Chris Martin is back on the active roster, at least for now
Before Thursday’s game, the Texas Rangers activated pitcher Chris Martin from the 15 day injured list. To open up a spot on the active roster for Martin, the Rangers optioned Kumar Rocker to AAA Round Rock.
I should have posted this yesterday, but I didn’t. As it turns out, Martin may not be on the active roster for long. Martin started warming up last night, but reportedly felt popping in his shoulder, and thus stopped warming up. Its not out of the question he goes back on the injured list today.
Martin, who turned 39 earlier this week, went on the injured list after leaving an appearance after one pitch due to an elbow issue, then reportedly being okay, then leaving an appearance after one pitch due to an elbow issue. One has to be concerned, given his age and these issues, that his arm may simply not have many more miles left in it.
Rocker, meanwhile, made one start after being activated from the injured list that didn’t go well. The three innings and change appearance saw him allow five runs, two of which were the result of him not covering first base on a grounder. Bruce Bochy noted that Rocker has thrown very few innings relative to his age due to his injury history, and the idea is to get him regular innings in AAA so that certain things become more ingrained. Whether that’s his way of saying failing to cover first resulted in his being sent down is open for interpretation.
Meanwhile, with Nathan Eovaldi on the injured list and not eligible to return until a week from today, the Rangers will presumably use the off day on Monday to skip Rocker’s spot and have Eovaldi take his place against the White Sox in the series at home on June 13-15.