The Texas Rangers might just have the best, deepest bullpen in all of baseball, and if they don't, they're right up near the top.
That means guys like Tanner Scheppers and Luke Jackson are nothing more than depth that would probably start the year in the minors and be called upon if needed.
Scheppers will now miss the first half of the season after having surgery to repair torn cartilage in his knee, and now the Rangers have a bit of a scare with Jackson, their young righty who made his debut late last season after converting from starter to reliever earlier in the year.
Jackson has complained of back stiffness, something he says he's suffered from early in the season since he was in high school, but the Rangers want to be sure it's nothing to worry about so they're sending him to see Dr. Drew Dossett, a spinal specialist who's part of the Cowboys' medical team and was in Indianapolis for the NFL scouting combine.
Now, Jackson will see him and cross his fingers, along with the Rangers, that nothing serious is up with his back.
As for the front office, assistant GM Thad Levine said he isn't overly concerned with the Rangers' still-deep, but thinning bullpen.
"I think we have more than the requisite number of guys competing not just for the bullpen, but also for the next wave," assistant general manager Thad Levine told the Dallas Morning News. "It is thinned out a little bit, but we came to camp having what we thought was significant depth. I feel like we still have quality and quantity."
