The Rangers' catching situation is a mess right now, but imagine what it would've been if Chris Gimenez hadn't hit the disabled list in spring training and had instead waited until, say, last week.
Gimenez is in extended spring training in Arizona right now and collected two hits while catching three innings in a game on Saturday, and according to The Dallas Morning News, Gimenez will likely join Double-A Frisco for a rehab assignment this week.
The plan would be for Gimenez to play a few rehab games before rejoining the Rangers and helping to solidify a catching tandem that currently features Dallas native and TCU-ex Bryan Holaday, who was acquired via trade from Detroit at the end of the spring training, and longtime minor-leaguer Brett Nicholas. Robinson Chirinos, who was supposed to be the No. 1 catcher, is out for a few months with a fractured forearm.
While Gimenez has his limitations, he will be more equipped to be a big-league catcher on a contending team than Nicholas and will compete with Holaday for playing time to see if one can step forward to earn No. 1 catcher status until Chirinos returns late this summer.
Gimenez played in 36 games last year, including down the stretch with Chirinos out with injury, and hit .255 with a .330 on-base percentage to go with four homers and 14 RBIs. He threw out just 10 percent of would-be base-stealers, which is awful. But he still should be able to push Nicholas back to the minors and likely serve as a backup to Holaday.
