The Rangers' postseason roster is out, as of about 9 a.m. on Thursday morning, and sure enough, lefty Martin Perez made the roster, as did Colby Lewis, which was no surprise.
Perez was a wild card due to the fact that the Rangers only need four starters — three of which are locks, and a fourth in Lewis who is nails in the postseason — but the young lefty being on the roster means he could feasibly still be starting a game in this series.
What's more likely? That'd be Perez being available out of the bullpen from the left side as the only lefty reliever the Rangers have on the roster is Jake Diekman. That makes sense due to the right-handed heavy lineup for the Blue Jays.
Where Perez could be a big help would be if Yovani Gallardo can't make it through five innings on Thursday. You have to feel confident about Cole Hamels working deep into Friday's game, but then not so sure about Gallardo, Lewis and even Derek Holland.
Chi Chi Gonzalez is probably the Rangers' first choice as a long reliever this series because he's right-handed, but in a worst-case scenario, Gallardo exits early and then a couple of days later, Holland or Lewis does. That allows the Rangers to have a fresh long relief arm to trot out there to eat up some innings with a shorter leash on all starting pitchers in the postseason.
Chances are, you never see Perez in this series. But he's there if the Rangers need him, and given the way he's thrown his last two times out, that's a comforting thing to have in your back pocket.
