The Rangers are in agreement with left-hander Anthony Veneziano on a minor league contract, relays Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News. He’ll head to Triple-A Round Rock.
Texas has liked Veneziano as a depth arm for a while. They signed him to a minor league deal in December. He requested his release three weeks later to pursue an opportunity with the SSG Landers in the Korea Baseball Organization. Veneziano started 16 games and was tagged for a 6.10 earned run average across 79 2/3 innings in his first KBO season. The Landers released him earlier this month and signed former Guardians right-hander Pedro Avila as a replacement.
While it wasn’t an especially sharp performance, Veneziano is stretched out as a depth arm. Texas essentially doesn’t have any experienced depth beyond their starting five of Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, MacKenzie Gore, Kumar Rocker and Cal Quantrill. Long reliever Marco Gonzales would probably get a spot start before Veneziano if they suffered a rotation injury, but the pitching depth is a concern until Cody Bradford and/or Jordan Montgomery complete their respective rehabs from UCL surgeries.
Veneziano has been a full-time reliever in the big leagues. He made one “start” as an opener for the Marlins last summer but has otherwise come out of the bullpen. Veneziano has made 40 appearances over three seasons, turning in a 3.98 ERA with roughly league average strikeout and walk numbers. The New Jersey native has a 4.58 mark across 204 1/3 career innings at the Triple-A level.
