Texas Rangers: Martin Perez Headed to the DL, Jose Leclerc Recalled

Martin Perez is headed to the 10-day DL for the Texas Rangers with Jose Leclerc being recalled.

Just a day after a rough start for Rangers pitcher Martin Perez, he’s been sent to the Disabled List with discomfort in his right elbow. This is the same elbow that kept Martin Perez out shortly at the beginning of the year due to offseason surgery. John Blake, Executive VP of Communications for Texas tweeted the news earlier today.

Some had questioned whether Martin Perez was injured during his start against the Blue Jays on Sunday when he struggled early in the game. For Texas this actually does not affect their rotation too much. With the activation of starter Doug Fister, the Rangers had six starters on the roster so the loss of Perez takes them back down to five. This means that Bartolo Colon will stay in the rotation and deservedly so.

In the accompanying move, the Rangers recalled RHP Jose Leclerc from Triple-A Round Rock. Leclerc had been optioned just three days ago in response to the activation of Tony Barnette. Despite never wanting to see an injury, this is more of an opportunity for Leclerc to prove himself. Leclerc has been effective in his appearances this season having not allowed a run in 6.2 innings. In fact, his consistency convinced me that he deserves a long-term shot with the big league club.

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Perez is 2-3 in his first 5 starts off the season and has a 9.67 ERA thus far this season. He’s struggled mightily this season since coming back from offseason right elbow surgery. Hopefully he can get rested and fully healthy in this DL stint and return to the form he’s capable of.

Leclerc, as mentioned previously, has not allowed a run this season in 6.2 innings. Along the way, he’s also managed 6 strikeouts while only issuing 3 walks.

Other Injury News

Evan Grant reported today that Rougned Odor (hamstring) is still about a week away from returning.

Adrian Beltre is 5 days into a 10 day DL stint and won’t be returning until at least the end of the week.

Elvis Andrus will likely be out for another 4-5 weeks as he deals with a broken elbow suffered from a hit by pitch against the Angels earlier this month.