Francisco on DL
Frank Francisco, sidelined with biceps tendinitis in his right arm, threw on the side Saturday afternoon and was not happy with the way it went.
“I was throwing good, had my location and no pain,” Francisco said. “But the ball didn’t jump out of my hand like it usually does.”
As a result, the Rangers placed Francisco on the disabled list before Saturday’s game with the Angels and called up pitcher Warner Madrigal from Triple A Oklahoma City. Francisco was put on the disabled list retroactive to May 7 and will be eligible to come off on Friday when the Rangers open a three-game series with the Astros. He’ll miss the remainder of the Angels series and a three-game series with the Tigers that starts on Tuesday in Detroit.
“We’re playing it safe on the cautious side,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “The Detroit series was questionable anyway. We decided to play it safe, get Warner in here and have Frankie for the rest of the year. It’s one of those deals where if we left it up to Frank, he would be ready to pitch.”
Francisco last pitched on May 6 against the Athletics when he pitched a scoreless ninth in the Rangers 3-2 victory and extended his scoreless streak to 142/3 innings over 14 appearances while recording his ninth save.
He was shut down a few days later because of some soreness and only resumed throwing on Thursday. Saturday was his first attempt at throwing off a mound and the Rangers just didn’t feel he was ready to pitch in a game yet.
“I’d be a lot more discouraged if somebody had thrown up a red flag but nobody has,” Daniels said. “It was just his first bullpen [session.] Could we have pushed for the Detroit series? We possibly could. But we have five months to go and he’s a big part of our bullpen, let’s not push it for three games.”
Madrigal started the season with the Rangers but was sent down after posting a 13.50 ERA in three appearances. He has a 1.65 ERA in 12 appearances for Triple A Oklahoma, allowing nine hits and seven walks while striking out 16 in 161/3 innings. He had three saves and had held opponents to a .164 batting average. He was 0-2 with a 4.75 ERA in 31 games with the Rangers in 2008.
T.R. Sullivan
Toby
(Sat) I’ve seen a lot of ball but I’ve never seen anything like this. Lackey throws two pitches….one behind Kinsler and then the next plunks him and the ump tosses Lackey…not a warning…tosses him. Two pitches into the game. It’s going to be a real hot time today!
It is noteworthy that the Rangers hot May includes their most powerful hitter on the DL and their hottest pitcher on the DL. And they just keep rolling along.
May as well take the safe route with FF. It’s not September. However, if the starters keep it up, especially like Padilla yesterday it will mitigate Frankies absence. Man, going 8 in that game after that 4th inning was impressive and obviously overlooked by the media. That kind of starting pitching takes a huge load off the ‘pen.
Go get ‘em Feldman!
(Sun) Hello Win Column! Sweeeeeep! Everybody’s beginning to “Believe It!”
No, fred, not everybody….
Great homestand. Hopefully the Detroit series will be better than the last trip up there. Let’s hope Hamilton is not out for any extended time. Gosh, what a catch….
Thought these stats were interesting:
It’s just the sixth time in franchise history the Rangers have had a perfect home stand that’s consisted of two or more series. The last one came May 20-29, 2005.
The seven game winning streak is the longest since Texas won nine straight May 20-31, 2005.
The last time the Rangers led the division by 4 1/2 games was June 7, 2006.
At 23-14, the Rangers have matched their second best 37 game record in team history.
The Rangers are 6-0-2 in their last eight series. The last series loss was May 21-23 in Toronto.
GO RANGERS ……….