The Rangers' “creative” pitching plans have taken shape in the final days of Spring Training, at least for the first week of the regular season.

The three traditional starters of Kyle Gibson, Kohei Arihara and Mike Foltynewicz have been set, but the two tandem starters have now been confirmed. Jordan Lyles and Dane Dunning, the Rangers' No. 3 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, will be on the front end of the tandems, therefore getting the official “start” in the books. That makes all five of Texas’ first starters right-handed.

Rangers manager Chris Woodward has said he prefers to pair the right-handed tandems with a left-handed counterpart, meaning it looks like Taylor Hearn and Wes Benjamin will take over after Lyles or Dunning reach a pitch limit.

Woodward did say that Lyles is “close” to pushing himself back into traditional starter status after a strong offseason and spring.

“I think that's something I hope happens sooner than later,” Woodward said. “But I also think it's in his best interest to get off to a good start and keep it I would say to a minimum. I just want to let him go out and get some confidence. He feels really good right now.”

This is how the schedule figures to play out for the first five games of the season:

• Kyle Gibson @ K.C. (Opening Day) -- Thursday
• Kohei Arihara @ K.C. -- Saturday
• Jordan Lyles + Taylor Hearn @ K.C. -- Sunday
• Mike Foltynewicz vs. TOR (Home opener) -- Monday
• Dane Dunning + Wes Benjamin (vs. TOR) -- Tuesday

“It's gonna be a tough challenge to do the tandem the whole year,” Woodward said. “It was one of those things where I hope one of these guys [we can extend them traditionally]. Especially Jordan, who's got no limit. He's thrown a ton of innings in the past and he can build up to whatever.”

Foltynewicz said, after pitching the Rangers' final exhibition game against the Brewers, a 6-3 loss, that it was good for him to be able to pitch in Globe Life Field before the home opener. He’s never pitched in a live game there, but he was present for the Braves' NLCS loss to the Dodgers last postseason, when he was part of the taxi squad.

Tuesday wasn’t his best outing, as he threw four innings, allowing six runs on six hits and two walks.

“It's two totally different ballparks in my opinion when the roof is open versus closed,” Foltynewicz said. “The wind blows pretty good, you really can't figure out where it's blowing. Some balls that are hit in here you kind of got to hold your breath a little bit when the roof’s open. Other than that, the ballpark is beautiful. It's a very, very comfortable environment out there.”

Roster moves
The Rangers on Tuesday made the following roster moves:

• Selected the contracts of infielder Brock Holt and right-handed pitcher Ian Kennedy to the Major League roster.

• Placed right-handed pitchers Jonathan Hernández and José Leclerc on the 60-day injured list. The Major League roster remains at 39.

Up next
Opening Day! The Rangers will take on the Royals in Kansas City (3:10 p.m. CT) to kick off the 2021 season. Veteran righty Gibson will take on the Royals’ Brad Keller to start things off.

“Obviously, we tried to prepare all Spring Training with a lot of different things,” Woodward said. “I think we accomplished a lot, and, now, it's real games, real meaningful games. We're all excited about it. It's not gonna be easy. Obviously, every season has its challenges. I can't wait to go to battle with these guys.”

Woodward, who is coming into his third season at the helm of the club, believes that Texas is in the best position it's been since he became part of the organization, despite overall low expectations for '21.

The Rangers are far from perfect, Woodward said, though he feels like the club accomplished a lot of its goals for the spring. The biggest thing for this season is to see growth across the field, from both the young guys and the veterans alike.

“No matter how good you are, you're always trying to be better,” Woodward said. “I don't ever want to say we're in great shape or perfect shape. I want our guys to be hungry to keep improving. The state of mind we're in, we want to take every day, embrace every day and try to win the game and learn from it.”