Rangers right-hander Jake Odorizzi underwent an arthroscopic process on his shoulder and can miss the whole 2023 season, stories Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning Information.
Evidently, that is an terrible growth for each Odorizzi and the membership. The Rangers went into the offseason seeking to improve a rotation that posted a 4.63 ERA final yr, which positioned them twenty fifth out of the 30 golf equipment within the league. They had been additionally set to lose Martín Pérez, their only starter final yr, to free company. By the top of the offseason, that they had re-signed Pérez; traded for Odorizzi; and signed free brokers Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney. These 5, together with incumbent Jon Grey, completely overhauled the rotation and allowed them to enter spring with six established massive league starters.
Although that’s a powerful group on paper, there have been additionally damage issues sprinkled all through it, with Odorizzi being no exception. Although he made not less than 28 begins in every season from 2014 to 2019, the previous few years have seen just a few well being points creep in. He solely made 4 begins in 2020, occurring the injured record as a consequence of an intercostal pressure, chest contusion and proper center finger blister. In 2021, a proper pronator muscle pressure and proper foot soreness every resulted in IL stints, limiting him to 104 2/3 innings. Final yr, decrease left leg discomfort saved him out of motion about six weeks, and he tallied simply 106 1/3 innings.
Nonetheless, Odorizzi appeared like a strong pickup for the Rangers. Amid all these accidents, he nonetheless posted ERAs of 4.21 in 2021 and 4.40 final yr. He additionally didn’t price a lot, as Atlanta agreed to cowl $10M of his $12.5M wage as a part of the commerce. The one piece the Rangers despatched the opposite means was Kolby Allard, who struggled to a 6.07 ERA in his massive league profession so far.
Sadly, the Rangers will in the end get nothing out of the deal, as Odorizzi will develop into a free agent after this misplaced season. He was slowed in camp by some arm fatigue, and basic supervisor Chris Younger lately gave a vaguely ominous replace that Odorizzi would doubtless be out “longer than shorter,” which was adopted by the righty getting positioned on the 60-day injured record for Opening Day. That dominated him out for the primary couple of months of the season, however this information now means he’ll miss his total age-33 marketing campaign.
Going into 2021, Odorizzi was signed by the Astros to a two-year, $23.5M deal. That contract got here with a $6.5M participant choice for 2023 that had a $3.25M buyout, although these two figures would soar to $12.5M and $6.25M if Odorizzi made 30 appearances over 2021 and 2022. He ended up making 46, simply pushing these numbers up. In August of final yr, the Astros flipped Odorizzi to Atlanta for left-hander Will Smith. At season’s finish, Odorizzi triggered that participant choice earlier than getting flipped to Texas.
The Rangers nonetheless have that sturdy entrance 5 in deGrom, Eovaldi, Heaney, Pérez and Grey, however they may now proceed with out their deliberate No. 6 starter. Proper-hander Dane Dunning and left-hander Cole Ragans are in all probability the membership’s high depth choices now, although each are working within the massive league bullpen within the early components of this season.
