Eddie Gamboa Is A Change Of Pace For Rangers

SURPRISE, Ariz.—Eddie Gamboa rates as one of the most intriguing—and possibly the most entertaining—newcomers to the Rangers spring pitching staff, but not solely because the 32-year-old righthander’s featured pitch is a knuckleball.

Actually, it’s all about the knuckleball.

In Gamboa, the Rangers have a candidate to be the change-of-pace reliever they like to have in their bullpen and a versatile pitcher who could work multiple innings on consecutive days or make a spot start for them.

With lefthanded reliever Jake Diekman out and lefty Alex Claudio possibly moving into a more specialized role than he had last season as the change-of-pace long man, Gamboa is a pitcher to watch.

He’s willing to fill multiple roles.

“The goal is to be at the big league level,” said Gamboa, the Orioles’ 21st-round pick in 2008 out of UC Davis. “Whatever they need is what I have prepared for.”

The Rangers acquired Gamboa in a cash transaction with the Rays on Feb. 14, the day pitchers and catchers reported to camp, and had watched him toss two scoreless innings against them in the 2016 season finale.

Gamboa was a September callup by the Rays and recorded a 1.35 ERA in 13.1 relief innings. He had produced a 2.68 ERA in 27 games (12 starts) at Triple-A Durham.

The only homer he allowed in 107.1 innings in 2016 was a Sept. 28 solo shot by White Sox all-star Todd Frazier.

Gamboa throws his knuckler harder than most, much like R.A. Dickey, and is capable of mixing speeds with it. He also tops out at 90 mph with his fastball and throws a cutter.

“He can ramp it up and back it off,” Rangers pitching coach Doug Brocail said. “Knuckleballers can be really intriguing to everybody—from fans to the pitching coach.”

RANGERS ROUNDUP

• The Rangers made lefthander Andrew Faulkner one of the first pitchers demoted to minor league camp a year after he made the Opening Day roster. The Rangers hope the early option to Triple-A Round Rock will help him get more individual coaching and have him ready for an early callup.

• Shortstop Michael De Leon, who spent all of last season at high Class A High Desert, has seen regular work in Cactus League games as a replacement for Rangers regulars. Signed as a slight 16-year-old international free agent in 2013, he said that he now weighs 195 pounds.

— Jeff Wilson covers the Rangers for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram