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The Texas Rangers’ starting pitcher on Sunday, June 17, will be Yovani Gallardo, the team announced yesterday. Gallardo has been pitching for Round Rock since he was released by the Cincinnati Reds in April.
The 32 year old Gallardo has made 10 starts for the Round Rock Express, throwing 49.2 IP (he was limited in his innings early on due to having been used as a reliever with Cincinnati), with a 3.81 ERA, 40 strikeouts and 14 walks. Gallardo has done a respectable enough job for Round Rock that he’s going to get a chance to try to help at least temporarily fill a hole in the Rangers’ rotation, which has Martin Perez and Doug Fister on the disabled list and Matt Moore banished to the bullpen. It remains to be seen if this is a spot start, or if the Rangers plan on keeping him in the rotation for a while.
Gallardo was a key contributor to the 2015 A.L. West winning team, putting up a 3.42 ERA in 33 starts, albeit with peripherals that were something of a red flag as he entered free agency. Gallardo declined the Rangers’ qualifying offer (which netted the Rangers the draft pick they used on Cole Ragans), and ended up signing a two year deal with the Baltimore Orioles, for whom he pitched one disappointing season before being shipped to Seattle. In all, since leaving Texas, Gallardo has put up a 5.81 ERA and a 5.36 FIP in 251 innings pitched.
The Rangers will have to make both a 25 man roster move and a 40 man roster move to clear a spot for Gallardo. The 25 man roster move should be easy enough, as Carlos Perez sprained his ankle yesterday and is likely going on the d.l. (and if he miraculously heals quickly enough to not need a d.l. stint, Jose Trevino, who was called up for yesterday’s game, would get sent back down).
The 40 man roster move is a tougher call, as there are no obvious candidates on the disabled list to move to the 60 day d.l. (unless Nick Gardewine, who has been on the minor league disabled list the past month with right forearm tightness, is more injured than we realize). Deck McGuire, who was just claimed on waivers from the Blue Jays, could be put on waivers in an attempt to outright him and keep him in the organization, or someone like Hanser Alberto or Ryan Rua could find his 40 man roster spot in danger. Alternatively, if the Rangers are ready to cut bait with Matt Moore, they could drop him to create a 40 man roster spot, and bring up Ricky Rodriguez to fill in in the bullpen.