Major League Baseball

Rangers put Kinsler on DL with groin strain

Published Jul. 30, 2010 1:49 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

For the second time this season the Texas Rangers are going to have to play without All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler.

He was placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with a strained left groin.

The move came a day after Kinsler sat out a 3-1 loss to the Oakland A's. He started the season on the disabled list and missed the first 22 games with a high ankle sprain sustained in spring training.

Kinsler is hitting .298 with six home runs and 38 RBIs in 76 games. He reached base in 25 straight games before going 0 for 5 against the A's on Tuesday night. He will be eligible to come off the disabled list Aug. 12.

The Rangers replaced him on the roster with first baseman Mitch Moreland from Triple-A Oklahoma City and in the lineup with Joaquin Arias, who was making his 14th start at second base. Texas, which started the day with a 7 1/2-game lead over Oakland in the AL West, got another possible replacement Thursday by acquiring Jorge Cantu from Florida.

The trade was made to add a right-handed hitting first baseman. Cantu came up as a second baseman and could be an option.

''He does have some track record there, so it's a possibility,'' general manager Jon Daniels said. ''But this had nothing to do with Ian.''

Cantu said he's more comfortable at first base, but he's willing to do whatever the team wants.

''I'll talk to (them) and we'll see where we go from there,'' he said.

Rangers manager Ron Washington said Kinsler experienced the groin problem for the last three days. The team decided to shut Kinsler down following an MRI on Wednesday, hoping the injury will heal in the next two weeks.

''Anytime you strain a groin, it's serious,'' Washington said. ''He's been playing with it. But this is too important. We want to have him down the stretch. We need him to play. We don't want a sprain to become a pull. This way we can get the 15 days and get it over with. It would be easy for something to get worse.''

Washington moved Josh Hamilton from the No. 5 spot in his batting order to No. 3, where Kinsler has hit for most of the season. Nelson Cruz took Hamilton's No. 5 slot behind Vladimir Guerrero.

Hamilton was the No. 3 hitter for 61 games last season.

Moreland, a 17th-round draft pick in 2007, was hitting .289 with 12 home runs and 65 RBIs in 95 games at Oklahoma City. He started Thursday night in his major league debut.

Moreland was notified about his callup late Wednesday night. He got up early on Thursday and drove from Oklahoma City to Arlington to join his new team.

''Since I could walk, this is what I've wanted to do,'' Moreland said. ''I woke up, packed up what I could, and got here as fast as I could.''

Texas made room for Moreland on the 40-man roster by transferring reliever Mark Lowe to the 60-day DL. Lowe came to Texas along with ace left-hander Cliff Lee in a trade with Seattle earlier this month. Lowe has been on the DL since May 3 with a back injury that required surgery.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball