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Kyle Lohse scratched as Round Rock starter today

Round Rock's scheduled starting pitcher, Kyle Lohse, has been scratched from his start today

By Adam J. Morris
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Kyle Lohse, the scheduled starter for the Round Rock Express this afternoon, will not be taking the mound for Round Rock.  Instead, Richelson Pena will be getting a spot start for Round Rock.

My assumption is that this due to Yu Darvish being scratched from his scheduled start tomorrow.  Cesar Ramos, the Rangers' long man who has made three starts for the Rangers this season, is who I had assumed would get the ball.  And it may just be that the Rangers are pulling Lohse from today's game with the Express so that, if Ramos is needed in today's game, they can call Lohse up tomorrow for the start.

On the other hand, it is possible that the Rangers are planning on having Lohse replace Darvish in the rotation, particularly if Darvish is going to be d.l. bound.  Lohse, 37, is a 15 year major league veteran with a career 147-141 record and 4.37 ERA.  He put up a 5.85 ERA last year in Milwaukee, while splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen.

The Rangers are finding themselves in a bit of a difficult spot right now, with both Darvish and Adrian Beltre on the 25 man roster, but unable to play.  Roster moves are likely coming tomorrow, with Shin-Soo Choo expected to be activated, though it remains to be seen whether the Rangers will drop one of their three catchers -- Bryan Holaday would be the expected casualty -- or put Beltre on the d.l. to make room for him.  In addition, with Darvish unavailable, if Ramos makes the start, the Rangers are down to a six man bullpen, and so Yu could be d.l.'d as a precautionary measure to get the Rangers an extra arm and be sure he has time to fully recover before returning.

And further complicating matters is that the Rangers would have to clear a 40 man roster spot if they were to call up Lohse.  With Phil Klein having just been designated for assignment when Robinson Chirinos returned from the 60 day d.l., the Rangers are running low on players that would seem to be likely 40 man casualties.

UPDATE -- Evan Grant says Lohse is a "contingency plan":