Marc Church News: Makes spring debut

Church (lat) struck out a batter and was charged with two runs (one earned) on two hits over an inning of relief Sunday in the Rangers' 5-3 loss to the Dodgers in Cactus League play.

After being brought along slowly in spring training while he recovered from a right lat strain, Church finally completed his throwing progression and received clearance to make his Cactus League debut Sunday. The right-hander pumped in 13 of his 19 pitches for strikes, but he ended up taking the loss after surrendering a tie-breaking RBI single to Andy Pages. Though Church is one of the more talented relief arms on Texas' 40-man roster, the time he missed in camp along with the fact that he has a minor-league option remaining could hurt his chances of winning a spot in the Rangers' Opening Day bullpen.