SEATTLE -- Third baseman Adrian Beltre was out of the lineup for the second straight game on Friday with a mildly strained left hamstring. Manager Jeff Banister said Beltre, who was injured in Wednesday's game running the bases, is available in an "emergency" only situation.
The Rangers opened a three-game series Friday against the Mariners at Safeco Field.
The Rangers are not thinking about putting Beltre on the disabled list. Instead Banister said they want to give him "every chance" of responding to treatment.
"You give guys like that a number of days before you jump into a DL situation," Banister said. "You give him the opportunity to go through the treatment process and then if a decision is made, it will be made. I'd like to give him the full complement of days to allow him to go through all the treatment and see how his body responds."
Beltre will be evaluated daily but it's unlikely he'll play during the series against the Mariners. But Beltre could also show up Saturday and announce he is ready to play.
Other injury updates:
• Pitcher Yu Darvish, who is dealing with some neck soreness, threw 21 pitches in the bullpen on Friday and is on schedule to pitch Monday against the Athletics. It will be his fourth start since coming back from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery.
• Reliever Keone Kela, who is on the disabled list recovering from elbow surgery, threw two sets of 25 from 120 feet on Friday afternoon. Kela, who is on the road trip, could graduate to the half-mound at some point next week and pitching coach Doug Brocail said, "He looks pretty good. The ball was coming out exceptionally well."
• Brocail said the Rangers got a good report on pitcher A.J. Griffin, who made his first rehab start for Double-A Frisco on Friday. Griffin, who is on the disabled list because of right shoulder inflammation, allowed one run on four hits, did not walk a batter and struck out three. He threw 42 pitches and is scheduled to start again on Tuesday for Frisco. Brocail said he would like Griffin to get 2-3 more starts before he is an option at the big league level.
"He wasn't sharp but I didn't expect for him to be sharp," Brocail said. "He is healthy, that's all I care about."
• Outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring, is scheduled to play nine innings in the outfield on Friday and Saturday for Frisco. If all goes well, he could be activated on Monday in Oakland.
Rangers beat:
• Robinson Chirinos started at catcher on Friday for the first time since being activated off the disabled list. But Banister said he's not ready to use Chirinos in back-to-back games yet.
• With three catchers on the roster, Banister said Bryan Holaday will start working more at third base and the outfield to increase his versatility.
• Rougned Odor has hit a home run this season batting both leadoff and cleanup in the order. He is the fifth Rangers player to ever do that along with Toby Harrah (1977), Oddibe McDowell (1985), Rafael Palmeiro (1991), and Alfonso Soriano (2005).