Texas Rangers pitcher Cal Quantrill has been placed on the 15 day injured list with a strained right lat, the team announced today. To take his place on the active roster, the Rangers have recalled pitcher Winston Santos from AAA Round Rock.
Quantrill had been dealing with this issue in his previous start, which he left after only 70 pitches, before being pulled after four batters yesterday. Going on the 15 day i.l. means Quantrill is out for the regular season and, if the Rangers make the playoffs and play in the Wild Card Round, Quantrill would not be eligible for that series. He would potentially be available after that, but, unlikely as it is that the Rangers would advance beyond a Wild Card Series, its even more unlikely than Quantrill, coming back from a lat strain, would be ready to return for one of those future rounds.
My guess is that the Rangers will have Nathan Eovaldi return to the rotation and start on Tuesday in the opener of the series against the Mets, which would also put him on track to pitch the final game of the season in Minnesota. Jacob deGrom, pitching today, would presumably go on Friday in the opener in Minnesota on five days rest, though they could push him back to Saturday if they wanted to give him an extra day. MacKenzie Gore, who was dealing with shoulder and back spasms in his last start on Wednesday, could go this coming Wednesday at home against the Mets on six days rest, with Kumar Rocker and Cody Bradford being used in the other two starts.
Of course, this assumes that Nathan Eovaldi is ready to go and able to start on Tuesday. If he isn’t, well, you’re looking at Gore or Bradford on Tuesday.
Santos is up to give the Rangers a long man out of the bullpen if needed. He was supposed to start last night’s game for Round Rock but was scratched after Quantrill was pulled.
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