Three questions, three answers from the Texas Rangers’ 3-1 victory at Minnesota

For all those sitting on the edge of their seats for a Khris Davis update, here you go:

The veteran designated hitter will be activated from the injured list no later than Sunday, Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward said.

Davis is likely to officially begin a rehab assignment Thursday as Triple A Round Rock opens its season. He might play in just one rehab game, Woodward said, but could get up to three.

At the very least, the Rangers want Davis, a right-handed hitter, in the lineup Sunday against Seattle Mariners left-hander Justus Sheffield.

Davis’ arrival could result in the Rangers shipping Eli White to Round Rock. White is in an 0-for-21 skid, though he was robbed by the great Byron Buxton on a deep drive in the ninth inning Wednesday.

The Rangers, though, are on a two-game winning streak.

Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

What’s next for Yang?

Hyeon Jong-Yang wasn’t going to throw more than 75 pitches in his first MLB start, a number he has yet to reach since coming to the United States in February for spring training.

The left-hander was pulled in the fourth inning after 61 pitches. The bases were loaded with one out in a 1-1 tie. The Rangers needed a ground ball, so they went with lefty John King.

Yang left the mound after glove-bumping the infielders and shaking hands with Woodward. The start was a success, so much so that Yang was awarded the cowboy hat from his peers as player of the game.

However, he said he would give himself a 50 out of 100 because he didn’t pitch deeper into the game.

Boy, is he strict.

But the only run against Yang was a long homer by Twins catcher Mitch Garver. Yang allowed three other hits and a walk, but he also struck out eight batters. His changeup was very good, and so was he as long as he commanded both sides of the plate.

“The changeup was one of my go-to pitch in Korea,” Yang said. “If felt more comfortable with my changeup more than my slider.”

He was definitely better than right-hander Kohei Arihara has been his past two starts. Yang replaced Arihara on Wednesday as Arihara deals with a blister and discomfort in his middle finger.

Woodward, though, said that he isn’t sure what role Yang will have for his next outing.

“I think we’ll talk about it, but I’m not sure,” Woodward said. “If we feel like we want push everybody back a day and continue to let him pitch, we’ll make that decision, or we’ll just use him in a tandem role or use him in bulk innings.”

King for a day?

The Rangers need King in their bullpen. He’s been one of their best relievers and has worked his way into pitching in high-leverage situations.

King arguably recorded the two biggest outs of the game for the Rangers, albeit in the fourth inning in relief of Yang. King did exactly what the Rangers wanted him to do, producing a tapper back to the mound and a grounder to shortstop as the Rangers escaped a bases-loaded no-outs jam.

“It’s been fun,” King said. “The confidence has been growing. I’m just going out and trying to compete and learn about myself.”

He said some of his success in high-leverage situations is tied to meditation he has been doing with mental-skills coach Mike Franco. He tries to focus on his breathing, four seconds in, hold for four and four back out.

“As you get better and better with it, on the mound it helps calm me down,” King said.

He lowered his ERA to 1.13 after 16 appearances. He appears to have this relief thing down, even though he was a starter in the minor leagues and would like a chance to start in the majors.

The Rangers, who are rebuilding and need to develop some starting pitchers for the future, need to see what that looks like.

It might not be this year, but King is giving them a good look in his multiple-inning relief appearances.

“It’s definitely in his future. We all kind of believe that,” Woodward said. “I don’t know about right now. We only have five slots. We can’t start six or seven guys, obviously. But the role he’s in now, he loves it. He’s been pitching really well in it.”

A fun team?

My friends at Fox Sports Central Texas and I were talking about the Rangers, as we do each Wednesday, and we agreed that this team has been entertaining so far this season.

Think about it. You can count on one hand the numbers of times when they were never in the game. A good 85%-90% of the time, though, they have a had a chance to win no matter how futile they may have looked offensively or on the mound.

In other words, we don’t dread sitting down to watch a Rangers game.

Compare that to 35 years ago, when those of us growing up in Colorado had to watch the Atlanta Braves on WTBS to get our baseball fix. Those teams, the pre-Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz teams, were awful. In fact, play-by-play man Skip Carey once said during a terrible pitching inning that now would be a good time to take your dog for a walk.

These Rangers aren’t those Braves. Maybe that’s coming, in part because it might be difficult for the pitching to sustain its current levels, but through 32 games the 2021 Rangers have exceeded expectations.