Ornelas recalled, Martinez sent down

In advance of tonight’s game, the Texas Rangers have recalled infielder/outfielder Jonathan Ornelas from AAA Round Rock. To make room for him on the active roster, the Rangers have optioned outfielder J.P. Martinez to AAA Round Rock.

I’m not really sure what this is about. Martinez, of course, was brought up in mid-August, was 8 for 19 in his first six games, and had folks clamoring for him to replace Leody Taveras as the regular center fielder. Since then, he has gone 1 for 21 with 12 Ks and no walks, and his playing time has become largely nonexistent. Since August 21 he has started just two games.

So Martinez isn’t getting any action, but I’m not sure why Jonathan Ornelas would, either. The only thing I can think of is that Ornelas is a righthanded hitter, and with Garcia out and Evan Carter up, they want to balance the bench a little bit. Since JPM is a lefty, he goes down, Ornelas comes up.

But who knows.