Texas Rangers skipping Jordan Lyles start

Jordan Lyles, the fifth starter for the Texas Rangers, will be skipped the first time through the rotation, the team announced on Friday.

With off days on Monday and on Thursday of this coming week, the Rangers will have Lance Lynn start on normal rest against the Arizona Diamondbacks at home in the series finale in the short two game series against the D-Backs, and then Mike Minor and Corey Kluber will start the first two games in San Francisco against the Giants on July 31 and August 1, each working with an extra day of rest. Lyles is slated to start the Sunday, August 2 series finale against the Giants.

The Rangers have an off day on Monday, August 3, then have nine games in a row before their next off day — three at Oakland, then back home for three against the Angels and three against Seattle. The Rangers could juggle the rotation again before that August 4 game to maximize the games Lynn, Minor and Kluber start, or could have Gibson start the August 4 game and resume the regular rotation.

After the off day on August 13, the Rangers play seventeen straight, have another off day on August 31, play thirteen straight, have an off day on September 14, and then play thirteen straight again to end the season. That means if the Rangers want to maximize the starts they get from their top three, they have do the rotation shuffling now, because the schedule will provide them few opportunities from mid-August on to skip a starter.

Lyles joined the Rangers in the offseason as a free agent, inking a 2 year, $16 million deal to be the team’s fifth starter.