Before you know it, baseball season will be here.
The Texas Rangers announced that pitchers and catchers will report Feb. 20 in Surprise, Ariz., with the first workout the next day. Position players report Wednesday, Feb. 25, and the first full squad workout is Thursday.
The Cactus League schedule opens March 4 when the Rangers meet the defending AL champion Kansas City Royals in Surprise.
A few things to look for:
Yu Darvish's first workout. Darvish missed nearly the last month and a half of the season with elbow inflammation.
Prince returns. First baseman Prince Fielder, limited to basically two months of the season because of neck problems, should be ready to go.
There are several injured players in addition to Fielder returning, including Matt Harrison, Alexi Ogando, Shin-Soo Choo, Martin Perez and Jurickson Profar.
The battle for the backup catcher could be between Tomas Telis, Chris Gimenez and maybe a veteran free agent.
Oh yeah, this is manager Jeff Banister's first spring training as the skipper. He replaces Ron Washington, who resigned late last season.
