Spring is in the air, and now that the Major League Baseball lockout is finally over, it’s time to dust off the diamond and play some baseball. The Texas Rangers play their first game of the season in the Cactus League on Friday, March 18, in Surprise, Arizona.
On March 14, the Rangers’ players and coaches arrived in Surprise for the start of spring training. During their eighteen-game Cactus League schedule, the Rangers will play ten games at Surprise Stadium/Billy Parker Field.
The Rangers will play nine games at home and one on the road against the Kansas City Royals, who also use the Surprise facility. The Cactus League season begins on March 18 and ends on March 25 in an abbreviated schedule due to the lockout.
In Surprise, the Rangers will face the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, and San Diego Padres.
Texas comes into the 2022 season following a woeful 2021 season in which they posted a 60-102 record, good for last place in the American League West, thirty-five games behind first-place Houston, and the third-worst record in all of baseball. The 102 losses last season is the first time since 1973 the Rangers posted triple-digits in the loss column after moving from Washington (formerly the Senators) to Arlington in 1972.
In the offseason, ahead of the lockout, the Rangers signed Corey Seager (ten years, $325 million) and second baseman Marcus Semien (seven years, $175 million) to shore up the middle infield. Texas also added right-handed starter Jon Gray to a four-year, $56 million deal.
On March 10, Texas traded infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa and two other minor leaguers to Minnesota for backstop Mitch Garver. In his fifth year of pro ball, Garver has a lifetime batting average of .256, has hit 53 homers, and has driven in 154 RBIs.
Though the Rangers struggled last year, outfielder Adolis García belted 31 homers and knocked in 90 RBIs. In his freshman campaign, Garcia, or “El Bombi,” earned an All-Star selection and finished fourth in AL rookie-of-the-year voting.
The projected opening day lineup for the Rangers consists of Garver at catcher, Nate Lowe at first, Semien at second, Seager at short, Andy Ibanez at third, Nick Solak in left, García in center, Kole Calhoun in right, and Willie Calhoun at designated hitter.
Gray looks to be the day-one pitcher for the Rangers, with Dane Dunning getting the number two spot, Taylor Hearn number three, Martin Perez (another 2022 free agent signing) four, and A. J. Alexy number five in the rotation.
The bullpen will likely be led by closer Joe Barlow, who saved 11 games last year for the Rangers last season in his rookie year. Middle relief from the bullpen will likely consist of set-up man Spencer Patton and pitchers Josh Sborz, Brett Martin, Dennis Santana, Kolby Allard, Nick Snyder, John King, Jose Leclerc, and Jonathan Hernandez.
Major League Baseball released its new regular-season schedule for 2022 on March 16. The Rangers will play their first game of the regular season on Friday, April 8 at 6:07 p.m. (CT) in Toronto, with their home opener set for Monday, April 11 at 3:05 p.m. (CT) against Colorado.
Individual tickets for all games, excluding the April 11 home opener, go on sale Friday, March 18, at 10:00 a.m. CT.