The Rangers announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Marco Gonzales and catcher Austin Wynns. The 40-man roster had one vacancy. They opened another spot by transferring lefty Jalen Beeks to the 60-day injured list. In corresponding active roster moves, catcher Kyle Higashioka has hit the 10-day IL and righty José Corniell, the 15-day IL. Prior to the club announcement, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News noted that Gonzales had a locker in the clubhouse. Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports reported that Gonzales would be added to the roster with Corniell hitting the IL.
Gonzales, 34, is a veteran with a solid track record but his recent form has been more questionable. He has a 4.16 earned run average in over 900 career innings. His 2024 season was cut short by injury. He made seven starts for the Pirates that year but eventually required flexor tendon surgery in August. He didn’t pitch at all in 2025.
He signed a minor league deal with the Padres coming into 2026. He started the season with Triple-A El Paso but posted a 7.99 ERA in 13 appearances. He was released a month ago and then latched on with the Rangers on a minor league deal. He has made four starts for Triple-A Round Rock with an 8.64 ERA.
Even at his best, Gonzales was a finesse lefty. His fastball velocity mostly sat just under 90 miles per hour and he has a subpar 17.6% strikeout rate in his career. His velo is still in that range this year but he has only punched out 13.6% of Triple-A opponents. This year’s results may not be as bad as the ERA would suggest, since his .379 batting average on balls in play and 55.8% strand rate are both to the unlucky side. But his 6.72 FIP doesn’t point to amazing results, even if his luck improves.
For the Rangers, Gonzales is probably just expected to serve as a long reliever. They currently have Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, MacKenzie Gore, Kumar Rocker and Cal Quantrill in their rotation. Jordan Montgomery is on his way back from Tommy John surgery and is currently on a rehab assignment, so he should be in the mix soon.
Of the relievers in the bullpen, three of them pitched the past two nights and may not be available, the trio being Peyton Gray, Robby Ahlstrom and Ben Peoples. That might leave the club with Jacob Latz, Jakob Junis, Cole Winn and Tyler Alexander for leverage work tonight. If the game turns lopsided and the Rangers want to spare those four, Gonzales could take on some mop-up work.
More to come.
