Texas Rangers post-All Star Break rotation announced

The Texas Raners post-All Star Break rotation has been announced, and Martin Perez will be the pitcher getting the ball in the first game post-break. Following Perez will be Bartolo Colon, then Cole Hamels, followed by Yovani Gallardo and Mike Minor.

The logic behind this structure is pretty straightforward. Perez has missed two months due to an injury to his non-pitching elbow, and the Rangers want him to get as many innings as possible, in part to get him work and in part to evaluate him in order to make the best decision on whether to exercise the team option on him for 2019. Minor, meanwhile, has had his workload managed in what is his first season back in the rotation after missing time due to injury and then pitching in a relief role last year, so this gets him extra rest out of the break.

Hamels going third means that you don’t have three lefties in a row at any point, though it remains an open question whether he will actually make another start for the Rangers, as trade rumors continue to swirl and teams continue to look at options in a rather sparse trade market for starting pitchers. July 22 would be Hamels’ next start, which means he would pitch, at most, twice before the July 31 trade deadline, though there’s a decent chance he would go unclaimed on waivers, and thus could be potentially dealt after July 31.

If Hamels gets dealt, the Rangers would presumably look at Austin Bibens-Dirkx or the recently demoted Yohander Mendez to fill his spot in the rotation.