Hoying down, Darvish d.l., Choo activated, Claudio up

The Texas Rangers have placed pitcher Yu Darvish on the 15 day disabled list with neck and shoulder discomfort, and have optioned outfielder Jared Hoying to AAA Round Rock.  Replacing them on the roster are outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, who was activated from the disabled list, and left handed pitcher Alex Claudio, recalled from AAA Round Rock.

Darvish going to the disabled list is obviously the most potentially problematic move, although his MRI today showed "nothing significant," according to the beat guys on Twitter.  With the Rangers currently up 5 games in the A.L. West and the rotation performing admirably, I suspect there's a certain degree of erring on the side of caution with the team's most talented starting pitcher, who has just returned from Tommy John surgery, and who the team is going to want to keep healthy through the end of the season.  The move is retroactive to last Thursday, so Darvish could be activated as soon as a week from this coming Friday.

Replacing Darvish on the 25 man roster is Alex Claudio, who is just here to give the Rangers an extra bullpen arm with Cesar Ramos making a spot start.  Connor Sadzeck pitched for Frisco tonight, and depending on what happens with Ramos, he could be an option to start Saturday, or get a look in the pen at some point in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Shin-Soo Choo has been activated, as expected.  The main question was whether Adrian Beltre would go on the disabled list to make room for him.  Beltre still isn't ready to return, but the beats are saying he is aiming to start on Thursday.  With Beltre still hanging around, the Rangers have opted to send Jared Hoying back down to AAA.  Hoying's departure means that Ryan Rua is the backup CF for the time being.

Meanwhile, the Rangers are still rolling with three catchers, one of whom -- Bryan Holaday -- has played just twice since June 1.  Jeff Banister is somewhat hamstrung right now in terms of maneuverability, since, with Beltre unavailable, his bench consists of whatever outfielder isn't starting (Nomar Mazara tonight) and two backup catchers.