Where do the Texas Rangers turn with another starter on the injured list?

OAKLAND – The Texas Rangers left Arlington last Thursday with five starting pitchers on their active roster. They return – after successful road trips to Kansas City and Oakland, with Colorado on the horizon – with three and some changes still to come.

It was that kind of season. The final stretch of pain, strain and contempt went like this: Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi landed on the 15-day injured list Friday with a groin strain, and right-hander Dane Dunning joined him on Wednesday with a right rotator cuff strain. The bullpen also won't return home in one piece after Josh Sborz left the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader, a 12-11 win over the A's, with manager Matt Lucero at his side. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Sborz has shoulder soreness and will be evaluated once the team arrives in Colorado.

However, the starting rotation is in worse shape than the bullpen. Imagine that considering how Texas stocked up on starting pitchers two winters ago and how its support staff struggled last season. That's where the Rangers are, however, with just right-hander Michael Lorenzen, right-hander Jon Gray and left-hander Andrew Heaney as their only healthy, experienced starters just a month into the season.

The list of accolades and accolades the Rangers have parked on the injured list is an envious list of weapons. There are the five combined Cy Young awards courtesy of Max Scherzer (back surgery/thumb rehab) and Jacob deGrom (elbow surgery rehab). There are a handful of All-Star nods attributed to Nathan Eovaldi (mild groin strain), and now the club's two-time Pitcher of the Year in Dunning is out. Tyler Mahle (Tommy John surgery) and Cody Bradford (broken rib) don't exactly have that honor, although the Rangers can't be greedy.

Bochy believes the Rangers have the ability to assemble the rotation for the time being.

“We’ll talk about it,” Bochy said. “We’ll put this thing together until we get these guys back.”

The Rangers' veteran manager has assembled a pitching staff seemingly from nothing before (see: playoffs last year), but the legitimate options for Texas are slim.

Jack Ladder: He has started more games this season (two, after Wednesday) than any other pitcher whose rotation spot is not safe and secure. That suggests the 24-year-old may have a longer stay in the rotation, but he's also no longer on the major league roster and hasn't exactly had much success in terms of performance. The leader was the “27. Mann” in Wednesday’s doubleheader and at the Rangers Do If you plan on using him in the rotation as more than just a backup player, you'll need to make a legitimate roster move.

He gave up six runs (four earned) on seven hits, three strikeouts and no walks on Wednesday. He was relatively efficient, but allowed two home runs on pitches he left in the zone.

“Two starts that didn’t go according to my expectations are frustrating,” said Leiter. “But two starts where the Rangers are in the win column and that is a positive difference from the negative results and frustrations.”

Jose Urena: He has the most experience and with the way he pitched on Tuesday, he could be the obvious option for more starting opportunities. Ureña — who has worked primarily as the Rangers' long reliever in the bullpen this season — threw five innings of two-run ball as the spot starter in place of Nathan Eovaldi in Tuesday's win over the Athletics. He also did some exceptionally bad things, with a sinker that reached 97.9 mph.

Ureña gave the Rangers a performance they desperately needed heading into Wednesday's doubleheader. Maybe they should give him a longer stay in the rotation in return. Bochy raved about Ureña as if the choice had already been made, for what it's worth.

“He showed me a lot,” Bochy said. “That was kind of an effort that he gave us. We thought we had him for 60 pitches, but every time he left the mound he said, “I'm fine, I'm fine.”… When you lose a guy like Dane Dunning, it's nice to see someone like this rise.”

Owen White: Perhaps. This is more of a pick where he has to be here for a reason, but maybe he won't even be here for all that long. The Rangers recalled White on Wednesday to take Dunning's place on the roster, and in his season debut, the 24-year-old did not record an out in the ninth inning of a blowout. He gave up three consecutive singles to load the bases before Bochy replaced him with closer Kirby Yates.

White didn't turn heads in spring training. He hasn't exactly been electrifying in his first month at Triple-A Round Rock.

“I feel stronger than ever,” White said before Wednesday’s doubleheader. “Mentally and physically.”

Good, because at some point they might need more innings from him. They definitely need more innings from someone.

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