ARLINGTON, Texas — Dane Dunning didn’t pay much attention to the pain at first. He thought it was the side effects of a season’s workload on his back.
But when it became difficult for the in-game adrenaline to mask, he knew it was an issue. After a talk with team trainers and an MRI last September, his problem went from nagging to season ending. He tore his labrum in his right hip. The season was in its final month, so he began preparing himself to renter the starting rotation for the 2023 season — a chance he wouldn’t get at first.
When the Rangers signed free agent pitchers Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney for a combined $244 million in the offseason, it left Dunning as the odd man out and in the bullpen.
