ARLINGTON, Texas – The ever-changing roster of the Texas Rangers has another new look.
Outfielder Jake Smolinski and right-hander Roman Mendez are coming up from Round Rock for Monday's game. The Rangers have sent Michael Choice to Round Rock and designated utility man Donnie Murphy for assignment.
The club will make another move Tuesday as Nick Martinez has been scratched from his start because of discomfort on his left side. The Rangers plan to call up Phil Irwin from Triple A Round Rock to make the start for Martinez, who will head to the disabled list.
Smolinski will take over the role Choice had, spelling starters in the outfield and getting time at designated hitter. Smolinski, 25, got the nod over Engel Beltre and Jared Hoying. He spent most of the season at Frisco and batted .267 in eight games with Round Rock.
Choice had eight homers and 27 RBI for Texas but was batting just .177 in 69 games with Texas.
"Obviously he's struggled," Texas general manager Jon Daniels said of Choice. "He's been trying to make some adjustments on the fly. It's a tough thing to do. The name we talked a lot about as an example for him, it's not apples to apples, was Nelson Cruz. It was almost a two-year period until he established himself. I don't think what Michael has to do is quite at that level."
Mendez is out of options after this season and Daniels thought this stretch would be a good time to see what he has. The Rangers have stretched their pitching staff thin in a stretch in which they've lost 15 of their last 18 games. Daniels expects the club to keep an extra reliever until the All-Star break.
Mendez, who has never pitched in the majors, was acquired in the 2010 trade with Boston for Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Mendez, 24, has had surgery on his right elbow twice. He was 0-1 with a 4.02 ERA in 25 appearances for Round Rock.
Irwin will be the 12th starter the Rangers have used this year as Martinez will go the DL with a sore left rib. Martinez aggravated the rib while taking batting practice last Wednesday.
The Rangers picked up Irwin on waivers from Pittsburgh on May 28 and he has gone 4-1 with a 2.41 ERA in his seven appearances (six starts) for the Express.
Irwin has one big-league start under his belt, pitching 4 2/3 innings last year for the Pirates. He missed the majority of the season after having nerve surgery on his right elbow.
Irwin, who is 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA in his last five starts, is looking forward to his Tuesday opportunity as he'll become the 12th starter used by the Rangers.
"I started off the year a little shaky with the Pirates," Irwin said. "It felt really good to get to an organization that needs starting pitching. It's just my job to go out there and compete and see if I can succeed. I think I've done that and here we are."
Martinez is hopeful that he'll miss just one start because of the All-Star break. The Rangers can make a DL move retroactive to July 2.
"It was just irritated," Martinez said. "It's happened but it would go away right after. It bothered me in my bullpen. Even playing catch it bothered me."
