The Rangers announced that left-hander Robert Garcia has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 20th, with left shoulder inflammation. Right-hander Peyton Gray has been selected to take his place on the roster. To open a 40-man spot for Gray, catcher Willie MacIver has been designated for assignment.
Garcia’s last appearance was on April 16th, a game he departed due to shoulder soreness. He and the Rangers opted not to put him on the IL immediately. It appears that a week of rest hasn’t allowed him to fully heal up, so the team has now put him on the shelf. An IL placement can be backdated if a player hasn’t been playing but there’s a three-day maximum, so the Rangers could only backdate it to Monday.
His injury will allow Gray to crack a major league roster for the first time, which is a nice story. As laid out by Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News in March, Gray spent time pitching in the minors and independent ball, in addition to winter ball stints in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Along the way, he worked for UPS, DoorDash and cut trees. He’s now going to the show just ahead of his 31st birthday, which will be in June.
Gray came into camp with the Rangers on a minor league deal. He turned some heads with a solid spring. He tossed 10 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs via six hits and one walk while striking out 18. He has reported to Triple-A and has continued to put up good numbers. He has thrown 12 2/3 scoreless innings over seven appearances, allowing eight hits and two walks while striking out 15. Last year, he also gave the Rangers 61 Triple-A innings with a 3.84 earned run average, 25.8% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 43.5% ground ball rate.
This year, he’s mostly a fastball/changeup guy. His fastball, which is averaging 92.9 miles per hour, has been thrown 48.8% of the time this year. His 83.2 mile-per-hour change has made up 40.7% of his offerings. He has also mixed in a cutter and a slider. He’ll see if that recipe works on major-league hitters whenever he makes his major league debut.
More to come.
