Jason Martin optioned, Demarcus Evans recalled

The Texas Rangers have recalled righthanded relief pitcher Demarcus Evans from AAA Round Rock today, the team announced. Evans takes the spot of outfielder Jason Martin, who was optioned to AAA Round Rock after Monday night’s game.

Martin was called up when John King went on the injured list prior to the All Star Break, so it isn’t surprising that he is being sent down now. However, it is noteworthy that King isn’t being activated from the injured list. King has been paired with Dane Dunning, Tuesday’s starter, the past couple of outings as the Rangers look at stretch him out for a possible rotation spot. When King was placed on the injured list with shoulder inflammation, it was reported that the issue was minor and he was expected to be back today when Dunning was back on the mound.

Instead, it is Evans who is back up, rather than King being activated. Evans was brought up as the 27th man for Sunday’s doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays, and pitched two scoreless innings, walking one and striking out two. Evans has had command issues this year in the majors, and was sent down in late June after allowing four runs to Oakland in a 0.2 inning outing, and four runs (albeit one the zombie runner) while not recording an out a week earlier against Houston.

Evans will presumably get some looks out of the pen, but in the meantime, I’m curious about the status of John King, and why his return is being delayed.