Ragans to injured list, Keuchel to come up

Texas Rangers pitcher Cole Ragans was placed on the fifteen day injured list with a calf strain, the team announced today. There is no corresponding move for tonight’s game, but Dallas Keuchel is on the taxi squad and is slated to start tomorrow, when a 40 man roster move will have to be made to accommodate him.

Levi Weaver tweeted that, when asked about the move, Ragans said it was precautionary, so I would expect he will be back after the minimum stint. Ragans is operating under an innings limit he is getting close to anyway, so this is a way to err on the side of caution with him, injury-wise, while also helping to space out his outings so he doesn’t hit his innings limit so soon.

As for Keuchel, I know we were all hoping to see him and Kohei Arihara in the rotation this season. The move to create a roster spot will not be Jon Gray to the 60 day injured list, since, per the beats, he is expected to have a bullpen session September 1 and pitch in the majors again before the season is up.