ARLINGTON -- Another Rangers starting pitcher has joined the injured list.
Right-hander Tyler Mahle landed on the 15-day IL on Sunday due to right shoulder fatigue. Rookie right-hander Kumar Rocker was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to start the season finale Sunday afternoon against the White Sox at Globe Life Field.
“We'll just continue to evaluate him,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “There’s some shoulder fatigue going on there, in that right shoulder. So we're erring on the side of caution here and give this thing some time to calm down. Right now, we have no timeline again.
“We want to make sure that this thing clears up before we get him back throwing, but of course, our hope is sooner than later -- that this would not be a long-term situation.”
Six of the Rangers’ top eight starting pitching options have been on the injured list at some point this season. Mahle follows Jon Gray (wrist fracture), Cody Bradford (elbow soreness), Jack Leiter (blister), Nathan Eovaldi (triceps soreness) and Rocker (shoulder impingement).
Patrick Corbin -- who has been on the injured list only twice since 2015 -- and Jacob deGrom are the only two to stay healthy to this point in the season.
Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young says you can never have too much starting pitching. The Rangers are getting a little short-handed, so much so that they have had two bullpen days in the past week, though they’ve won both of them.
“We are close to having Evo back,” Young said. “When we get Evo back. That's a pretty solid rotation. Maybe in the next five, seven days [we’re strapped], yes, but I think we’re pretty close here.
“We're gonna get Jon Gray and Cody Bradford back soon. We’re close to being in a pretty good spot. But I don't take for granted that over the next week to 10 days, we've got some challenges. But the bullpen's done a great job. I feel very good about the quality of our guys to be able to cover us until we get some reinforcements.”
Mahle has been one of many reasons that the Rangers’ rotation has been the best in the American League this season. Entering Sunday, Texas’ rotation’s 3.03 ERA is first in AL and second in MLB, behind the Mets (2.82).
Through the end of May, Mahle had a 1.64 ERA across 12 starts. He allowed eight runs across his last two starts to raise his season ERA to 2.34 in 77 innings.
Bochy said Mahle started feeling something in his shoulder after his last start, in which he allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings in Minnesota.
Mahle had Tommy John surgery in May 2023 and dealt with shoulder soreness after his return to the mound last August.
Young said that this shoulder fatigue is a different situation than what caused him to be shut down last year.
“The stress reaction he had last year is completely different,” Young said. “This is more of a usage and fatigue type of injury -- not the same at all. It's pitching. It's just part of the nature of pitching.
“That’s why I say you can't have enough pitching. Guys go through this, and it’s important to get in front of it and to not push through it and make it worse to where he misses an extended time. Hopefully, this is short-lived and we get it right and it's close to the 15-day mark.”