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Texas Rangers first baseman Ronald Guzman starts a rehab assignment on Saturday with AA Frisco, and Drew Smyly returns to the major league rotation with a start on Sunday, the team announced today.
Smyly’s return will necessitate a roster move, which almost certainly will involved a reliever being optioned. Ariel Jurado and Wei-Chieh Huang, who were brought up as bullpen reinforcements a week ago in Seattle, are the two guys who the team would seem likely to be choosing from. Smyly went on the i.l. retroactive to April 20 with nerve tightness, which he attributed to his workload after missing the past two seasons.
Guzman, meanwhile, would seem likely to be activated Tuesday, when the Rangers start a 9 game road trip with a game in Pittsburgh. Guzman has been out of action since leaving the game on April 6 with a hamstring strain. Barring an injury, Texas will have to decide whether to cut loose one of their veteran bench players, or to go to a seven man bullpen.