Hoping to avoid the injuries that have plagued his first two seasons in Texas and hoping to become a more efficient starter, McCarthy decided to exchange the curve for a slider. Though it's not quite as pretty as the big curve, a slider, which sweeps away from right-handed batters, can be easier to control.

"It's something I'll evaluate as I go along," McCarthy told D Magazine.com after a "B" game outing on Friday. "But the slider allows me to expand the strike zone and it helps with my consistency. The curveball simply has not been good enough. If I don't have that good command and consistency with the pitch, I'm going to get hurt by it."

The Rangers weren't that concerned about the slider going into Friday's outing. They were more worried to see how McCarthy responded after he had a bit of shoulder soreness earlier in the week. As a precaution, the team moved him from the regular exhibition to the more controllable "B" game environment.

McCarthy gave them nothing to worry about. After a lazy changeup was smacked for a leadoff homer, he buckled down for an 11-pitch at-bat against major-leaguer Willie Bloomquist that eventually ended with a foul pop to third base. The rest of the way, his fastball was lively and the new slider was effective. He got a called third strike on Billy Butler with a slider.

"It really opened my eyes," pitching coach Mike Maddux said of the slider. "He threw it to get strikes and he used it to get outs. I was impressed."

Not that Maddux was pessimistic about the development of the pitch. He just wants to ensure McCarthy doesn't shelve it completely. Maddux believes it's entirely possible McCarthy has grown a bit gun-shy about throwing the more physically-taxing curve because of the arm and shoulder injuries he's sustained the last two years.

"I know I'd be a little bit gun-shy," Maddux said. "It's a tool we still have. But sometimes when you sustain an injury on a pitch, it can make you a little more hesitant about going back to that pitch."