Rangers Manager Bruce Bochy: Jose Leclerc in WBC is 'Invaluable'

The Texas Rangers won't have Jose Leclerc in March as he pitches for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.

José Leclerc will be one of three Texas Rangers players that will participate in the World Baseball Classic next month.

Leclerc, who will pitch for the Dominican Republic, will head to Miami for pool play, just as his teammate, Martín Pérez, must do for Team Venezuela.

That means time away from Rangers Spring Training in Surprise.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy expressed no concern about Leclerc being absent from camp. In fact, based on his own experience as a player, Bochy believes the experience will be good for Leclerc.

“That's a great experience for him because let me tell you, I played five years of winter baseball and there's a lot of pressure to win,” Bochy said. “So this is gonna be good for him. This is gonna be like a postseason situation and that's invaluable experience.”

Leclerc has never pitched in the postseason before. The reliever debuted with the Rangers in 2016, just after the team’s final postseason appearance.

If there’s any concern, it’s that Leclerc is less than a year removed from returning from Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2021 season.

Leclerc started last season on the 60-day injured list as he continued his rehab. He returned during the season and put together one of his best campaigns, going 2-3 with 1.56 ERA and seven saves. He recorded all of his saves after Aug. 14.

Leclerc is in the mix to be the closer, but so are pitchers like Joe Barlow and Jonathan Hernández. Bochy believes that Leclerc’s absence helps them, too.

“If we wanted to throw some other guys in high leverage situations this spring that make it a little bit easier,” Bochy said.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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