Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Patient Oliver working way back to majors

Darren Oliver may be the only player in all of triple-A in no rush to get to the majors.

After all, the last time he hurried back, all it got him was a return trip to the disabled list, and the minors.

So it's no surprise that after pitching five solid innings for the Oklahoma RedHawks Wednesday night, the 29-year-old left-hander was cautious when assessing his performance.

"It felt pretty good; not as strong as I would like but it felt good," said Oliver, who yielded one run and five hits, striking out four and walking four.

A productive major league starter who won 27 games with the Texas Rangers during the 1996 and '97 seasons, Oliver re-signed with Texas as a free agent after going 9-9 with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1999.

His return to the Rangers got off to a rocky start, however, with Oliver earning just two wins in his first 13 starts of the season. The 6-2, 210-pounder complained of weakness in his throwing shoulder, prompting a trip to the disabled list and his first rehab assignment with Oklahoma in early July.

Oliver's first three starts with the RedHawks were successful, with the southpaw allowing just one earned run in 10 2/3 innings, and the Rangers recalled him immediately.

Three starts and 16 earned runs later, Oliver was back on the DL, this time without a timetable for a return.

"I think I wasn't quite ready," Oliver said. "My location wasn't where I wanted it to be. They just said, 'Go down there and get yourself ready.' There's not too much baseball left this season anyway."

With the Rangers in last place in the American League West, Oliver is focusing on the future. And he wants to make sure that this time, when he returns to the big leagues, he can stick around.

"I'm working on getting all my pitches and throwing them all over for strikes," he said. "When that happens, I'll know I'm ready."

"It's always bound to happen when you have a situation like that," Stars manager Tony Franklin said. "Hopefully, you get through it until you can get reinforcements."

With Padres general manager Kevin Towers and player development director Tye Waller in attendance Wednesday night, those reinforcements could come sooner than later, although Franklin cautioned that it could still take time to add a new backstop.

"We're still searching, but if there's a catcher out there who's any good he's probably on somebody's club right now," Franklin said. "The easiest thing would be to move someone up from (double-A) Mobile, but they're also shorthanded right now."

Roskos, who hasn't played the position since spring training, handled himself well behind the plate during his three innings of work, earning praise from his manager.

"I didn't know what to expect, but he did a heck of a job," Franklin said. "He was framing pitches, and he blocked some pitches with runners on base. It looked like he was back there all the time."

Sikorski wound up tossing seven scoreless innings against the two-time defending champs to earn a victory in his major league debut. He struck out five batters and surrendered just four hits and four walks.

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