Robert Garcia came out of a relief appearance on Thursday with a sore throwing shoulder, and Rangers manager Skip Schumaker told reporters (including the Dallas Morning News’ Evan Grant) that Garcia underwent an MRI today to access the damage. The results of the testing isn’t yet known, but while Schumaker believes the situation isn’t too serious, Grant notes that Garcia is likely to need a few more days of rest and recovery even if the MRI comes back clean.
It has been an unusual start to the season for Garcia, who has a 3.38 ERA over eight innings despite recording more walks (seven) than strikeouts (six). Batted-ball luck has played a role, as Garcia has benefited from a .238 BABIP and a 52.4% grounder rate. Despite the shaky performance to date, the Rangers can hardly afford to lose Garcia to the injury bug, given how fellow relievers Chris Martin, Luis Curvelo, and Carter Baumler are already on the 15-day IL.
More from around the AL West…
- Angels manager Kurt Suzuki updated the media (including Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group) on the status of several injured pitchers today. Grayson Rodriguez and Ben Joyce are both expected to start facing hitters in a live batting-practice setting within the next few days, while Alek Manoah has been facing hitters at the Angels’ spring facility in Arizona. This trio began the season on the 15-day IL, as Rodriguez has been dealing with shoulder inflammation, Manoah with a finger contusion, and Joyce is in the final stages of his recovery from a May 2025 shoulder surgery. Kirby Yates also began the year on the 15-day IL due to left knee inflammation, but the reliever started a Triple-A rehab assignment on Friday. Yates told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger that the rehab assignment will consist of at least a few more games, as Yates is still working on building up his velocity and gaining some weight.
- Catching up on an IL placement from Friday, the Mariners sent Patrick Wisdom to the 10-day injured list (retroactive to April 15) due to a left oblique strain. Wisdom just had his minor league contract selected to the 26-man roster on Tuesday and he appeared in that day’s game as a pinch-hitter before getting hurt. The lone appearance marked Wisdom’s first MLB game since 2024, when the infielder was still a member of the Cubs.
The Angels bullpen is really bad and Suzuki makes it worse. Hopefully Yates can recapture what he had last time equaled with Maddux.
Its mostly just Shaun Anderson and Romano shold probably pitch in the 7th or 8th, its been mostly fine otherwise.
Zefferjan is always eitehr the greatest reliever in history or cant throw a strike.
Pitching has not been the Angels problem. We just lost a disappointing and what seems like a winnable series in which the 2 losses were in games the Angels scored just one run each.
What happened in NY is exactly the concern—games slipping late because the bullpen couldn’t lock it down. That series easily could’ve been a sweep with a reliable back end. Hoping getting those three arms back actually stabilizes things, shortens games, and takes pressure off the starters. Until then, it’s hard to say pitching isn’t an issue.
You gotta score runs to win. Padres only scored a total of 4 more runs in the 2 loses. Impressed with their closer.
Can a healthy Joyce pitch like that and will we ever get to find out?
Pitching has been the problem. Too many walks! The offense has been good. Need to lower Ks and put ball in play more, but that BP struggles. SP showed up vs a hot SD team.
We scored 2 runs in the last 2 games of that SD series. The offense didn’t show up. The pitching did for the entire series as the Padres scored only 5 runs in 3 games.
Half a game out of first!!! So enthused that they are not 8 games under 500. The team is just as good as anyone they have played.
Give it time.
Considering the teams they have been playing one game under is respectable. They are going to be playing some teams that are not as good and they will need to do better against them.
The rotation has been pretty good, but the bullpen has not. I think a lot of it is Suzuki. So many times this year I have seen a reliever go multiple innings and whenever that has happened, it has often times went sideways Also, we get in situations like in NY where the closer hasn’t pitched in 10 plus days and we see a meltdown due to inactivity.
Suzuki has made a ton of mistakes. Sitting Romano for a week,and his BP usage is weird. The lack of preparation for challenges is odd. Kikuchi tweaking his delivery and gets called out on radio for immediate change. Terrible! Offensively, they’ve impressed. Urena looked great as as SP vs RP (only because they had limited options). They should’ve signed a vet for the backend so they’re not rushing their young guys. They finally have some SP depth, but they need BP help sooner vs later, and I blame Perry for that.
For AAAA player; I always say “it’s better to get hurt on the mlb roster, than the minors”.
Kurt Suzuki just doesn’t have the heartbeat of this bullpen. The timing is off, the matchups are off, and the decisions feel like guesses instead of reads. Some of these bullpen pieces aren’t even deserving playing at this level Kurt Suzuki rides them like they’re shutdown arms.
Meanwhile, the position‑player who has disappointed me
Josh Lowe? Total bust. Bad trade. That’s a miss you can’t hide.
This team has some fight you can see it but the mistakes from the dugout and the front office keep dragging them down. Clean up the bullpen usage, bring in a real closer
I would have guessed that the pitching coaches would have some input on who to bring in and how long to leave them in. Are we thinking Suzuki is overriding their guidance on the calls that haven’t worked out?
Its early. I like Lowes talent and swing, but hes looked overwatch too often. If it continues his playing should diminish
Lowe is struggling badly….Rada and Raudi Rodriguez are looking like call ups sometime this year.
Josh Lowe looks completely overmatched right now. A supposed slash‑and‑speed guy who isn’t even making contact is just a dead spot in the lineup. Every at‑bat feels like a guess, every swing feels late, and the Angels can’t keep running out a corner outfielder who isn’t producing.
At some point, you stop “hoping he figures it out and start bringing in new blood.
Give me Nelson Rada.
Give me Raudi Rodriguez.
Give me guys who actually put the ball in play and bring energy instead of empty at‑bats.
We need a new owner Arte Moreno runs Angels from the top to the bottom.
Brock Burke is doing great right now. Buyers remorse, anyone?