Rangers Place Chris Martin On IL With Calf Strain
4:15pm: Manager Bruce Bochy says Martin will miss four to six weeks, per Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News.
3:30pm: The Rangers announced a series of roster moves today. Third baseman Josh Jung, infielder/outfielder Michael Helman and righty Cole Winn have all been recalled from Triple-A Round Rock. In corresponding moves, they have optioned infielder Justin Foscue and outfielder Alejandro Osuna to Round Rock and placed right-hander Chris Martin on the 15-day injured list due to a left calf strain.
Martin was removed from last night’s game after a visit from the training staff. After the game, the club announced to reporters that it was due to a calf strain. It is apparently severe enough that he’ll sit out at least the next few weeks. It’s the second IL stint of the year for Martin. He also missed a couple of weeks in late May and early June due to right shoulder fatigue. He’s still been effective when on the mound, with a 2.36 earned run average, 25.7% strikeout rate and 4.3% walk rate.
The Rangers will now be without one of their better relievers for a while, a tough blow at a tough time. The club is one of many bubble teams who are sort of near contention but also not firmly in buyer mode ahead of next week’s deadline. The Rangers are 3.5 games back of a playoff spot, with four other American League teams behind them by two games or fewer. For many of these clubs, the next few weeks could determine whether the club buys or sells or to what degree. As the club tries to win these key games in the next week-plus, they will have to do so without Martin.
The recall of Jung is also notable. When healthy, he’s been the club’s regular third baseman for a few years now. However, he fell into a bad funk this year and was sent down to the minors for a reset. He had a .277/.321/.440 slash line and 113 wRC+ through the end of May. But then in June and early July, he slashed .158/.208/.221 for a wRC+ of 19.
He hasn’t exactly been brought back to life on his optional assignment. He has a .205/.225/.410 batting line and 47 wRC+ in eight Triple-A games, though he did hit homers in two of his past three games.
His recall might have more to do with other developments, as the Rangers recently put Jake Burger on the IL. With Joc Pederson also on the IL, they’ve been light in the first base/designated hitter area. Rowdy Tellez was recently added to the roster but backup catcher Kyle Higashioka has been DHing a lot. If Jung retakes the third base job, Josh Smith could be freed up to play some first base or serve as the DH. Jung is in the lineup at third tonight with Smith at first. The Rangers are facing a lefty starter, so Tellez is on the bench with Cody Freeman in the DH spot.
What’s also notable for Jung is that he has been recalled fairly quickly. He came into this year with his service clock at two years and 27 days. A lengthy optional assignment of more than a month could have prevented him from getting to the three-year line in 2025, which would have pushed his free agency by a year. However, he’s been recalled within three weeks of his optioning. He could still be optioned again later in the year if he doesn’t get back on track but he still has a path to get to the three-year service mark.
Photo courtesy of Lon Horwedel, Imagn Images
Rangers Release Kevin Pillar
TODAY: The Rangers announced that Pillar has been released after clearing waivers.
MAY 25: The Rangers announced a trio of moves, including the previously reported news of outfield prospect Alejandro Osuna joining the active roster and DH Joc Pederson being placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hand fracture. To create space on the 40-man roster for Osuna’s contract selection, Texas designated outfielder Kevin Pillar for assignment.
Pillar signed a minor league contract with the Rangers this past winter, and some injuries to other outfielders opened the door for Pillar to make the Opening Day roster. Playing mostly in center field with some addition time in both corner outfield slots, Pillar’s contributions have been almost entirely on the defensive side, as he has batted only .209/.209/.265 over 43 plate appearances. He also missed a little over two weeks of action due to a bad back that required a stint on the 10-day IL.
Sam Haggerty‘s emergence as the new everyday center fielder and the Rangers’ decision to call up Osuna left Pillar as the odd man out, even with Texas still missing some notable names on the injured list. Evan Carter has been on the IL for a week due to a Grade 2 strain of his right quad, but despite that more severe variety of strain, Carter may be on track for a relatively quick return. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (including Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News) yesterday that Carter may be able to start a minor league rehab assignment by next weekend, as Carter is already doing running drills and has been cleared for live batting practice.
Pillar has now played for 10 different teams over the course of his 1234 career games and 13 seasons in the big leagues. One of the game’s top defensive center fielders back during his heyday with the Blue Jays, Pillar has carved out a lengthy career as a part-time or fourth outfielder, despite a lack of production at the plate (i.e. a .255/.293/.405 career slash line).
Because Pillar has been previously outrighted in his career, he has the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers and the Rangers try to outright him to Triple-A. It could be that Pillar will accept such an assignment and bide his time waiting for his next chance on the Texas roster, or he might explore his options to see if another club can offer a clearer path to big league playing time. It also isn’t out of the question that Pillar may consider hanging up his cleats for good, as the 36-year-old strongly considered retiring last season before deciding to return for the 2025 campaign.
Rangers To Promote Alejandro Osuna
The Rangers are poised to select the contract of outfielder Alejandro Osuna, according to a report from Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. The news comes after DH Joc Pederson suffered a fractured right hand during today’s game against the White Sox that is expected to leave him sidelined for the next six weeks. Osuna is not yet on the 40-man roster, and the Rangers will need to make a corresponding move to clear 40-man roster space.
Osuna, 22, signed with the Rangers out of Mexico back in 2021. The youngster has gradually climbed through the minor leagues while splitting time fairly evenly between all three outfield spots and boasts a solid .277/.370/.436 slash line in 373 career games across all levels of the minors. Osuna got his first taste of the upper minors last last year following a call-up to Double-A over the summer, and he responded by slashing an excellent .306/.379/.523 in 57 games. The Rangers decided to be cautious with Osuna and keep him at Double-A to start the 2025 campaign after Evan Carter failed to make the Opening Day roster and was optioned to Triple-A.
The outfielder’s numbers weren’t quite as impressive in his repeat of Double-A, as he hit just .283/.363/.409 in 31 games, but that was still enough to convince the Rangers to promote him to the highest level of the minors earlier this month. He has just seven games under his belt with the club’s affiliate in Round Rock, but he’s impressed in that limited time with a .485 on-base percentage and more walks (eight) than strikeouts (seven). Between Osuna’s hot start to his time at Triple-A and the injury to Pederson, it seems as though the Rangers have decided now is the time to call the youngster up and see what he can do in the majors.
Currently ranked as Texas’s #7 prospect according to MLB.com, scouts view Osuna as a player with a real chance to stick in center field who faces questions about his ability to hit lefties, though he made strides on that front last year, and his power potential despite solid bat-to-ball skills and improving exit velocities. He posted brilliant numbers in big league camp with the Rangers this spring and draws comparison to Alex Verdugo for his approach at the plate. Longer term, he’ll likely need to either stay viable in center or tap into more power in order to be a big league regular, but that doesn’t mean he can’t provide a spark for the Rangers while Pederson is out of commission.
Providing a spark is exactly what the 22-year-old will be tasked with doing for a beleaguered team that fell to 25-28 today, leaving them in fourth place in the AL West and three games out of an AL Wild Card spot. It’s unclear whether the lefty-hitting Osuna is expected to play DH or perhaps help fill in for Carter in center field, where Sam Haggerty has been tasked with playing every day recently. Perhaps he could even be tasked with spelling Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia in the outfield corners. Wherever he ends up playing, it seems fair to expect that Kyle Higashioka will continue to get occasional reps at DH against left-handed pitchers, with Osuna likely to sit on the bench on those days.