Hunter Pence, Jeffrey Springs make Opening Day roster

The Texas Rangers have informed Hunter Pence and Jeffrey Springs that they will be on the Opening Day roster, per the beat guys on Twitter, and have informed Willie Calhoun and Jordan Romano that they will not be on the Opening Day roster.

Calhoun being sent down is unfortunate, but largely unavoidable, given the makeup of the roster. Calhoun came to camp in great shape, performed, did all the things the team said he needed to do, and is still going to AAA Nashville because there simply aren’t regular at bats for him right now. He will no doubt be the first guy up if a corner outfielder or DH goes down, and possibly if Ronald Guzman gets hurt (since Joey Gallo could move to 1B), but for now, he’s back in AAA, and that’s got to be a bitter pill to swallow.

Romano was a Rule 5 pick, which means the Rangers will have to place him on waivers and offer him back to the Toronto Blue Jays, his original club. If he clears waivers, the Rangers could try to work out a deal with the Jays to keep Romano, but most likely, he’ll be back in Toronto.

Springs will be the lefthander in the pen for the Rangers, as there appear to be six bullpen spots nailed down, with Jose Leclerc, Zach McAllister, Chris Martin, Jesse Chavez, and Shawn Kelley also in place. The Rangers appear likely to take two more relievers, potentially Connor Sadzeck (who is out of options) and Jason Hammel (who has impressed in camp, and could be a long man).

Meanwhile, Pence has the 4th outfielder job he’s seemingly been favored for most of camp. I’m still skeptical he can perform, but someone has to be the righthanded corner outfield bench bat who plays only once or twice a week, and Pence might as well be the guy. The remaining bench spot will go to a utility infielder, with Logan Forsythe seemingly the favorite there.