Rangers Place RHP Koji Uehara on 15-Day Disabled List
Recall OF Leonys Martin from Triple-A Round Rock
Arlington, Texas – The Texas Rangers announced this afternoon that the club has placed right-handed pitcher Koji Uehara on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Sunday, with a right latissimus dorsi (lat) muscle strain. To take his place on the 25-man roster, the club has recalled outfielder Leonys Martin (#27) – pronounced lay-OH-niece mar-TEEN – from Triple-A Round Rock.
Martin, 24, has spent the season with Round Rock, batting .344 (44-128) with 5 homers, 9 doubles, and 22 RBI in 31 games. He has 15 walks against 22 strikeouts, boasting a .414 on-base figure and .547 slugging percentage. He has hit safely with at least one RBI in 7 straight games, including a home run and 3 RBI in last night’s game against Oklahoma City in Round Rock. The left-handed batter is hitting .361 (26-72) against right-handers and .321 (18-56) versus lefties in 2012. He has a .394 (13-33) average with runners in scoring position and has seen most of his action in center field.
Martin has appeared in 8 games with the Express in June after missing over a month on the disabled list May 2-June 6 with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb. He suffered the injury when sliding into first base on a bunt single in the 5th inning of a game May 1 vs. New Orleans. Rangers Team Physician Dr. Keith Meister performed surgery to repair the ligament on May 2 at the Medical Center of Arlington.
Martin appeared in 8 games with Texas last season, going 3-for-8 in his only major league action to date. He has been in the Rangers organization for just over a year since signing on May 4, 2011.
Uehara has no record and a 2.11 ERA (5 ER/21.1 IP) in 20 relief appearances this season. He ranks among American League relief leaders in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2nd, 11.00), WHIP (3rd, 0.70), and opponents average (T8th, .171). Uehara last pitched on Saturday at San Francisco and the first date he would be eligible to return is June 25.
With these moves, the Rangers still have a full 40-man roster.