The Rangers signed the veteran righty Joe Ross to a minor league contract, Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News reports. Ross was recently waived by the D-backs. He was playing with their Triple-A club in Reno.
Ross made Arizona’s Opening Day roster this season after signing a minor league deal in free agency, but the Snakes designated him for assignment after 3 2/3 innings. He opted for free agency and returned with a minor league contract.
Ross, who turned 33 yesterday, got some good results in a Pacific Coast League friendly. He threw 21 innings in the D-backs’ Triple-A club, most of them in long relief, and logged a 4.29 ERA. His 14% strikeout rate is below average, but Ross’ 5.8% walk rate was excellent and his 47.8% slugging rate was solid. He also induced a lot of weak contact, evidenced by an average exit velocity of 87.7 mph and a 38% strikeout rate.
This year’s short run in the majors with Arizona brought Ross to nine partial seasons in the majors. He is one day shy of eight years of service time. Ross showed glimpses of breaking out as a major league player early in his career, but like his older brother (Tyson Ross) was often set back due to injury. He has had Tommy John surgery in his career in addition to a procedure to remove bone spurs from his elbow. Ross also had multiple IL stints due to back injuries and shoulder issues.
Ross had a great season with the ’24 Brewers, throwing 74 innings with a 3.77 ERA and strikeout numbers that were worse than the league average. He was hit hard in half a season by the ’25 Phillies though, producing a 5.12 ERA with a low 17.1% strikeout rate. Overall, the 6’4″ righty has a 4.37 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 43% ground ball rate in 572 big league frames.
The Rangers have yet to specify what kind of role Ross will play. He’ll head to Triple-A Round Rock and likely continue to serve as at least a long-term reliever — if not a member of the rotation. Including the Rangers’ major league staff Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, MacKenzie Gore, Jack Leiter again Kumar Rocker. The depth options behind that quintet aren’t great, and the last three have all had varying degrees of struggles. Rocker’s hold in the rotation appeared to be waning, but he pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings behind the opener in his most recent appearance. That brings him to 12 2/3 scoreless frames, lowering his ERA from north of 5.00 all the way to 3.60 (albeit with lower average numbers that suggest some decline).
Veteran is right Cal Quantrill he’s pitched well in a long relief role, so it’s unlikely that Ross will jump to the majors as a swingman. That said, if Texas suffers an injury in the rotation, that could move Quantrill into the starting role and create a spot for Ross. Ross himself could be a rotation option at some point, too. He’s not fully recovered yet but has made several three-inning appearances this season – most recently in early May.
