Texas Rangers right-hander Jake Odorizzi will miss the remainder of the 2023 season after undergoing surgery on his throwing shoulder. Rangers general manager Chris Young broke the news to reporters prior to Friday afternoon’s game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. This is an unfortunate development, both to the club and Odorizzi. One of the items on the Rangers’ checklist over the off-season was to upgrade a starting rotation that posted a 4.63 ERA last year, which placed them 25th out of the 30 clubs in the league.
Unfortunate Timing
This comes as somewhat of a blow on the business side of things as well for the Rangers. It looks as though they will ultimately get nothing out of the deal. Jake Odorizzi will become a free agent after this lost season. He reported to spring training in February but dealt with arm fatigue for the duration of camp. Young recently gave a vaguely ominous update that Odorizzi would likely be out “longer than shorter”. The Rangers were prepared for this but did not anticipate having to put him on the shelf for all of 2023. Odorizzi will turn 34 years old before he gets the chance to step on a major league mound again in 2024, providing his recovery goes smoothly.
Capable Rotation
The loss of Jake Odorizzi will certainly be noticeable throughout the 2023 season. Despite the setback, the Rangers still boast one of the strongest starting rotations in the majors. That rotation consists of Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Martin Perez, and Andrew Heaney. The bullpen has also stepped up for the Rangers.
As of the publishing of this article, the Rangers’ bullpen is in the midst of a stretch where they have collectively posted 21 1/3 scoreless innings. Right-hander Dane Dunning and left-hander Cole Ragans are probably the club’s top depth options now. Both are working in the big league bullpen in the early parts of this season.
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