Jon Gray injury: Rangers to open season without injured starter; what it means for Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter

The Texas Rangers will begin the season without starting pitcher Jon Gray after he sustained a fractured right wrist during his appearance on Friday. Gray, who was struck on his pitching wrist by a line drive off the bat of Colorado Rockies first baseman Michael Toglia, is not expected to resume throwing for at least six weeks, according to what Rangers general manager Chris Young told reporters (including MLB’s Kennedi Landry) on Saturday. Factor in that he’ll require time to rebuild his arm strength once he does resume throwing, and it seems certain that he’ll be absent sometime in May.

Gray, 33, is embarking on his fourth and final contracted season with the Rangers. In his first three seasons in Texas, he compiled a 98 ERA+ and a 2.99 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He finished fourth on the Rangers staff in innings pitched last season and third among full-time starters. (Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney finished ahead of him, as did swingman José Ureña.)

The Rangers, the preseason favorites in the American League West in the eyes of some projection models, have experienced some bad luck as of late with their rotation. In addition to Gray, Texas seems certain to enter the year without fellow starter Cody Bradford, who is dealing with elbow soreness. Tyler Mahle, meanwhile, required imaging on his own forearm. 

Those absences would seem to assure that the Rangers’ Opening Day rotation will feature both Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, a pair of highly touted prospects from Vanderbilt who debuted in 2024. Rocker, 25, compiled a 3.86 ERA and a 2.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio across three outings. Leiter, 24, put up an 8.83 ERA and a 1.82 strikeout-to-walk ratio across nine appearances (six of them starts).  Neither’s career has played out as desired  — Rocker has dealt with injuries; Leiter with ineffectiveness — but it appears they’ll each have the opportunity to turn things around sooner than later.

The rest of the Rangers rotation seems likely to feature Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi, with the fifth spot dictated by whether Mahle himself requires some time on the shelf.