Rangers Sign James Marvel to Minors Deal

By Nate Miller

Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images

May 8, 2023

In their second pitching related roster move in less than a week, the Texas Rangers have signed righty James Marvel. The deal is of the minor league variety. Marvel has been assigned to Triple-A Round Rock, where he threw three innings of four-run ball in a start on Sunday. It is clear that the Rangers are stocking their minor league system with pitching. They have had to tap into their rotation depth in recent weeks. Jake Odorizzi will miss the entire season, while Glenn Otto has yet to pitch because of a lat issue. Most importantly, Jacob deGrom was recently placed on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation.

Soldiering on

The current starting five of Nathan Eovaldi, Martín Pérez, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney and Dane Dunning is still an effective bunch. However, it is clear that they could still use some help. It will be interesting to see where James Marvel fits in the Rangers’ plans. Marvel joins Robert Dugger as non-roster rotation depth options who have some big league experience. The 29-year old righty has started four games for the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing 16 runs in 17 1/3 innings. The Duke product has spent parts of eight years in the minor leagues.

So Close to the Show

Including Sunday’s appearance, James Marvel is now up to parts of four seasons in Triple-A. He has allowed around five earned runs per nine at the top minor league level. He posted a sub-4.00 ERA in both High-A and Double-A while coming up the ranks with the Pirates. Marvel qualified for minor league free agency during the 2021-22 offseason. That year, he caught on with the Philadelphia Phillies. He spent the season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, posting a 6.05 ERA through 93 2/3 frames in a swing capacity. Marvel kept the walks to a 7.5% clip, but only punched out 14.9% of opposing hitters. Marvel, who averaged 90.6 MPH on his fastball during his major league look, has had a pitch-to-contact style throughout his professional career.