Surprise, Ariz. — The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has signed free agent right-handed pitcher Michael Lorenzen (#23) to a one-year contract covering the 2024 season.

To make room for Lorenzen on the 40-man roster, the club has placed right-handed pitcher Jacob deGrom on the 60-day Injured List as he continues recovery from right elbow surgery.

The 32-year-old Lorenzen combined to go 9-9 with a 4.18 ERA (71 ER/153.0 IP) over 29 games/25 starts for Detroit and Philadelphia in 2023, when he was selected to the All-Star Game for the first time while setting career highs in innings, starts, strikeouts (111), and wins. He held opposing left-handed batters to a .218 batting average, the 12th-lowest mark among right-handed starters in the Majors last year (minimum 25 starts). He began the year with the Tigers, going 5-7 with a 3.58 ERA and 1.098 WHIP figure over 18 starts before he was acquired by the Phillies in an August 1 trade. In his second start with the club and first home outing in Philadelphia, Lorenzen produced the 14th no-hitter in franchise history on August 9 vs. Washington.

Lorenzen has served primarily as a starting pitcher the past two seasons, combining to go 17-15 with a 4.20 ERA over 47 games/43 starts in 2022-23. Over his first seven MLB campaigns with Cincinnati from 2015-21, he had 295 games and just 26 starts. His 336.2 relief innings from 2016-21 ranked as 4th-most in the National League and 15th-most in MLB over that span.

Over a nine-year Major League career, Lorenzen has a 40-38 record with 15 saves and a 4.11 ERA over 342 games/69 starts with Cincinnati (2015-21), Los Angeles-AL (2022), Detroit (2023), and Philadelphia (2023). He has seen action in 4 career postseason games with the Reds (2020) and Phillies (2023). The former two-way player has seen limited action at all three outfield positions in the Majors while averaging one home run for every 19.0 at-bats (7 HR/133 AB) as a hitter.

The veteran pitched and played outfield at Cal-State Fullerton, where he established a school record with 35 career saves and was teammates with San Francisco third baseman Matt Chapman. He was a finalist for the 2013 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award and was named a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist, a Louisville Slugger first-team All-America selection, and All-Big West Conference. The Fullerton native was selected by Cincinnati in the first round (38th overall) of the 2013 MLB Draft.

deGrom will be sidelined for the start of the 2024 season after having ‘Tommy John’ ligament reconstruction surgery on his right elbow on June 12, 2023. He went 2-0 with a 2.67 ERA over 6 starts in his first season with Texas last year.

With today’s transactions, the Rangers remain at the 40-man limit on the Major League roster along with two players (Carson Coleman, Jacob deGrom) on the 60-day Injured List.