The Rangers had one notable absence at the start of Spring Training on Wednesday -- general manager Chris Young, who was delayed because of the winter storm taking over Texas right now.

Four pitchers were also delayed, but only because of minor visa issues, Young said in a Zoom conference with the media: Joely Rodríguez, Hyun-jong Yang, José Leclerc and Fernery Ozuna.

Outside of those absences, catcher Jose Trevino said kicking off Spring Training in the middle of a pandemic is different from past years, but not as different as he was expecting.

“It felt relatively normal,” Trevino said. “As soon as you got outside, we were able to take the mask off and socially distance, and everybody's smiling and happy to be there and everybody missed each other. So, honestly, it relatively felt normal once we got inside the gates and in the field and stuff.”

• Spring Training information

Manager Chris Woodward said the most different thing about this season is not being able to see everybody all at once. The pitchers are spread out in six groups across six different fields. Woodward said that he saw only one group of pitchers during the first workout, and the staff will have to rely heavily on communication throughout the spring.

“We’ve got to be flexible with our expectations and have to change on the fly at times,” Woodward said. “I think we're kind of going into every day expecting a little chaos at times, but today overall it was good, everything was smooth.”

Injury update
• Pitcher Demarcus Evans sustained a lat injury during his offseason throwing program and is behind schedule on his rehab. He won't throw off the mound until mid-March and isn’t expected to be ready for Opening Day.

“This is a player that we like and is in our future plans, and we hope that he will be healthy,” Young said. “Our goal is to keep him healthy for the duration of the season and not rush him, so we'll take that cautiously.”

• Left-handed pitcher Brock Burke is coming off shoulder surgery that sidelined him in 2020, and he should be on the same timeline as Evans.

• Rodríguez had sprained his ankle and will be a bit behind schedule due to a delayed throwing program, but Young said it was nothing too serious and that he is fully healthy at this point.

• Justin Anderson, an offseason free-agency signing, is still coming off Tommy John surgery and won't pitch off the mound in camp as he continues to rehab.

Pitcher workload questions
Every team this season will face the challenge of increased workload following the shortened 2020 season, and the Rangers are no different. Woodward said they expect to have both Dane Dunning and Kyle Cody on an innings limit. He didn’t specify what the limit was, but he did say neither would reach 200 on the season.

• Dunning talks COVID recovery, prep for 2021

“I think that, more based on science, we're comfortable pushing guys who are healthy to where they've been historically within their career,” Young said. “So guys like Kyle Gibson, we're confident that he can go out and throw 150-plus innings. We'll let the season dictate that. We’ll monitor the health of every pitcher throughout the season, and certainly with some of the younger guys who have never really been extended at the big league level.

“I think by the end of the year, somehow, some way we'll find 1,400 innings.”

That’s why Woodward and Young said the acquisitions of Japanese pitcher Kohei Arihara and Korean lefty Yang were so important. Both threw over 130-plus innings in 2020, which was well above any pitcher the Rangers currently have on staff.

Young said Yang wanted to test himself by coming to MLB from the KBO, and he expects him to compete for a spot in the rotation.

Arihara was one pitcher Woodward was able to take a look at during the first workout of Spring Training. Woodward said they talked, through an interpreter, about why he chose the Rangers, the culture of the organization and their goals for the upcoming season.

Woodward expects Arihara to be part of the starting rotation, along with Gibson and Mike Foltynewicz. Behind those three, the rotation is not yet solidified.

“We're going to get a look at a lot of different pitchers this year,” Young said. “There's a real opportunity for some of these guys to step up and establish themselves at the big league level, opportunities that they may not have otherwise gotten in other organizations.”

Trevino as the starting catcher; depth behind him
This is the first Spring Training where Trevino is coming in as the bona fide starter behind the plate, but he said that’s not changing how he works out and prepares leading up to Opening Day.

“Nothing is going to be given to anybody, and it's going to be a competitive camp,” Trevino said. “I don't care if I'm the number-one guy, the number-five guy, it's always going to be competitive to me. And everybody knows that coming into camp.”

Behind Trevino, the Rangers added veteran catcher Drew Butera as well as Top 30 Prospects Jonah Heim and Sam Huff. Huff, who made his Major League debut in 2020, will start the season in Triple-A.

Veteran presence behind the plate is going to be important, especially with the Rangers’ young pitching staff. Trevino said he caught bullpen sessions with multiple pitchers in the offseason, including Taylor Hearn and Tyler Phillips.

“The catcher position is the most important position on the field,” Woodward said. “It's like you're the leader of the team, you're controlling a lot of different things. So watching these guys develop, and watching Jose kind of lead the way, it's been awesome.”