Matt Harrison may be activated this coming weekend

Matt Harrison will travel with the Rangers to Oakland for their three game series at the start of this coming week, and will throw a bullpen session while in Oakland, per the beat guys on Twitter.  If that bullpen goes well, then Harrison could be activated to make a start against the Mariners in Seattle this coming weekend.

I had suggested last night that, on the heels of his stellar 8 inning, 0 run outing for Frisco yesterday, Harrison could slide into Tanner Scheppers' slot in the rotation immediately.  However, I'd counted the days wrong, and a starting pitcher will be needed on Tuesday against the A's to fill in for Scheppers.  Harrison, having pitched yesterday, wouldn't have enough rest to go on Tuesday, so Nick Martinez will likely get that start.  However, it sounds like Harrison will then replace Martinez in the rotation, with the question simply being, when will he be activated?

Brad laid out this scenario in the comments of this morning's links post:

Sun, 4/20	White Sox	Ross
Mon, 4/21	at Athletics	Darvish	
Tue, 4/22	at Athletics	Martinez
Wed, 4/23	at Athletics	Perez
Thu, 4/24	Off Day
Fri, 4/25	at Mariners	Harrison (5 days rest)	
Sat, 4/26	at Mariners	Lewis (6 days rest)
Sun, 4/27	at Mariners	Ross (6 days rest)	
Mon, 4/28	Athletics	Darvish (6 days rest)	 	
Tue, 4/29	Athletics	Perez (5 days rest) 	
Wed, 4/30	Athletics	Harrison (4 days rest) 

Alternatively, the Rangers could go with Lewis on Friday on 5 days rest, Darvish on Saturday with four days rest, and Harrison on Sunday, which would mean Robbie Ross (with 7 days rest) going Monday against the A's, followed by Perez and Harrison.  That would depend on if they want to keep Darvish on normal rest, versus having Darvish pitch against the A's rather than the M's.  Given that the A's are our main rivals, and Darvish seems to struggle against Seattle, saving Darvish for the A's makes a fair amount of sense.

In any case, it looks like the Rangers' rotation will be back to full strength (minus Derek Holland) in the next week or so, with the question then being, can Robbie Ross and Colby Lewis stay healthy and productive as starters until Holland is back.