Updated: Colby Lewis to DL, Martin Perez Recalled

The news that Martin Perez would be called up was not new. Most expected the move to be because the bullpen was taxed and either Justin Grimm (who pitched little but badly yesterday) or Michael Kirkman (who pitched well, but a lot yesterday) would be optioned to make room. Some people were also wondering why Scott Feldman did not pitch yesterday. With one fell swoop, the Rangers answered both questions.

Lewis has tendonitis in his right forearm and Feldman will be taking his start Thursday. Perez will be available in the bullpen as it is down two men tonight – Kirkman and Mark Lowe.

The Rangers now have five pitchers on the disabled list – Lewis, Derek Holland, Neftali Feliz, Koji Uehara and Alexi Ogando. The fact that the team has had it’s best streak despite this is a testament to how the team has been replacing their fallen players.

The numbers don’t look great for guys like Grimm, Tanner Scheppers and Kirkman before last night but the Rangers have leaned on Matt Harrison and tonight’s starter Yu Darvish to make sure the team hasn’t lost too much ground. Every team has injuries. The Rangers are dealing with theirs. Given their start, this is the part of the year with the least pressure. I’d sure rather be dealing with these injuries in June and July instead of October.

If nothing else, it gives the young arms on the Rangers a chance to get a feel for big league action if they are called upon in a playoff situation. This obviously hurts the Rangers chances of winning on a nightly basis, but it doesn’t really affect their chances of their success in the season or playoffs.

If nothing else, the proactive signing of Roy Oswalt is bringing more and more dividends to the Rangers. I’m not saying that Jon Daniels expected this to happen, but the signing acknowledged the fact that the worst could happen. It has.