Texas Rangers Reliever Takes Broken Hand To Round Rock For More Rehab Work

Texas Rangers reliever Brock Burke was moved to Triple-A Round Rock from the ACL Rangers to continue his recovery from a broken left hand.

Texas Rangers relief pitcher Brock Burke (46) throws a pitch during the eighth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 4 of the 2023 World Series at Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ. The DBacks lost to the Rangers 11-7, putting the Ranger at 3-1 in the World Series. / Joe Rondone/Arizona Republic / USA TODAY

Injured reliever Brock Burke was assigned to Triple-A Round Rock from the ACL Rangers as he continues to progress from his broken right hand, the Texas Rangers announced.

Round Rock is playing a series against the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, the Houston Astros affiliate located just outside of Houston. The series started on Tuesday, but Burke did not pitch.

Burke, who turns 28 in August, has been on the injured list since April 12, when he punched a door with his non-throwing hand after a rough outing against the Astros. He's eligible to return on June 12.

In two rehab appearances with the ACL Rangers last week, he allowed one hit in two innings (19 pitches) while striking out four and walking none. The ACL Rangers face teams in the Arizona Complex League, baseball’s rookie league.

Before going on the IL, Burke was struggling out of the bullpen. In five appearances (three innings), he compiled a 15.00 ERA.

Burke was once one of the Rangers' most reliable relievers. The team's media selected him as their 2022 Rookie of the Year after he went 7-5 with a 1.97 ERA over 82.1 innings. In 2023, he was less reliable, going 5-3 with a 4.37 ERA in 59.2 innings.

The Rangers pitching staff is set to start getting a bit healthier with right-hander Dane Dunning to be activated to start Wednesday’s game in Philadelphia. Andrew Heaney will start Thursday's 12:05 p.m. finale against the Phillies. Nathan Eovaldi is also close to returning to the rotation from a groin injury, and could potentially be an option to start a game in Minnesota. The plays a three-game set there beginning on Friday.

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