Willie Calhoun to be ready for MLB's 2020 season
Almost two weeks after taking a fastball to the face from Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Julio Urias, Willie Calhoun is remaining optimistic about returning to baseball activities very soon. The Texas Rangers outfielder underwent surgery March 9 to repair a non-displaced jaw fracture as a result of the hit by pitch.
Calhoun told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, "I want so much to be ready to play on opening day. Getting hit and the feeling afterward that I was going to miss opening day was the lowest of feelings, even lower than getting sent down last year. I was so excited to have a breakout year. Everything was set up for me to take a deep breath this spring and then really step forward."
The 25-year-old Californian native says he's been eating soft food and might have been up for joining team workouts next week if they were happening.
Before his injury - and the postponed start to the MLB season, - Calhoun was seen as a potential breakout candidate after having a .269 batting average and 21 home runs across 83 games in 2019.
Calhoun feels confident in his potential return this season, "I know, if this is pushed back to May, I'm going to be ready."
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MAY 26, 2026
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| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Dylan Coghlan | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nic Dowd | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nazem Kadri | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Martin Necas | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Shea Theodore | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
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| Pavel Dorofeyev | - | - | - | |
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| Jack Eichel | - | - | - | |
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