The Rangers announced a series of roster moves today. Infielder Josh Jung has been activated from the 10-day injured list and the club has also selected the contract of right-hander Caleb Boushley. To open active roster spots for those two, the club optioned infielder/outfielder Ezequiel Durán and right-hander Gerson Garabito. To open a 40-man spot for Boushley, left-hander Cody Bradford was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
The pitching moves appear to be motivated by recent usage. The Rangers used seven of their eight relievers over the weekend, most of them pitching twice. Garabito was the only member of the bullpen to not pitch in the Friday-Sunday series against the Rays. Yesterday, Nathan Eovaldi was pulled after 4 2/3 innings, with Garabito covering the final 3 1/3 as the Rangers lost 7-0 to the Cubs at Wrigley.
Garabito threw 51 pitches in the process and was likely going to be unavailable for a few days. Instead of proceeding without a long man, the club has tagged in Boushley to take on that job for now. The 31-year-old Boushley signed a minor league deal with the Rangers in the offseason. He posted a 3.27 earned run average in the spring and has a 2.08 ERA in his first two Triple-A starts to begin the year.
His major league track record is fairly minimal. He has only appeared in three big league games, though his debut was a memorable one. He was called up by Milwaukee late in September, with the Brewers having already clinched the National League Central. He pitched the final 2 1/3 innings of a ten-inning walk-off victory, earning the W and a post-game sport-drink shower. He also pitched twice for the Twins last year. He currently has a 4.26 ERA in 6 1/3 innings. In the minors, dating back to the start of 2021, he has a 4.66 ERA in 521 2/3 innings with a 19% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate.
Boushley still has options, so he could perhaps be shuttled to Triple-A and back throughout the year, if the Rangers want to keep him available as a long relief guy who can be called upon when needed. In the short term, he’s on hand in the big leagues and will be on hand if they need mop-up work.
They had a spot available on the 40-man due to Bradford’s status. He started the season on the 15-day injured list due to some soreness in his throwing elbow. In the middle of March, the team said he would be shut down for four weeks. Even if he’s healthy at some point in the second half of April, he’ll need to effectively restart his spring ramp-up. This transfer makes him ineligible to be activated until late May at the earliest.
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