Usually towards the end of the year, we always hear about how many players the Texas Rangers have used overall in any particular season. The Rangers are usually towards the high end of that list. Injuries, callups, usually make for a long list, and you tend to forget the guys who are here so quick that they don’t even have time for the proverbial “cup of coffee”. I’ve done this for the last seven seasons, and it’s worked out pretty well. I’ve also gotten some positive feedback on it, so it’s become a permanent feature here. If you’d like to see the final tallies for the other years I’ve done this, you can still see them here: [ 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 ] Anyway, this post will get bumped whenever there is a player who is making his first appearance for the Texas Rangers in 2014. I am going to count guys who get called up, but don’t play immediately (or sometimes don’t play at all), as they will be part of the 25 man roster officially. So here goes.
The most recent additions will be on the top of the list.
Total players in 2015: 57
Total pitchers used in 2015: 31*
Total position players used in 2014: 27
Total players making major league debut: 9
Luke Jackson was optioned back to AAA without actually pitching, so it’s debatable if he counts on the list. I count it. :)
- #57 – Drew Stubbs (9/1 – Replacing Roman Mendez, who was DFA)
- #56 – Luke Jackson (9/1 – Replacing Alex Claudio, who was placed on 60 day DL)
- #55 – Andrew Faulkner (8/28 – Replacing Nick Martinez, who was optioned to AAA)
- #54 – Will Venable (8/20 – Replacing Josh Hamilton, who was placed on the DL)
- #53 – Mike Napoli (8/8 – Replacing Ryan Rua, who was optioned to AAA)
- #52 – Ryan Strausborger (8/4 – Replacing Leonys Martin, who was optioned to AAA)
- #51 – Cole Hamels (8/1 – Replacing Robinson Chirinos, who was placed on the DL)
- #50 – Sam Dyson (8/1 – Replacing Keone Kela, who was optioned to AA)
- #49 – Bobby Wilson (7/31 – Replacing Tomas Telis, who was traded to MIA)
- #48 – Jake Deikman (7/31 – Replacing Matt Harrison, who was traded to PHI)
- #47 – Chris Gimenez (7/31 – Replacing Jon Edwards, who was optioned to AAA)
- #46 – Tomas Telis (7/17 – Replacing Carlos Corporan, who was placed on the DL)
- #45 – Matt Harrison (7/4 – Replacing Neftali Feliz, who was DFA)
- #44 – Michael Choice (6/24 – Replacing Alex Claudio, who was optioned to AAA)
- #43 – Spencer Patton (6/7 – Replacing Ross Ohlendorf, who was placed on the DL)
- #42 – Joey Gallo (6/2 – Replacing Alex Claudio, who was optioned to AAA)
- #41 – Chi Chi Gonzalez (5/30 – Replacing Thomas Field, who was DFA)
- #40 – Hanser Alberto (5/28 – Replacing Phil Klein, who was optioned to AAA)
- #39 – Josh Hamilton (5/25 – Replacing Neftali Feliz, who was placed on DL)
- #38 – Ross Ohlendorf (5/17 – Replacing Kyuji Fujikama, who was DFA)
- #37 – Kyuji Fujikawa (5/14 – Replacing Spencer Patton, who was optioned to AAA)
- #36 – Sam Freeman (5/13 – Replacing Stolmy Pimentel, who was DFA)
- #35 – Thomas Field (5/11 – Replacing Rougned Odor, who was optioned to AAA)
- #34 – Spencer Patton (5/4 – Replacing Roman Mendez, who was optioned to AAA)
- #33 – Kyle Blanks (4/29 – Replacing Mitch Moreland, who was placed on the DL)
- #32 – Alex Claudio (4/27 – Replacing Tanner Scheppers, who was optioned to AAA)
- #31 – Wandy Rodriguez (4/24 – Replacing Logan Verrett, who was designated for assignment)
- #30 – Tanner Scheppers (4/17 – Replacing Anthony Ranaudo, who was optioned to AAA)
- #29 – Anthony Ranaudo (4/15 – Replacing Phil Klein, who was optioned to AAA)
- #28 – Stolmy Pimentel (4/12 – Replacing Jon Edwards who was optioned to AAA)
- #27 – Carlos Peguero (4/11 – Replacing Ryan Rua who was placed on the DL)
- #26 – Jon Edwards (4/11 – Replacing Derek Holland who was placed on the 60 day DL)
#25 to #1: Anthony Bass, Ross Detwiler, Neftali Feliz, Yovani Gallardo, Derek Holland, Keone Kela, Phil Klein, Colby Lewis, Nick Martinez, Roman Mendez, Shawn Tolleson, Logan Verrett, Robinson Chirinos, Carlos Corporan, Elvis Andrus, Adrian Beltre, Prince Fielder, Mitch Moreland, Rougned Odor, Adam Rosales, Shin-Soo Choo, Delino DeShields, Leonys Martin, Ryan Rua, Jake Smolinski. (the original 25 is not in any particular order)
Players making their Making Major League Debut are bolded
Roster Notes:
- Luke Jackson was originally called up August 7th, and stayed for a few days but didn’t play.
- * – The number of players does not match position players & pitchers added together, as we’ve had one position player pitch this season (Adam Rosales)
- Only 8 players on starting 25 were on the roster last year.
- Of the group of 9 Texas players that are on an Opening Day roster for the first time, 6 are rookies (DeShields, Kela, Klein, Rua, Smolinski, Verrett), 3 are seeking ML debuts (DeShields, Kela, Verrett), and 2 are Rule 5 Draft picks (DeShields, Verrett)
- Apparently the Rangers don’t officially count guys who are called up and sent down without actually playing – but I do.
- In 2015, the Rangers have 3 in the original opening day 25 that are making their major league debuts). The previous years’ counts in that regard were one in 2014 ( (Seth Rosin), 2013 (Leury Garcia & Smokin’ Joe Ortiz), 2012 (Darvish & Ross), one in 2011 (Mason Tobin), none in 2010, one in 2009 (Elvis Andrus), and one in 2008 (Kaz Fukumori).
- This will mark just the 3rd time in Rangers history that 3 players with no previous major league service time have opened the season with the club: 1974 (Mike Cubbage, Mike Hargrove, Jim Sundberg) and 1986 (Pete Incaviglia, Mitch Williams, Bobby Witt).
- This is the 1st time Texas has ever started a year with 2 players selected in the previous December’s Rule 5 Draft, the 1st in the majors since Milwaukee in 2003.