Lyles secured a spot as a tandem starter after allowing one run on three hits over four innings in Tuesday's spring game against the Angels, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports.
The Rangers have three traditional starters and will use a pair of multi-inning pitchers apiece to fill out the final two rotation slots. The tandems will likely be made up of a right-hander and left-hander, so Lyles is expected to be paired with a lefty such as Wes Benjamin, Taylor Hearn or Kolby Allard. "You just see by his body language, tempo and everything that [Lyles] feels really good about his stuff right now," manager Chris Woodward said. "He's got four-plus pitches right now that he feels really confident with." It's unclear how Woodward plans to order each pitcher in the tandem or how many innings each hurler will be scheduled to throw on a given day. This could impact a starter's ability to throw enough innings (five) to qualify for a win.