Michael Young in the Outfield?

The article title sparks interest all by itself. Why in the world would a baseball player that has played the infield for years and has not even seen playing time in the outfield since his sophomore year in college – a long time ago – be in the outfield now?

Well, the Rangers have to do something and with Michael Young not only being the super utility but also probably one of the most versatile players on the team, if not in all of baseball, who else would they put out there?

The Rangers put Young in the outfield for about 30 minutes prior to last night’s game against Philadelphia to catch some fly balls and be introduced to the outfield again for the first time in ages it probably seems like to him.

This is only be done for emergency situations because an injury bug has bitten nearly each one of the Rangers’ outfielders. If it happens again, the Rangers want to be prepared.

Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz headed to the DL first allowing for Chris Davis to be called up from Triple-A Round Rock to replace Hamilton and Craig Gentry from Round Rock to fill Cruz’s spot on the roster. Then Julio Borbon took a trip to the DL allowing for Endy Chavez to make his way out into the field only to come down with a hamstring injury this past Thursday causing him to leave the game early and putting Andres Blanco in for outfield duty as there were no other options.

Hamilton and Cruz will be headed back to the Majors and off the DL very soon, possibly as soon as Monday although Hamilton will likely start out at DH rather than on the field; however, the thought of having Michael as a back-up if and when needed should an emergency situation arise has got to take a huge chip off of Ron Washington’s shoulder.