Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report today — everywhere but in the Texas Rangers camp. Team president Nolan Ryan gave pitchers an extra week of off because he said he’s worried they might get hurt.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia found himself surrounded by four other catchers by the batting cage waiting for pitchers to report.
“We don’t have any pitching,” Ryan still the Rangers best pitcher, said upon arriving for spring training. “Since spending the winter trying to sign free-agent pitchers proved so dismal, I sent a memo to our pitching staff that they could report with the position players, because we won’t need them for anything but batting practice.”
“Tommy John” is a familiar term again around the Rangers clubhouse. No, not the former pitcher, but the surgery named for the former pitcher. Four of the 31 “pitchers” scheduled to show up at camp are recovering from off-season surgery.
