ARLINGTON -- The Rangers placed first baseman Mike Napoli on the 10-day disabled list because of continued issues with back spasms on Tuesday, and they activated left-hander Dario Alvarez.
Napoli's DL stint is retroactive to Sunday, meaning he is eligible to come off on June 14. He has been dealing with back issues for the past two weeks and had to come out of Saturday's game after four innings when they flared up again.
"We had gone through the rehab process and got to a point where we weren't making as much progress as we thought we should," manager Jeff Banister said.
Joey Gallo will continue to play first base while Napoli is sidelined, but the Rangers are back to a three-man bench. The Rangers feel they can get through two games with the Mets with a short bench, but that's not the case later this week. Texas has a three-game series coming up against the Nationals in Washington, and there will be no designated hitter available. Banister admitted the Rangers would like to add another bench player for that series.
Alvarez last pitched on May 25 against the Red Sox before going on the DL with inflammation in his left elbow. He threw a 26-pitch bullpen session on Sunday without any issues and the Rangers decided he did not need a Minor League assignment.
He was activated just in time for the Mets series. Alvarez pitched for the Mets in parts of 2014-15.
"I'm just happy to be back," Alvarez said. "I don't care about facing the other guys, I'm just ready to help this team win more games."