ARLINGTON -- The Rangers will have a right-handed Rule 5 Draft Pick reliever on their Opening Day roster, but it will be Kyle Dowdy rather than Jason Romano.

The Rangers claimed Dowdy off waivers from the Mets on Tuesday and announced he will be on their Opening Day roster. The Mets originally took Dowdy from the Indians with the 10th overall pick of the Rule 5 Draft in December.

He joins a bullpen that already includes closer Jose Leclerc, right-handers Shawn Kelley, Chris Martin, Jesse Chavez and Jeanmar Gomez, and left-hander Jeffrey Springs. One more opening remains in the eight-man bullpen.

“He’s got plus stuff,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “I hear the makeup is really good and the stuff is off the charts. Throws strikes. We’ll see. Obviously we are going to dig into him a little more and find out what his strengths are and go from there.”

Dowdy has been both a starter and a reliever in his career. His ability to pitch multiple innings in relief may allow the Rangers to send Adrian Sampson to Triple-A Nashville where he can pitch every fifth day as a starter.

Sampson is still in camp, along with right-hander Connor Sadzeck and left-hander Kyle Bird competing for the final spot in the bullpen. Bird would give the Rangers a second left-hander, which would allow the Rangers to use Springs in long relief.

Sadzeck remains the Rangers’ biggest puzzle. He is a powerful right-handed reliever who can hit 98-100 miles per hour. He struck out nine batters in 7 1/3 innings and held opponents to a .160 batting average this spring. However, he also walked eight and finished camp with an 8.59 ERA.

He is also out of options, meaning he would have to clear waivers before being sent to the Minor Leagues. One National League scout predicted Sadzeck would be claimed if the Rangers tried to put him through waivers.

“They all bring something unique to the table,” Rangers president of baseball operations and GM Jon Daniels said. “There are good reasons to keep each. [We] just have to talk through it some more.”

Dowdy caught the Rangers’ attention late in Spring Training. In his last two outings with the Mets, he went seven innings and allowed one run on six hits, with three walks and six strikeouts.

The Rangers are also going off reports from last summer that Dowdy had a midseason increase in his velocity to 93-96 miles per hour which made his other pitches better. He split last year with the Tigers and Indians organizations, going a combined 9-12 with a 5.15 ERA and a 1.484 WHIP in 20 starts and 10 relief appearances at the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

“Really took a big step middle of last year, continued to get better over the course of the spring,” Daniels said. “His last two outings in particular found what we are hoping is a level if consistency … an intriguing guy we want to bring in here and get our arms around.

“He’s got plenty of velocity, he’s got two good breaking pitches; a curveball and a hard slider. His fourth pitch is a changeup. A starter mix that has played up this spring.”

Romano was the third-overall pick of the Rule 5 Draft, taken by the White Sox from the Blue Jays and then sold to the Rangers. Dowdy will be subject to the same Rule 5 stipulation as Romano in that he must stay on the Major League roster all season or be offered back to the Indians. Romano was told by the Rangers last Thursday that he would not make the Opening Day roster and has since gone back to the Blue Jays.

Rangers beat

• The Rangers released veteran outfielder Ben Revere and optioned outfielder Zack Granite to Triple-A Nashville. Daniels said the Rangers did not have any room for Revere at Triple-A.

• The Rangers and Indians used the runner-on-second tie-breaker on Tuesday with the score tied 4-4 going into the ninth. The Rangers won in the bottom of the ninth after Granite began the inning at second. He stole third and scored on a Franklin Rollin single.

• A 33-pitch fourth inning brought Drew Smyly’s final spring outing to an end. Smyly was pulled with two outs in the inning, having thrown 72 pitches total against Cleveland. Woodward said he didn’t want to push Smyly any further, as he is scheduled to pitch Monday against the Astros.