Matt Harrison Pitches, Rangers Rejoice

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Matt Harrison has managed today to pitch an inning in a B game, and has done so without his back exploding. Harrison was able to get through the inning on only 11 pitches and one hit, and now, we wait to see what happens next.

The big test is how I recover. I don’t see anything changing. I feel good and expect to keep progressing.

Assuming Harrison is able to recover without issues -- and I doubt we should expect any at this point after such a light workload -- he'll be able to continually ramp himself up. He'll still be behind the other pitchers in camp, but assuming he's able to move forward, should only miss a start or two, which has been the expectation all along since he was cleared to resume his Spring Training activities.

Joseph Ortiz Out Three Months

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Lefty reliever Joseph Ortiz will miss the Spring Training and the beginning of the season due to having surgery on a broken foot. He was, although a longshot, a potential bullpen piece for the 2014 Major League roster.

In 2013, he surprised us all by earning a spot in the bullpen coming out of Spring Training, and came out of the gates strong before mostly falling apart and spending a good portion of the season in the minors. While it wasn't all that likely he would have earned a spot in the bullpen this season, you still don't like to see injuries happen with players in the organization, especially when the word motorcycle is involved.

To be clear, it doesn't appear that Ortiz was riding a motorcycle, but for some yet unknown reason, his foot was run over by one. Therefore, the Rangers will have to enter camp a man short, but you never know, maybe a new mytery candidate will arise much like Ortiz last season and Robbie Ross in 2012.