Tommy Hunter, slated to be in the Opening Day rotation for the Texas Rangers, will instead apparently start the season on the disabled list, as his groin strain is expected to sideline him for up to six weeks.

Michael Kirkman still seems to me like the most likely candidate to replace Hunter in the rotation, as Kirkman seems to have the backing of significant folks in the organization, and seems to have had a pretty solid spring.

The Rangers watched Doug Davis pitch earlier this week, and could conceivably look at adding Davis to the roster, with Hunter being out.  Or Dave Bush, who has an out on his minor league deal on Sunday if he isn't added to the 40 man roster, could be a candidate.

As it is, Brandon Webb and Scott Feldman will also presumably be out for longer than the time Hunter will miss, and after Kirkman, the next likely candidate for the rotation should someone go down would be Eric Hurley.