ARLINGTON -- After Nathaniel Lowe suffered a right oblique strain that will sideline him until mid-April, the Rangers have spent much of Spring Training deciding who should be their interim first baseman. Veteran Jared Walsh and prospect Justin Foscue were the leading candidates, having recorded more than 50 plate appearances each this spring -- and now Walsh has emerged as the clear favorite to win the job on Opening Day, as the Rangers are expected to option Foscue to Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday.

In a quirk of timing, Foscue was actually on the field at second base in the seventh inning of Monday’s 9-2 exhibition loss to the Red Sox when news of his demotion was posted to the Minor League Baseball transaction wire. The Rangers plan to make official announcements of their roster moves Tuesday, manager Bruce Bochy said.

“The first thing that goes into it is the needs of the ballclub,” Bochy said of the final decisions in spring. “Sometimes it gets to where everybody’s having a good spring, doing the job that you were hoping they would do, but there’s not a spot on the club because we have a need somewhere else.”

Walsh had some headstarts in the race to be Lowe’s understudy. Walsh is a veteran of 364 MLB games and a first baseman by trade; Foscue has limited experience at the position and has yet to make his big league debut. MLB Pipeline rates Foscue, a right-handed batter, as the Rangers’ No. 6 prospect.

Walsh was the Angels’ everyday first baseman in 2021, his best season, when he slashed .277/.340/.509 with 29 homers in 144 games and made the All-Star team. Injuries derailed much of the past two seasons, though.

This spring, Foscue looked strong at the plate, batting .261 (12-for-46) with one homer and four doubles.

With Foscue headed back to the Minors, first base belongs to Walsh except for when Bochy platoons him with Ezekiel Duran, a right handed batter. The Rangers face Cubs lefty Justin Steele in Thursday’s season opener.

Walsh “can handle lefties,” Bochy said. “He’s showed power off them this spring. Duran’s getting some play there, too, in case there’s a lefty that we want to put Duran [against] to get that matchup we want.”

“He gives you good at-bats,” Bochy said of Foscue. “If anything, it was good to see how well he played defensively, he played a good second base, a little bit of first base, he did a nice job there.”

Room for improvement, even for a champ
It’s hard to say the Rangers had an Achilles’ heel in 2023, considering the outcome. But prior to their amazing postseason run, the Rangers’ bullpen was often unreliable. The relief corps could have been the difference between being Wild Card entrants or the American League West division champions, a crown they lost by a tiebreaker to the Astros.

The Texas bullpen’s 4.77 ERA was the fifth worst in the AL. Only two AL clubs failed to convert the majority of their save opportunities, and the Rangers’ 47.6 percent success rate was the worst in the Majors. It’s perhaps the one thing that could definitely improve.

“It was an issue last year with us, to be honest, that’s fair,” Bochy said. “I do think we’re sitting better at this point especially with a couple experienced guys that we have with [Kirby] Yates and [David] Robertson. But along that line, you look at [Nate] Sborz, he started last year on the IL and he’s emerged as one of the better setup guys. And you have to include [closer Jose] Leclerc, who was dealing with the neck issue. I think overall, yeah, we’re sitting better this year.”

Rangers hope to get Lorenzen ready quickly
Newly acquired right-handed pitcher Michael Lorenzen, whom the Rangers signed Friday, is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Tuesday, Bochy said. Lorenzen logged a combined 153 innings in 2023 for the Tigers and Phillies, but hasn’t seen game action yet this year after it took virtually all of Spring Training for him to find a new team.

“We’re building him up,” Bochy said, noting that Lorenzen is “a candidate” for the Opening Day roster. “He’s been throwing a lot, but the plan is to see where we’re at [Tuesday] when he gets a nice bullpen … I think his arm and everything, he’s really close.”