The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has placed shortstop Elvis Andrus on the Major League Baseball Paternity Leave List and recalled infielder Jurickson Profar from Triple-A Round Rock.
With his placement on the Paternity Leave List, Andrus may miss up to 72 hours while another player takes his place on the active roster. Tonight's game against Boston will mark the first time since Andrus' major league debut on Opening Day 2009 that he will not be active for the Rangers in either the regular season or postseason.
Andrus is one of five players in contention for the 32nd and final spot on the American League All-Star team in the 2017 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote. He has batted .301 with a career-high 11 home runs and 50 RBI in 82 games with Texas this season, and began the day ranking among league leaders in stolen bases (2nd, 20), hits (4th, 100), and multi-hit games (T3rd, 30). He has started 82 of the Rangers' 84 games this season.
Profar has batted .135 in 20 games/16 starts spanning two stints with Texas this season (Opening Day-April 30, June 9-15), going 2-for-14 in 5 games/3 starts during his stint with the club last month. He has spent the balance of the season at Round Rock, batting .303 with 2 home runs, 22 doubles, 26 RBI, and an .820 OPS figure in 50 games. During his most recent stint with the Express beginning June 17, Profar has batted .373/.440/.478/.918 (25-67) in 16 games with 8 walks against 6 strikeouts, posting a pair of a 4-hit games.
With these transactions, the Rangers still have 39 players on the club's major league roster, along with five players on the 60-day disabled list.