The Rangers are placing Adolis García back on the 10-day injured list, manager Bruce Bochy tells reporters (including Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). García has been out for the past three days nursing a Grade 2 quad strain. Texas will backdate the placement to September 2, and Bochy suggested he could be back after one more week on the shelf.
Dustin Harris was selected onto the big league roster to backfill the outfield depth. Texas transferred Jon Gray from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Gray was already known to be out for the season after being diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome.
García suffered the injury while beating out a fielder’s choice on Monday. It didn’t seem especially likely that he’d be able to avoid the injured list. The Rangers preferred to play a man short for a couple games to see if García could at least factor in as a pinch-hitter for this weekend’s huge series against the Astros. That apparently wasn’t going to be on the table. García just returned from a sprained ankle and had hit .368 in his past nine games.
Harris is up to provide an extra man off the bench. The Rangers had outrighted him off the 40-man roster shortly after the trade deadline. Harris had a solid August while in Triple-A, batting .326/.379/.453 across 104 plate appearances. Texas has been forced to stretch their outfield depth with Evan Carter also injured.
29-year-old rookie Michael Helman has taken over center field and has played very well in a limited sample. Alejandro Osuna will get the majority of the right field playing time while García is out. The Rangers are going with Ezequiel Duran in right today because Houston called up rookie left-hander Colton Gordon to start the opener.
Considering all the injuries they have and that they’re still in the playoff race, I’m not sure if that shows that they’re a deep team or if the AL is that bad this year.
Both leagues suck