Two Rangers Land on Injured List, Brett Martin & Anderson Tejeda Activated
ARLINGTON, Texas — Two Texas Rangers injuries have forced the club to make roster moves on Friday.
Reliever Matt Bush was put on the 10-day IL with right elbow inflammation, retroactive to April 8. Infielder Brock Holt was also placed on the 10-day IL with a right hamstring strain, retro to April 7th.
To fill those vacant spots on the active roster, Brett Martin was activated from the 10-day IL, and Anderson Tejeda was recalled from the alternate training site. Tejeda will wear number 19 for the Rangers.
Manager Chris Woodward described Holt's injury as "not that serious," and the club does not expect him to remain on the IL longer than the minimum amount of time. On the other hand, Bush's prognosis is not quite as clear.
"His arm didn't feel good," Woodward said. "We haven't fully evaluated it. We're going to do that today and figure out what the extent of it is. Obviously, putting him on the IL just protects him. If nothing's there and it's not that big of an issue, then 10 days from now he'll be fine. We just want to make sure because his arm just doesn't feel that good."
The Rangers will obviously be very cautious with Bush given his injury history.
In the meantime, Brett Martin should step right in for Bush in a late-innings role. He's been working his way back from a sore back but was expected to be activated at some point this weekend.
With Anderson Tejeda, he will be thrown right into the fire, hitting in the two-hole for the Rangers on Friday night. Chris Woodward was taken aback by his maturity at the plate last season and saw more growth from the 22-year-old infielder this spring.
"I saw a lot of growth, to be honest with you," Woodward said. "We're not taking away his aggressiveness and his style of hitting. When he gets a pitch in the middle of the plate, I want him to be swinging. This guy's got what we call a 'trampoline bat' — that ball flies off his bat. We want to see that.
"The swing-and-miss is obviously an issue we've talked with him about. With two strikes, that's probably where I want to see the biggest growth. Get your two A-swings off, and now you've gotta have a team at-bat right here."
Outfielder David Dahl is absent from the Rangers lineup on Friday, but Chris Woodward reassured that he is only dealing with a minor illness.
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Chris Halicke covers the Texas Rangers for SI's InsideTheRangers.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHalicke.
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