Fister, Odor to the disabled list, Barnette, Kiner-Falefa active

Transactions: The Texas Rangers have placed Rougned Odor and Doug Fister on the 10 day disabled list today. To replace Odor and Fister on the 25 man roster, the Rangers have recalled infielder/catcher Isiah Kiner-Falefa from AAA Round Rock and have activated pitcher Tony Barnette from the disabled list.

Odor being replaced by Kiner-Falefa was expected, after Odor was lifted from yesterday’s game with a hamstring injury, and Kiner-Falefa was pulled from Round Rock’s game. Odor is, per the beat guys, expected to miss three weeks with the hamstring injury, during which time Jurickson Profar is expected to get the starts at second base. Kiner-Falefa will be the team’s backup infielder, and, given that he has also been working at catcher the past two seasons, could possibly see some work behind the plate.

The Fister news was a surprise, though he was lifted after just 5 innings and 82 pitches yesterday, and there was some questioning about why that was the case. Fister is dealing with a hip issue that the beat guys are saying is expected to sideline him for 2-3 weeks. In his absence, the expectation is that Bartolo Colon will replace him in the rotation, while Barnette joins the mix of relievers who will be handling middle relief.

In addition, Trevor Plouffe asked for, and received, his release from AAA Round Rock. I don’t know if this is in any way related to the decision by the Rangers not to call up Plouffe from AAA when Odor went down, but regardless, Round Rock has now lost two infielders compared to yesterday.