The ever-changing roster of the Texas Rangers took another turn Saturday when the Rangers put catcher Robinson Chirinos in the disabled list and sent rookie right-hander Keone Kela to Frisco.
The moves created roster spots for Cole Hamels and right-hander Sam Dyson.
Chirinos strained his left shoulder swinging the bat in the eighth inning of Thursday's game against the New York Yankees. He's optimistic he'll be able to come off the disabled list when he's eligible to come off it Aug. 15.
"Hopefully my body will react good and that's probably the time we need to get back in the lineup, get back in the field," Chirinos said.
Without Chirinos the Rangers have the catching duo of Chris Gimenez and Bobby Wilson. Gimenez made his first start for the Rangers Friday night and Wilson's Texas debut came Saturday.
Sending Kela to Frisco has nothing to do with performance and everything to do with workload. Kela leads the American League in appearances with 49. He's 5-5 with a 3.30 ERA in those games. But with Dyson and Jake Diekman now both with the club the Rangers can let Kela use some time to rest.
Texas manager Jeff Banister said the Rangers have a plan in place for how to monitor Kela while he's down.
"We've got a young kid that we want to keep around for a long time," Banister said. "We want to take care of him, just like the rest of those pitchers out there. To monitor the workload, to monitor the innings, to keep his as fresh as we possibly can, we have an opportunity to do that now."
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