Excitement's In The Air As Pitchers & Catchers Report To Surprise

It’s time for Rangers fans to savor those five words that any baseball fan is glad to here each year: Pitchers and catchers report today.

Yu Darvish is unsurprisingly looming large in Surprise, Az., but the addition of the 25-year-old Japanese sensation is hardly the only reason for excitement.

The team is coming off two consecutive trips to the World Series, and disappointing as those trips may have been, we’re heartened by the fact that (a) the Rangers didn’t exactly lose much aside from CJ Wilson, who went to the Angels and (b) just a few years ago, the idea that the Rangers could win back to back AL Pennants would’ve been pretty unthinkable.

Of course, it would be insane to think the number of media present today would have been quite as stout without Darvish (this is particularly true of the around 100 members of the Japanese media), who was seen playing catch with Derek Holland today in front of the aforementioned press horde, as well as his mother and father.

Pitchers will throw a five-minute bullpen session tomorrow, the first official day of workouts for pitchers and catchers, as well as five minutes of live batting practices. Darvish is also suspected to speak to the media for the first time tomorrow.