Matt Moore to the pen, Yohander Mendez starts Friday

Matt Moore is a Texas Rangers starting pitcher no longer, as the Texas Rangers have announced he is now in the bullpen, and Yohander Mendez will be summoned from AAA Round Rock to start on Friday.

Moore, acquired from the San Francisco Giants this past offseason, along with international bonus pool money, in exchange for Sam Wolff and Israel Cruz, was a reclamation project, with the Rangers hoping that, in the aftermath of an awful 2017 season, they could get Moore looking more like the pitcher who was once considered one of the top young pitchers in baseball. Instead, Moore’s command has been non-existent, and he has been even worse in 2018, with a 7.88 ERA on the season. Moore could be a candidate to be designated for assignment when the team needs a 25 man roster spot.

Mendez, 23, was up briefly earlier in the season, appearing in just one game while filling a long man role in the pen. Mendez has not been good at AAA this season, putting up a 5.26 ERA in 51 innings over ten starts for Round Rock, but these are desperate times for the Ranger rotation. It remains to be seen how Texas will clear a roster spot for him, though the obvious choice would be to option Hanser Alberto. The Rangers will need another starting pitcher by Tuesday, possibly sooner if they want to give Bartolo Colon and Cole Hamels an extra day of rest, so it is possible Mendez gets sent down after starting on Friday, with Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Yovani Gallardo or Ariel Jurado called up to make that next start. Of courose, the Rangers would then need to have someone else start on Wednesday, when what was Moore’s spot in the rotation is due back up.