers to come out and tend to him. Soto needed help getting up from the crouch and had to be carried along a few steps before he was able to put weight on the leg. In the next inning, Soto was seen walking towards the clubhouse under his own power to get an MRI.
The injury puts free agent acquisition J.P. Arencibia in the role as the starting catcher and likely brings Robinson Chirinos in as the backup. Arencibia was signed after being released from the Blue Jays, and has had a very slow start to his Spring. Chirinos was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays last season and has had the best Spring of the three catchers.