Holland penciled in to start second half

DETROIT -- The Rangers have tentatively decided that Derek Holland will pitch Friday against the Orioles to start the second half. The Rangers have also tentatively decided that Ross Wolf will be in the rotation to start the second half over Justin Grimm.

"I think he's earned that," manager Ron Washington said. "But that's tentative. It could be one start, it could be two starts or it could also be he's back in the bullpen."

Right now, the Rangers plan on Holland pitching Friday against the Orioles. The one thing that could change that is if Holland gets selected as a replacement pitcher for the American League All-Star team. Martin Perez and Wolf would pitch the next two games. Yu Darvish would then pitch July 22 against the Yankees in the fourth game after the break.

The fifth game would be for Alexi Ogando if he's ready to come off the disabled list. If not, Grimm would likely get that start. If Ogando is ready, Grimm could end up in the bullpen as the long reliever.

Grimm came out of his last start Friday with stiffness in his right forearm but the Rangers don't think it's serious enough to put him on the disabled list.

"He could have finished the game," Washington said. "It didn't bother him to throw. It just bothered him when he was sitting around."

Grimm may be healthy enough to start but he is 2-4 with a 9.91 ERA in his last eight starts and 7-7 with a 6.37 ERA on the season. Wolf is 1-2 with a 2.14 ERA in two starts and 11 relief appearances since being called up from Triple-A Round Rock on May 22.