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Rangers Designate Kevin Jepsen For Assignment

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The Rangers announced on Monday that righty Kevin Jepsen has been designated for assignment. His spot on the active roster will go to fellow right-handed reliever Matt Bush, who has been recalled from Triple-A. Additionally, the Rangers announced that infielder/outfielder Drew Robinson has been activated from the disabled list and optioned to Triple-A.

Jepsen, 33, broke camp with the Rangers after coming to Spring Training on a minor league contract. While he got off to a strong start to his season, yielding just two runs through his first 10 2/3 frames, his early output never appeared all that sustainable. Jepsen survived a 6-to-4 K/BB ratio and just a six percent swinging-strike rate through those 10 2/3 frames due largely to a .207 BABIP and an elevated strand rate. Over his past 10 appearances, he’s been tagged for nine earned runs on the strength of four homers allowed in just six innings.

In all, Jepsen’s abbreviated run with the Rangers wraps up with a 5.94 ERA and more walks (11) than strikeouts (eight) in 16 2/3 innings of work. It’s possible, of course, that he accepts an outright assignment to Triple-A upon clearing waivers and returns to the organization at some point later in 2018 to try to improve upon those numbers. But, given his level of service time, he can also reject an outright assignment and return to the open market in search of a new opportunity.

As for Bush, he’ll be looking to get back on track after surrendering nine walks through his first 11 2/3 innings of the season. The righty served as the closer in Texas at times in 2017 and has been a generally useful reliever in Texas dating back to his debut in 2016. He totaled nine innings with Round Rock after being optioned to Triple-A, yielding just two runs on nine hits with a 14-to-4 K/BB ratio.

Adrian Beltre Placed On 10-Day DL With Hamstring Strain

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TODAY: Beltre is indeed going to the DL, per a club announcement. The team activated righty Doug Fister and called up Ryan Rua.

Those moves required an additional roster spot , which was created by optioning reliever Matt Bush. That’s obviously a disappointing turn of events for Bush, who needs to iron things out after allowing nine walks in his 11 1/3 innings thus far in 2018.

YESTERDAY: The injury-plagued Rangers took yet another hit on Tuesday, as third baseman Adrian Beltre exited the team’s game against the A’s with a strained left hamstring (Twitter link via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). A trip to the disabled list seems likely but is not official yet, Grant notes.

Beltre incurred the injury after lacing a would-be double the gap in right-center field, but he pulled up a few steps out of the batter’s box and hobbled into first base (video link via MLB.com). He walked off the field and headed to the clubhouse immediately.

As Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram details, Beltre seemed dejected after the game and said he’s set for an MRI tomorrow morning. “It’s not feeling great,” he told Rangers reporters. The 39-year-old was partially spiked by former teammate Jonathan Lucroy earlier in the game but made certain to not only tell the media that his injury had nothing to do with that incident but to also take the blame for being poorly positioned: “I was standing right in the middle. It was my fault.”

A trip to the DL for Beltre would put 75 percent of the Rangers’ starting infield on the shelf. Elvis Andrus is likely to miss around eight weeks with a fracture in his right elbow after being hit by a pitch last week, and Rougned Odor is still on the disabled list with a hamstring strain of his own.

[Related: Texas Rangers depth chart]

Texas isn’t without options, of course. First baseman/left fielder Joey Gallo is a natural third baseman and could slide across the diamond, thus opening the door for regular at-bats for well-regarded prospect Ronald Guzman at first base. Renato Nunez was recently claimed off waivers from the A’s and brings a few thousand innings of minor league experience at third base to the table. Wilson speculates that perhaps a DL trip for Beltre could push Gallo to the hot corner and create an opening in left field for top prospect Willie Calhoun; in that scenario, the Rangers would be getting full-time looks at a number of important young options in Gallo, Calhoun, Guzman and Jurickson Profar.

West Notes: Bush, Athletics, Greinke

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The Rangers are set to move right-hander Matt Bush back to the bullpen role in which he thrived for much of the 2016-17 seasons, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The 32-year-old righty had been in the mix for a rotation spot to this point, but he expressed peace of mind with the decision to return to the ’pen, indicating that he’s “very happy” to have clarity over his role and that he feels the team made the right decision. As Grant notes, the decision likely means Texas’ rotation will consist of Cole Hamels, Matt Moore, Doug Fister and Mike Minor early in the year, with Martin Perez able to join that quartet as early as his health permits. Jesse Chavez is on hand as a long relief option, and Bartolo Colon could have an easy path to cracking the big league roster if Perez needs some DL time early in the year.

Elsewhere in the western divisions …

  • The Athletics’ offseason moves and budding farm system have made them into a more interesting club than many are giving them credit for, opines ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. The pairing of Matt Chapman and Matt Olson at the team’s infield corners gives them one of the game’s great young defensive players — one AL evaluator from another club likened Chapman’s glove to that of Nolan Arenado and Manny Machado — and an impressive young slugger whose fast rise in the big leagues mirrored that of Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins. (Olson hit .259/.352/.651 with 24 homers in 216 plate appearances.) Paired with one of the game’s most under-the-radar sluggers (Khris Davis) and interesting upper-level prospects like left-hander A.J. Puk, the A’s could surprise some in 2018, even if they’re not likely to vault up into to division contention just yet. Crasnick spoke to GM David Forst, manager Bob Melvin and scouts from other clubs about the improving young A’s club.
  • While there’s still plenty of time left in camp, there’s some rising unease within the Diamondbacks organization surrounding Zack Greinke, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. Greinke himself noted that he’s somewhat “nervous” that he won’t be working in his typical low-nineties range by the start of the season given that he’s still sitting in the mid-eighties with his fastball. Picking up on those comments, in the context of the team’s plans for an Opening Day starter, skipper Torey Lovullo acknowledged being “concerned about where [Greinke is] at” and said he plans to “let everything kind of settle down” before the club decides who’ll take the ball to open the season. Of course, it doesn’t matter as much whether Greinke throws the first pitch as it does that he’s at full strength. As to that matter, Lovullo suggested he’s nowhere near panicking over the veteran hurler. Instead, he stressed, his “concern is minimal” that Greinke will ultimately get up to speed and be prepared to attempt a repeat of a strong 2017 effort.

AL West Notes: Jay, Beltre, Bush, Rangers, Peacock

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The Mariners were linked to Jon Jay back in November, and ESPN’s Buster Olney (subscription required) reports that Seattle had enough interest to offer Jay a three-year contract.  The two sides didn’t reach an agreement, however, and Jay’s free agent sojourn only ended last week when he signed a one-year, $3MM deal with the Royals.  It’s easy to second-guess Jay’s decision in hindsight, though of course he (like many other free agents) could hardly have expected the market freeze that left several players settling for contracts that fell well below their initial asking prices.  The M’s ended up going in a more unorthodox direction to solve their center field problem, instead acquiring second baseman Dee Gordon from the Marlins and converting him into an outfield role.

Some more news and notes from around the AL West…

  • In a recent appearance on 105.3 The Fan’s Ben And Skin Show (partial transcript from the Dallas Morning News), Adrian Beltre discussed his future both with the Rangers and as a player in general.  The 20-year MLB veteran is taking his career on an annual basis, noting that “I can’t tell you it’s going to be this year or next year or the year after that” when he finally hangs up his glove.  The main factors in Beltre’s decision include his health, his level of production and whether or not he is still on a contender.  Plus, Beltre is seemingly intrigued by the idea of going out on top, saying “It would be easier for me if we won the World Series this year or next year to go home.”  Beltre hopes to achieve that goal in a Rangers uniform, noting that he doesn’t want to be traded, though such a scenario could happen if Texas falls out of contention by the deadline (Beltre is entering the last year of his contract).  If he heads into free agency while still a Ranger, Beltre said “it would make it easy for me” to re-sign with the club if the Rangers promised to make a big push to contend in 2019.
  • The Rangers have decided to keep Matt Bush in the bullpen, manager Jeff Banister told reporters (including MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan).  Bush came into spring camp with the hopes of getting himself into the rotation mix, though the righty will instead be deployed as a setup man and potentially as a multi-inning reliever.  Banister believes Bush is most valuable to Texas in this role, and thus Bush isn’t a candidate to serve as the Rangers’ closer.
  • Brad Peacock may also be ticketed for a multi-inning relief role, as The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan writes that the Astros have used Peacock in two-inning stints in each of his three Spring Training appearances.  Houston places a high value on multi-inning relievers and could theoretically deploy several of their bullpen arms in that fashion, though Kaplan feels Chris Devenski could be in line for more one-inning outings after appearing to tire in the second half of the 2017 season.  Peacock has extra durability as a former starting pitcher and his stuff lends itself well to such a relief role.  He held hitters to just a .420 OPS during his first time through the lineup last season, easily the lowest OPS of any pitcher who made at least 20 starts.

AL West Notes: Holland, Bush, Ohtani, Zych

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The Rangers don’t appear to have anyone firmly in place as the their closer, though the recently-signed Tim Lincecum is one candidate to win the job. There’s at least a possibility that they could fill the position externally, as Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports in his latest “Inside Baseball” column that the team has considered bringing Greg Holland into the fold. We haven’t heard much other chatter about interest in Holland recently. The outgoing Rockies closer is MLBTR’s third-best free agent remaining, and the odds of him surpassing the offer he reportedly received from the Rockies earlier this winter (something in the three-year, $51MM range) aren’t good. This is particularly true considering the fate of the two Scott Boras clients to sign contracts most recently; Mike Moustakas recently received just a one-year deal at a $6.5MM guarantee from the Royals, while Carlos Gonzalez is said to be finalizing a one-year, $8MM contract with the Rockies.

Other recent items out of the AL West…

  • Speaking of the Rangers’ bullpen, the team hasn’t yet decided whether to utilize former closer Matt Bush as a starter or reliever this season, according to Evan Grant of SportsDay. By his own admission, Bush had trouble finding consistency in his most recent spring training outing, walking two and allowing a homer on 43 pitches. In 52 1/3 innings with the Rangers last season, Bush pitched to a 3.78 ERA and a 4.57 xFIP. He saved ten games during his brief stint as the club’s closer, but he blew another five save opportunities that came his way.
  • Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports provides feedback from some scouts on the bat of Shohei Ohtani, the Angels’ most high-profile offseason acquisition. These eight MLB scouts (seven of whom have seen Ohtani this spring) aren’t high on the Japanese phenom’s chances to produce offensively at the major league level. According to Passan, these scouts believe that “[p]itchers are going to punish him with inside fastballs, his swing contains flaws in balance and mechanics, and he needs at least 500 plate appearances of seasoning in the minor leagues to give him a chance at becoming a productive major league hitter.” One in particular noted that Ohtani did not hit from a balanced base, adding that he needed to “cheat” on inside fastballs, which would theoretically leave him susceptible to other pitches. Of course, it should be noted that Ohtani’s never attempted to hit major league pitching before this spring; one would think he deserves a reasonable adjustment period before jumping to any conclusions about his hitting ability.
  • On the flip side of the coin, Joel Sherman of the New York Post details some concerns about Ohtani’s pitching. Sherman notes that he lacked high-end velocity in his most recent spring training start, mostly throwing between 91-94 MPH with some command issues. Though he generated 17 swings and misses (an extremely impressive number in just a few innings), he also uncorked a triad of wild pitches. Sherman wonders whether this can simply be chalked up to growing pains, or if it’s part of a more serious issue. The obvious caveat to this is that minute spring training sample sizes aren’t entirely indicative of cause for panic.
  • Mariners reliever Tony Zych is undergoing medical tests for what’s being described as shoulder discomfort, according to Greg Johns of MLB.com. Though Seattle’s setup man improved his ERA to an impressive 2.66 in 40 2/3 innings last season, he experienced a steep dropoff in his strikeout rate, down to 7.75 batters per nine innings from a 12.66 career mark prior to 2017. He didn’t make any appearances past August 19th due to arm issues.

AL Notes: Walker, Royals, Moss, A’s, Rangers

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The Royals tried to bring in free agent second baseman Neil Walker on a minor league deal with an invitation to big league camp, but he wasn’t receptive to that, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports. As a member of the Royals, Walker could have pushed for a role at second (they already have Whit Merrifield and Adalberto Mondesi as possibilities there, however) or even the corner infield, where the team has lost first baseman Eric Hosmer (though it recently signed a replacement in Lucas Duda) and is likely to see free agent third baseman Mike Moustakas depart. It’s not surprising that Walker’s holding out for a major league pact, though, considering the successful career he has enjoyed with the Pirates, Mets and Brewers. The switch-hitting 32-year-old is coming off his seventh straight season with at least 2.0 fWAR. Despite Walker’s quality resume, he’s one of many accomplished free agents still sitting on the open market as the regular season draws closer, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams pointed out earlier this week.

Here’s more on Kansas City and a couple other AL clubs:

  • Since winning a World Series in 2015, the Royals have posted back-to-back non-playoff seasons. Now, thanks in part to the losses of Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain and Mike Minor (and Moustakas’ potential exit), it appears they’ll be in for more lean years in the near future. Nevertheless, longtime general manager Dayton Moore explained to Joe Posnanski of MLB.com that he is bullish on the franchise’s direction “As an organization, you should know your players better than anyone else. We believe in our young players,” Moore said. “We have faith in our future. I know this may sound strange, but I have never felt more confident in what we are doing.” While the Royals’ next wave of talent isn’t highly regarded (Baseball America has their farm system 29th out of 30 in its latest organizational rankings), Moore isn’t fazed. “Nobody had [five-time All-Star] Salvador Perez on their Top 100 list,” he noted. “Nobody had Lorenzo Cain on their Top 100 list. Nobody had Greg Holland or Kelvin Herrera on their Top 100 list.”
  • When Moore-led Kansas City traded Brandon Moss to Oakland in January, the slugger insisted he’d find a way to make the Athletics’ roster, even though there was no clear fit for him then. At that point, the A’s were reportedly interested in flipping Moss (whom they owe $5MM through next season), but nothing has come together yet. Still, the 34-year-old continues to be a long shot to earn a roster spot with the A’s, per Jane Lee of MLB.com. Moss’ positions – first base and designated hitter – remain spoken for in Oakland, which also has a “spillover on the bench,” Lee writes. Moss is hopeful he’ll stay an Athletic (he thrived with them earlier in his career), but either way, he has been working to rebound from a rough 2017 in which he hit just .207/.279/.428 in 401 plate appearances. The left-handed Moss had the majors’ highest pull percentage (53.0) among those with at least 400 PAs, so he’d like to become more of an all-fields hitter. “My batting average keeps going down further and further. The shift just gets more effective against me the slower I get, so I’m going to have to make some adjustments if I want to keep playing,” he observed. “I knew that coming into this year. Last year was just such a bad year. I hit the ball hard last year, but I can’t tell you how many times I would hit the ball into right field on a one-hop line drive and get thrown out at first by a guy halfway in the outfield because I’m not fast enough to beat it out anymore.”
  • Although he worked out of their bullpen from 2016-17, the Rangers told right-hander Matt Bush to spend the offseason preparing to start. Now, even after the team added Minor, Doug Fister, Matt Moore and Bartolo Colon as rotation locks or candidates over the winter, Bush expects to be part of its starting staff this year. “I’m starting,” Bush declared Saturday (via Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram). Indeed, the likelihood seems to be increasing that Bush will be part of the Rangers’ rotation, Wilson suggests. The 32-year-old threw 2 2/3 innings Saturday as he attempts to stretch out for a starting role.

AL West Rumors: Mariners, Ohtani, Ichiro, Astros, Bush, Melvin, Maxwell

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Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto acknowledged to reporters at the GM Meetings that his club has interest in right-hander Shohei Ohtani, though like other GMs, his comments were mostly vague (link via Greg Johns and Joe Frisaro of MLB.com). “We, like 29 other clubs, have scouted him extensively,” said Dipoto. (Johns and Frisaro note that Dipoto and VP of scouting Tom Allison watched Ohtani pitch in Japan this past September.) “…He’s obviously an incredibly talented player and whoever gets him will be quite happy, I’m sure.” Dipoto wouldn’t comment on whether the team is giving serious consideration to a reunion with Ichiro Suzuki, who is now a free agent. While Dipoto suggested that Ichiro’s free agency “opens a door,” he went on to add that he’s “not entirely sure” it’d be a priority, given the team’s needs at first base, in center field and on the pitching staff.

More from the division…

  • Fresh off a World Series victory, the Astros would like to supplement their bullpen with a left-handed reliever, reports Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle. Kaplan lists Mike Minor and Jake McGee as two potential targets for the ’Stros, noting that Minor’s frequent outings of more than one inning in 2017 could appeal to Houston. So, too, could the fact that he thrived in his limited time as a closer and has no discernible platoon split, thus giving Houston a possible safety net in the event that Ken Giles’ struggles carry over into the 2018 season.
  • The Rangers will let right-hander Matt Bush spend the offseason preparing for a potential rotation spot in 2018, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Bush, who had shoulder surgery last month but is expected to be ready for Spring Training, turned in strong numbers as a reliever for the Rangers in each of the past two seasons. Overall, he’s worked to a 3.08 ERA with 9.4 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 with 0.87 HR/9 in 114 innings. The Rangers won’t make a definitive decision on his role for another couple of months, however, Grant adds, which could indicate that Bush’s fate will be somewhat determined by the other additions GM Jon Daniels and his staff are (or aren’t) able to make this offseason.
  • The Yankees asked the Athletics for permission to interview manager Bob Melvin for their own managerial opening but were rebuffed, reports Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter). John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that GM David Forst on Monday called Melvin “absolutely the right guy” to be guiding the Athletics’ rising core of young position players. Forst suggested to reporters that the A’s will look to bolster the bullpen and to add a right-handed-hitting corner outfield bat this offseason, noting that a rotation upgrade is a possibility but “not a priority,” Shea continues.
  • Athletics catcher Bruce Maxwell plead not guilty to assault and disorderly conduct charges on Tuesday, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Maxwell was arrested on Oct. 28 and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and disorderly conduct after allegedly waving a gun at a Postmates employee that was making a delivery to his house, per Slusser. There’s no trial date set for now, and a hearing wouldn’t come until sometime in early 2018. MLB will conduct an investigation into the matter, but no announcement of any discipline would come until after a hearing (or a theoretical settlement).

Matt Bush Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

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Rangers righty Matt Bush has undergone a procedure to his right shoulder, as MLB.com’s TR Sullivan was among those to report (Twitter links). Specifically, Dr. James Andrews performed an arthroscopic acromioclavicular (AC) join resection.

That’s not the best news, clearly, but the hope seems to be that it’ll put to rest a problem that had hobbled Bush in a somewhat disappointing 2017 season. The expectation is that he’ll be ready to participate fully in Spring Training, which is certainly fairly promising.

Bush, 31, had returned from a lengthy absence from professional baseball to debut with aplomb in 2016. But he couldn’t quite hold the same edge over a full season in 2017, when he worked to a 3.78 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 over 52 1/3 frames.

While Bush carried much the same blistering velocity (around 98 mph) and swinging-strike rate (12-13%) that he did last year, he wasn’t as successful at managing contact. Opposing hitters boasted a much stronger collective batting average on balls in play (.329 vs. .245) and home run rate (1.20 per nine vs. 0.58).

Still, there’s plenty of reason to think that Bush can keep providing value if he’s able to get back to full health. Given that he played in the field early on and went through an extended mid-career layoff, Bush has little in the way of mileage on his arm.

Rangers Notes: Offseason, Otani, Bush

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Rangers general manager Jon Daniels didn’t mince words in telling reporters that he has no plans to embark on a rebuild, as T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com and Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram write. “This is not a rebuild,” Daniels told reporters. “We expect to win. We are always going to have that mindset.” Texas will face an uphill challenge in filling out a rotation that, at present, has only Cole Hamels and Martin Perez locked into spots. Daniels acknowledged that the Rangers “are going to have to remake half the staff,” and as Sullivan notes, that applies to the bullpen as well, where Keone Kela, Matt Bush, Alex Claudio and Jake Diekman look like the only set-in-stone options. Per Wilson, Daniels suggested that team payroll will be more in the $155MM range at which it sat in 2016 than this past season’s $165MM territory. While the Rangers may not pursue a closer, they’ll look to bring in at least one veteran bullpen arm.

A bit more on the Rangers…

  • Daniels was also candid about the fact that his team will be firmly in the mix for Japanese star Shohei Otani if he is posted for MLB clubs to bid on this winter. “We are not hiding anything,” the GM said. “If the Fighters ultimately post Ohtani, you are going to have 30 interested clubs, of which we’ll be right there with them.” Of course, as Daniels points out, competition for Otani would be immense. International spending restrictions would largely level the playing field to acquire his services, making it difficult to predict any type of favorite for the young ace/slugger.
  • Sullivan also writes that the Rangers are once again internally mulling the possibility of moving right-hander Matt Bush into the rotation. Texas discussed the move last offseason as well but ultimately elected to leave Bush in a role with which he was familiar. Daniels tells reporters that Bush has expressed interest to the team in working out of the rotation, which bodes well for the potential transition. “If it’s the player who initiated and wants to put the work in, I think you’ve seen success,” Daniels explains (possibly in a nod to C.J. Wilson). “When it’s players who are in between, probably best to leave him in the role he is in.” Sullivan runs down six prior cases of the Rangers moving a reliever to the rotation, including Wilson, and examines their success rates.

AL Injury Notes: Sanchez, Iwakuma, Dyson, Bush, Kela

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The Blue Jays have announced that righty Aaron Sanchez will miss the rest of the season. Sanchez has dealt with blister issues throughout the year (with four separate DL stints) and hasn’t returned since being placed on the disabled list in late July. After breaking through in the Jays’ rotation in 2016, the 25-year-old will end his 2017 season with just 36 innings pitched, a 4.25 ERA, 6.0 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9. Here are more quick notes on AL injuries.

  • Hisashi Iwakuma and Jarrod Dyson are running out of time to make it back to the Mariners’ active roster before the end of the season, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune writes. Iwakuma, who’s missed four months with shoulder issues, is still hopeful he’ll return this season, but manager Scott Servais says Iwakuma has “still got a little work to do” after throwing 30 pitches in a simulated game Saturday. Dutton adds that the Mariners are likely to pay a $1M buyout rather than exercise Iwakuma’s $10MM option next season. Dyson, who’s out with a strained groin, still felt pain upon participating in drills on Friday. He’s a free agent after the season.
  • Matt Bush is back from the DL, but another Rangers reliever, Keone Kela, isn’t yet ready to return, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan writes. Bush, who posted a 3.04 ERA, 10.1 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and 10 saves over 47 1/3 innings before suffering a concussion and a sprained knee in an on-field collision last month, is likely to pitch high-leverage innings, according to manager Jeff Banister. Alex Claudio will likely continue to close, however. Kela has been out with a shoulder injury since early August. He is set to throw a bullpen session Monday. Kela has posted a 2.36 ERA, 4.2 BB/9 and an outstanding 12.1 K/9 over 34 1/3 innings with the Rangers this season.
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