Texas Rangers Send Veteran Catcher to the Injured List With Mild New Setback

The Texas Rangers have remained relatively unscathed by injuries for a few weeks, but their veteran secondary catcher will be missing time with a new setback.

Apr 28, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers catcher Kyle Higashioka (11) runs the bases to score against the Athletics during the sixth inning at Globe Life Field. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers were off to a hot start to 2025 early on, but some slowed momentum in recent games has pushed them further down the standings, currently sitting at 15-14, fourth in the American League West. Injuries have played a role in this somewhat, with the team missing three starting pitchers as well as Corey Seager and Josh Sborz. This has set them back a bit in terms of production and leaves them scrambling in an attempt to stop the metaphorical bleeding.

However, the injuries continue to pile up, and recently another player would suffer a setback, that being catcher Kyle Higashioka. He and Jonah Heim have both gotten pretty substantial playing time this year, with 23 games from Heim and 17 for Higashioka. Both have been producing offensively and to an extent defensively.

Unfortunately, Higashioka will miss some time, having picked up a mild left intercostal strain, which will land him on the 10-day injured list, as was reported by the Rangers' public relations account. The corresponding move to this is recalling Caleb Boushley from Triple-A, who has worked primarily in a relief capacity for Texas this season, but has started a few games pitching with Round Rock.

Ultimately, the Rangers were not pressured to make this corresponding move a catcher addition, as they had already called up Tucker Barnhart right after the injury occurred.

While Barnhart does not offer a ton in the way of offensive production, slashing .173/.287/.210 last season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, his defensive metrics are still right around league average, so he should be a reliable option until Higashioka returns.