Drew Smyly activated, Wei-Chieh Huang optioned

Texas Rangers transactions: Drew Smyly has been activated from the injured list today. To clear a spot for him on the 25 man roster, reliever Wei-Chieh Huang has been optioned to AAA Nashville.

Smyly was placed on the injured list due to nerve issues in his arm, which he attributed to pitching regularly for the first time in two years after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The lefthanded starting pitcher threw a simulated game on Wednesday that went well, and thus was activated to make the start today against Toronto.

Huang was on the bubble, along with Ariel Jurado, to be sent down when Smyly was activated. Jurado can fill a long man role, which may be necessary today, given Smyly’s struggles to go deep into games, and that may have been a factor in Jurado being kept over Huang. It’s noteworthy that Huang is being optioned to Nashville, rather than Frisco, since to this point his time in the minors this year has been with the Roughriders — his first appearance for Nashville will be his first career appearance in AAA.