What Will Texas Rangers Opening Day Rotation Look Like?

With three starting pitchers out, what will the Texas Rangers rotation look like when the season starts against the Chicago Cubs on March 28?

What will the Texas Rangers' starting rotation look like on Opening Day for the defending World Series champions? 

Who are the options for manager Bruce Bochy? 

By midseason, of course, this will hopefully be a moot point. Jacob deGrom is slated to return from Tommy John Surgery. Same for the recently acquired Tyler Mahle. Max Scherzer, who underwent back surgery in December, is supposed to return by June or July as well. 

Consider the Rangers already the 2024 MLB trade deadline winners with the abundance of talent making its season debut in July, but what about March? 

Nathan Eovaldi is likely to remain the team's ace until Scherzer or deGrom earns the title back. Last season's breakout performance and All-Star bid has earned him the right to take the mound on March 28 when the Chicago Cubs arrive in Arlington.

After that, the order gets tricky. 

Jon Gray, Dane Dunning, Andrew Heaney, and Cody Bradford are the frontline options entering spring training.  Barring any major injuries in the spring training, these five are likely to make up the club's five-man rotation when the season begins.

Which bullpen arms can give Texas more than a few innings for longer than a month? Which young names might be ready for a promotion, even if it's just a part-time stint? 

Texas Rangers prospect Owen White is a candidate to be in the Opening Day rotation / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Prospects Owen White, Zak Kent, and Cole Winn are waiting in the wings. 

A four-man combination of Eovaldi, Gray, Dunning, and Heaney could work, given that the quartet's experience. As for the No. 5 role, perhaps Bochy is ready to see White's potential. 

White, the No. 8 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, seemed ready for the show after a breakout 2022 campaign in which he posted a 3.59 ERA across High-A and Double-A. His numbers regressed in Triple-A. He posted a 4.22 ERA last season at Round Rock and did little with his promotion to the big league bullpen. 

White, 24, has the tools to be a frontline starter. In Texas, he'd begin his career as the last man in the rotation. Consider it a win-win for both sides. 

Texas isn't looking to replace talent but rather patch up the areas of weakness until its starters can return. So far, it's been a quiet offseason for the club's front office.

The Rangers starting five in Week 1 won't be their starting five by August if everything goes as planned. The goal for the Rangers is to find the right rotation to make the returns mean something. 

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