7 years agoThe Texas Rangers' manager Jeff Banister told reporters that pitcher Tony Barnette is not likely to be ready to start the season, opening a roster spot for reliever Kevin Jepsen. The 33-year-old Jepsen has been a pleasant surprise, giving up just one run and four hits over 9 1/3 innings this spring training. After what basically amounted to two lost seasons in 2016 and 2017, he looks far more like the guy that saved 15 games and hurled a 2.33 ERA in 2015 and less like the one that struggled to the point that he spent all last season with Nationals' Triple-A affiliate. There is more reason for optimism, as Jepsen seemed to rediscover his strikeout mojo in 2017, and it has carried over to the spring, as he is averaging nearly a K per inning. If Jepsen can work his way into Banister's good graces, and the Rangers' bullpen deteriorates as it did last year, there is an outside chance he could find his way into high leverage situations. There is little reason to give him a roster spot at this point, but with such an unclear bullpen picture in Texas, he is now worth some attention.--Sean Scampton
Source: T.R. Sullivan - Twitter