Profar to open Spring Training with limits

ARLINGTON -- Rangers second baseman Jurickson Profar is dealing with tendinitis in his right shoulder and will not be at full strength when Spring Training opens next week in Arizona. Pitchers are reporting Sunday, with position players arriving next Wednesday.

Profar will be able to do everything except throw. General manager Jon Daniels said Profar would most likely need at least a week before he could start a throwing program. He will probably start Cactus League play needing to get his at-bats at designated hitter, but the Rangers expect him to have plenty of time to prepare for the regular season.

"He'll still be able to participate in [pitchers fielding practice] and team fundamentals like bunt defense, all the things he needs to do to get ready," Daniels said. "It's just the throwing; he'll be about a week behind."

Profar enters camp as the leading candidate to be the Rangers' starting second baseman. But he still has to earn the job. The Rangers have options, including veterans Adam Rosales, Brent Lillibridge and Josh Wilson, and rookies Rougned Odor and Luis Sardinas.

"We have not brought anybody who is guaranteed to be on the club, but we've brought in a number of guys externally and internally," Daniels said, adding that Profar "has to put his head down and show what he can do. Hopefully he can do that, but he has to earn it."