Griffin Has Solid Rangers Debut

The Rangers took a chance by signing former A's starter A.J. Griffin to a minor-league deal with an invite to big-league spring training. It wasn't much of a risk, and it has a lot of upside.

Griffin has been a successful starter before, but he's missed the past two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Now, he's back, and he made his spring debut with the Rangers on Sunday when he pitched a perfect seventh inning.

Griffin has made it clear he's trying to crack the Rangers' rotation. Unless there are some injuries or some massive disappointments, that's probably not an option when the Rangers open the season, but he could end up in the rotation at some point and having pitching depth is always a plus.

On Sunday, Griffin's fastball topped out at 90 mph, according to the Dallas Morning News, and that's impressive considering his fastball before elbow surgery averaged 89.4 mph.

Griffin is two years removed from surgery, which is when people many believe guys are finally 100 percent, so the Rangers could've gotten a nice steal in free agency in their former A's foe.

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