Rangers place 1B Prince Fielder on 15-day disabled list

Murphy will be available for tonight's game in Detroit

Detroit, Mich. - The Texas Rangers announced this afternoon that the club has placed first baseman Prince Fielder on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Saturday, May 17, with a herniated C5-C6 disc in his neck. To take his place on the 25-man roster, the club has recalled infielder Donnie Murphy (#16) from his injury rehab assignment and activated him for tonight's game with the Tigers.

This is Fielder's first career disabled list placement, as he had appeared in at least 157 games for 8 consecutive seasons from 2006-13. He had played in 547 consecutive games before the neck injury, which had been the longest active streak in the major leagues. Fielder batted .247 with 8 doubles, 3 home runs and 16 RBI while starting each of the Rangers' first 42 games this season, his first with Texas.

Murphy was placed on the disabled list on May 8 with a neck strain, an injury suffered when he tripped at first base trying to beat out a ground ball on May 7 vs. Colorado. Today was the first date he was eligible to return. A member of the Opening Day roster, Murphy has batted .211 with one home run and 7 RBI in 26 games for Texas this season. He played 6 games on an injury rehab assignment with Triple-A Round Rock, making 5 starts at third base and one at second base. He went 0-for-4 in his last Triple-A contest on Wednesday vs. Iowa.

With Fielder's injury, the Rangers now have a major league-high 17 disabled list placements in 2014, and also lead MLB with a current figure of 13 players on the disabled list.

After today's moves, the Rangers have 39 players on the club's 40-man roster.