The Texas Rangers have placed 30-year old righty swinging 2B Ian Kinsler on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 18th due to a strained intercostal muscle.  Kinsler has played in 40 games for the Rangers so far this year and he is 49 for 162 (.302 avg, .869 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 7 homers, 20 RBIs and 3 stolen bases.  The Rangers have called up 20-year old switch-hitting SS/2B Jurickson Profar to replace Kinsler on the active roster.  Profar played in 37 games in AAA-ball this year for the Rangers and he was 40 for 144 (.278 avg, .807 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 4 homers, 19 RBIs and 6 stolen bases.  Profar has now played in 341 games in his first four years in the minors and he is 361 of 1,306 (.276 avg, .816 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 34 homers, 169 RBIs and 53 stolen bases.  He got his first taste of the majors in 2012 for the Rangers, appearing in 9 games in which he was 3 for 17 (.176 avg, .647 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs.  Profar came into this season as the Rangers’ #1 prospect according to Baseball America.  That being said, the Rangers are still going to miss Kinsler.

The Rangers have placed 29-year old righty starting pitcher Alexi Ogando on the 15-day disabled list due to biceps tendinitis.  Ogando has pitched in 9 games (all starts) for the Rangers so far this year and he is 4-2 with a 3.08 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP.  Ogando has now pitched in 142 games (39 starts) in his first four years with the Rangers and he is 23-11 with 3 saves, a 3.12 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP.  The Rangers have called up 25-year old righty reliever Cory Burns to replace Ogando on the active roster.  Burns has pitched in 14 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Rangers so far this year and he is 0-1 with 8 saves, a 1.38 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP.  He has given up 12 hits and 4 walks while whiffing 18 batters in his first 13 innings this year in the minors, which is pretty impressive.  Burns pitched in 17 games (0 starts) for the Padres last year in his first taste of the majors and he is 0-1 with a 5.50 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP.

The Rangers have placed 36-year old lefty swinging catcher A.J. Pierzynski on the 15-day D.L. retroactive to May 6th due to a strained right oblique muscle.  Pierzynski has played in 26 games for the Rangers so far this year and he is 25 for 95 (.263 avg, .708 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 4 homers and 11 RBIs.  30-year old righty swinging Geovany Soto will likely draw most of the starts until Pierzynski is ready to return to action.  He has played in 10 games for the Rangers so far this year and he is 7 for 33 (.212 avg, .570 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 1 RBI.  The Rangers have called up 28-year old righty swinging catcher Robinson Chirinos to replace Pierzynski on the active roster.  Chirinos played in 23 games in AAA-ball for the Rangers this year and he was 23 of 78 (.295 avg, .891 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 2 homers and 14 RBIs.  His only big league experience came back in 2011 with the Rays.  He played in 20 games for the Rays in 2011 and he was 12 for 55 (.218 avg, .592 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs.

The Rangers have placed 27-year old lefty starting pitcher Matt Harrison on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 7th, due to a strained lower back.  Harrison has pitched in 2 games (both starts) so far this year for the Rangers and he is 0-2 with a 8.44 ERA and a 1.97 WHIP.  Harrison will be replaced in the rotation by 24-year old righty Justin Grimm.  Grimm came into this season as the Rangers’ #5 prospect according to Baseball America.  He has started 1 game in AAA-ball this year and he was 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.  Grimm did pitch in 5 games (2 starts) for the Rangers in his first taste of the majors in 2012 and he was 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP.  The Rangers hope that Grimm is better for them this time around.

UPDATE:  (4/19/2013) - The Rangers will be without Matt Harrison until after the All-Star break as he had surgery to repair a herniated disk in his lower back today.  This is a huge blow to the Rangers’ starting rotation.  They will likely have 24-year old righty rookies Nick Tepesch and Justin Grimm at the back end of the rotation for a while, as long as they can handle it.  Tepesch has started 2 games for the Rangers so far this year and he is 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP.  Grimm has started 1 game so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA and a 2.00 WHIP.

UPDATE II:  (5/1/2013) - The Rangers will be without Matt Harrison until at least August, as he had a second surgery on his back earlier today.

The Rangers have placed 33-year old righty starting pitcher Colby Lewis on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 22nd due to a right elbow injury.  He will likely return to action in late May or early June for the Rangers.  Lewis pitched in 16 games (all starts) for the Rangers last year and he was 6-6 with a 3.43 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP.  Lewis has now played in 124 games (113 starts) in his first six years with the Rangers and he is 44-42 with a 4.68 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.  The Rangers hope that Lewis is ready to return from his injury on time, as they need him in 2013.

The Rangers have placed 24-year old righty starter/reliever Neftali Feliz on the 60-day disabled list as he continues to recover from Tommy John Surgery.  The Rangers don’t expect Feliz to be back until August, at the earliest.  Feliz pitched in 8 games (7 starts) for the Rangers last year and he was 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP.  He has now pitched in 162 games (7 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 10-7 with 74 saves, a 2.67 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP.  The Rangers probably wish they never would have tried Feliz as a starter, but hindsight is always 20/20.

The Rangers will be without 18-year old lefty swinging minor league OF/1B Ronald Guzman for the next seven weeks due to right knee surgery.  He played in 52 games in Rookie-ball last year for the Rangers and he was 68 of 212 (.321 avg, .808 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 1 homer, 33 RBIs and 7 stolen bases.  The Rangers had to be excited about the way Guzman handled his first look at professional pitching in 2012.

The Rangers will be without 21-year old lefty starting pitcher Martin Perez for the next four weeks due to a fractured left forearm.  Perez pitched in 12 games (6 starts) for the Rangers last year in his first taste of the majors and he was 1-4 with a 5.45 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP.  He also pitched in 22 games (21 starts) in AAA-ball for the Rangers last year in which he was 7-6 with a 4.25 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.  This is a big blow to the Rangers as Perez was penciled in to be their #4 starter at the start of the 2013 season.  That won’t happen now, as he isn’t going to be ready to pitch on opening day.

UPDATE:  (4/1/2013) - The Rangers have placed Martin Perez on the 15-day disabled list to start the 2013 season.

The Rangers have lost 34-year old righty reliever Mike Adams indefinitely due to a neck injury. Adams has pitched in 61 games (0 starts) for the Rangers so far this year and he is 5-3 with 1 save, a 3.27 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. The Rangers will have to depend on 37-year old righty reliever Koji Uehara a little more moving forward due to Adams’ injury. Uehara has pitched in 34 games (0 starts) for the Rangers so far this year and he is 0-0 with 1 save, a 1.93 ERA and a 0.67 WHIP. He has only given up 19 hits and walked 3 batters in his first 32 2/3 innings this year while whiffing 38 batters, which is pretty impressive.

The Rangers have placed 23-year old lefty reliever Robbie Ross on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 30th, due to left forearm soreness. Ross has pitched in 52 games (0 starts) for the Rangers so far this year and he is 6-0 with a 1.78 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. He has only given up 49 hits and 22 walks in his first 60 2/3 innings this year while whiffing 43 batters. Those are some impressive numbers. The Rangers hope that Ross only misses a couple of weeks as he has been a huge asset to the pitching staff so far this year.