ARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas manager Ron Washington appreciates the honesty reliever Tanner Scheppers had with him.
The Rangers stayed away from Scheppers in Saturday’s 6-4 loss to Cincinnati because Scheppers felt like he needed another day to rest. Scheppers has appeared in 15 games this month and is tied for third in the American League in appearances with 38.
Washington had no issues with Scheppers letting the team know he needed more rest.
"It not only helps him, it helps us, too," Washington said. "I certainly don't want him to battle through something and it ends up costing us time with him. I'd rather just give him the time down if that what he says he needs, and I don't want him to feel embarrassed about it. You don't know how tough it is in this business to get honesty out of one of baseball players. It's refreshing when one of your guys is honest with you. You want honesty. You preach that to them all the time because something little can turn into something huge. If it turns into something huge, then you just hurt your whole team and not only yourself."
The good news for the Rangers is that Scheppers, who is 5-1 with a 1.11 ERA, is available Sunday.
