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Wes Benjamin

Rangers Designate Wes Benjamin For Assignment, Activate Matt Bush

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The Rangers have activated right-hander Matt Bush from the 60-day IL, according to John Blake, the team’s executive VP of communications. Fellow righty Glenn Otto was optioned to make room on the active roster while lefty Wes Benjamin was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man.

It’s been quite a journey for Bush, who had his 2019 and 2020 seasons wiped out by Tommy John surgery. This year, he cracked the Rangers’ roster out of spring training but went on the IL April 9th with elbow inflammation and has been there ever since. Prior to that IL placement, he got into three games and logged three innings, with four strikeouts, four hits, a walk and three earned runs. He recently started a rehab assignment and made four appearances in the minors. The club has seemingly decided to reward Bush’s hard work and patience by adding him back to the big league roster on the last day of the season. The 35-year-old can be controlled for three more seasons via arbitration but seems likely to be non-tendered, considering that he’s now three years removed from a meaningful stretch of production at the big league level.

As for Benjamin, he made his Major League debut last year, logging 22 1/3 innings over eight games, including one start. He had an ERA of 4.84 with average-ish strikeout and walk rates of 21.4% and 7.1%. This year, he’s been tossed back and forth between the majors and minors, having been optioned six times. At the big league level in 2021, he got into 22 2/3 innings with an ERA of 8.74, along with a strikeout rate of 17% and walk rate of 15.2%, both of which are worse than league average. The 28-year-old lefty will now presumably go on waivers in the coming days.

Rangers Place Three On Covid-19 List

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The Rangers have placed infielder Brock Holt and right-handers Drew Anderson and Mike Foltynewicz on the Covid-19-related injured list, per a club announcement. Lefty Wes Benjamin and first baseman Curtis Terry are up from the taxi squad to fill spots on the active roster, but the Rangers will play today’s game with a 25-man active roster. Texas has also scratched catcher Jonah Heim due to Covid protocols and will start Jose Trevino behind the dish instead, per an additional announcement. Heim has not yet been placed on the Covid-related injured list.

Today’s placements come just days after Charlie Culberson was placed on the Covid IL. They’ll leave the Rangers with a rather short-handed bench and likely result in some additional roster machinations in the days to come. However, while the Rangers are down a pair of third basemen — Holt and Culberson — Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets that a promotion of top third base prospect Josh Jung is “not in the plans” for the team. Yonny Hernandez and Andy Ibanez will split time at the hot corner while Holt and Culberson are away from the team.

The Rangers now have four open spots on the 40-man roster and will be able to promote players from Triple-A — even those not on the 40-man roster — as replacements without needing to subsequently pass them through waivers in order to return them to Round Rock once Holt, Anderson, Foltynewicz and Culberson make their returns.

Rangers Activate Kyle Gibson From 10-Day Injured List

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The Rangers announced that Kyle Gibson has been activated off the 10-day injured list, and the right-hander will start tonight’s game against the Rays.  The corresponding roster move happened yesterday, when left-hander Wes Benjamin was optioned to Triple-A.  Gibson’s IL placement (due to a right groin strain) took place on May 25 and was backdated to May 22, so he’ll end up missing only slightly beyond the 10-day minimum.

The Rangers will surely welcome the quick return of a pitcher who has somewhat unexpectedly become the ace of their rotation.  After a lackluster 2020 season, Gibson has posted a 2.24 ERA over 60 1/3 innings this season, aided by a 52.7% grounder rate and perhaps some batted-ball luck in the form of a .234 BABIP.  Gibson’s SIERA is two runs higher at a still-respectable 4.24.

Should Gibson maintain this performance, he’ll draw a lot of attention at the trade deadline.  MLBTR’s Steve Adams ranked Gibson eighth on the most recent listing of the top 40 trade deadline candidates, noting that Gibson’s contract (he is owed roughly $5.88MM for the rest of this season and owed $7MM in 2022) makes him a pretty inexpensive pickup for most contenders.

Rangers Place Kyle Gibson On Injured List

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The Rangers announced a series of roster moves Tuesday, most notably placing right-hander Kyle Gibson on the 10-day injured list due to a right groin strain. Texas also placed righty Hunter Wood on the IL with a fairly ominous designation of “right elbow discomfort.” Gibson’s placement is retroactive to May 22, while Wood’s is backdated to May 23. No timeline was provided for either pitcher, though Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets that the initial hope is Gibson will only be forced to miss a pair of starts. In their place, lefty Wes Benjamin and righty Demarcus Evans were recalled from Triple-A.

It’s a sudden and unexpected development for the Rangers, though the expectation of a relatively brief absence is good news for the club and its fans. Gibson, 33, was absolutely shelled for five runs in a third of an inning in his 2021 debut, but he’s been one of the best pitchers on the planet in nine starts since that time. Dating back to April 7, the longtime Twins righty has pitched to a 1.50 ERA with a 20.3 percent strikeout rate, a 6.9 percent walk rate and a 52.7 percent ground-ball rate.

The 2021 season is the second of three in a $28MM contract Gibson inked with Texas back in the 2019-20 offseason. The first of his three years on the deal didn’t go well at all — 5.35 ERA in 67 1/3 innings — but like Mike Minor and Lance Lynn before him in Texas, he’s now exceeded all expectations on a three-year pact that surprised some onlookers. For a Rangers club that is 22-27 at the moment, losing its best starter even for a brief period of time is a notable hit to absorb.

Of course, the Rangers weren’t expected to contend this season anyhow, as the club has been outspoken about its decision to move in a younger direction. With that in mind, Gibson’s run of excellence and a contract that now looks eminently affordable would make him one of this summer’s most obvious trade candidates — provided today’s injury indeed proves to be minor in nature. Should he require a lengthier stint, experience a setback in rehab and/or deal with additional groin issues down the road, that could adversely impact the Rangers’ ability to extract a strong return in a trade.

Wood, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Rangers and was called to the big league club not long ago. He’s tossed five innings and held the opposition to a pair of runs, making for a fine start to his Texas tenure. The right-hander has a solid track record at the MLB level, having compiled a 3.34 ERA in 91 2/3 frames between Tampa Bay, Cleveland and his new surroundings in Texas. The hope, as always, is that the elbow discomfort proves to be minor, but the lack of specificity suggests the Rangers will perform additional testing to determine what’s at play.

Rangers Activate Willie Calhoun, Brock Holt

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The Rangers have activated Willie Calhoun and Brock Holt from the injured list, the team announced. Wes Benjamin and Anderson Tejada have been optioned to the Rangers’ alternate site.

Calhoun will make his first appearance of the season as the Rangers’ designated hitter tonight. He’s looking for a breakout season after struggling to establish himself as an impact bat since his arrival in Texas via the Yu Darvish trade of 2017. The 26-year-old stumbled to more dramatic effect in 2020, slashing just .190/.231/.260 in 108 plate appearances. Holt, for his part, was off to a strong start through four games after making the team on a minor league contract. He’ll take back the role of utility infielder from Tejada.

Benjamin has thrown 5 2/3 innings this season, allowing 3 earned runs on four hits and six walks while striking out five. The 27-year-old Illinois native made his ML debut last season for the Rangers, tossing 22 1/3 innings of 4.84 ERA baseball.

Brock Holt To Make Rangers’ Opening Day Roster

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The Rangers have informed utilityman Brock Holt he’ll break camp with the team, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News was among those to report. He has been in camp as a non-roster invitee, so the club will need to officially select his contract to the 40-man roster. Holt had the ability to opt out of that deal if not added to the roster this week, Grant notes. Texas has an open 40-man spot after passing right-hander Joe Gatto through outright waivers yesterday.

Holt, 32, was a valuable utility piece for the Red Sox between 2013-19, even earning a trip to the All-Star game in 2015. He stumbled to a miserable .211/.283/.274 line between the Brewers and Nationals in 2020, though, forcing him to settle for a non-roster deal this winter. Between a productive few weeks in Spring Training and the Rangers’ uncertain third base situation (where Rougned Odor appears the favorite for playing time), Holt will get another opportunity in Arlington. By making the club, he’ll lock in a $1.75MM base salary.

Among the others who’ll be on the season-opening roster (via Grant and Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram): Dane Dunning, Taylor Hearn, Wes Benjamin and Jonah Heim. None of that group is particularly surprising. Hearn and Benjamin played important roles in last year’s bullpen, while Dunning and Heim were acquired in offseason trades. All four are already on Texas’ 40-man roster.

Fellow offseason acquisition Khris Davis won’t be ready for the start of the season. He suffered a Grade 2 strain of his left quadriceps and will be out three to four weeks, per Wilson. Presumably, he’ll start the year on the 10-day injured list.

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