Another Rangers starter exits game with arm injury

Apr 6, 2014; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Texas Rangers hat and glove lay in the dugout against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Texas Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 6, 2014; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Texas Rangers hat and glove lay in the dugout against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Texas Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Yet another Texas Rangers starter exited an MLB spring training game early on Thursday with an arm injury.


This is getting ridiculous. The Rangers injury curse doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Just a day after it was announced that staff ace Yu Darvish would be getting Tommy John surgery, starter Anthony Ranaudo left a Thursday game with discomfort in his right arm. Shortly after Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweeted an affirmative in answer to a question about Ranaudo making a suddenly depleted Rangers rotation, the trainers were out to see the right-hander.

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So Darvish is out, Holland won’t make opening day with a shoulder injury and now the fifth spot has one less candidate. Of course, it’s not official yet and Ranaudo will probably undergo further testing, but considering everything else that’s happened, it’s hard to see this one turning out much differently.

Ranaudo was supposed to be competing for the fifth rotation spot along with Nick Martinez, Nick Tepesch, Lisalverto Bonilla and Alex Gonzalez, but will now likely fall back in the competition, even if his arm injury turns out to be minor. Any kind of injury is obviously going to put you back a bit in the running.

A first round pick of the Red Sox in 2010, Ranaudo was acquired by the Rangers in January in return for Texas left-hander Robbie Ross. Ranaudo is 25 and he did make his big league debut with Boston last year. He posted a 4.81 ERA while going 4-3 in seven starts.

For what it’s worth, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Ranaudo called his arm discomfort normal and he expects to make his next start. Sure, and the Rangers didn’t sound too concerned about Darvish initially either. Precautionary, they called his exit after 12 pitches.

Or, as the one response to Wilson’s tweet said, the check engine light coming on your car is totally normal too.

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