The Rangers got Robert Garcia back on a mound Saturday, but the real question hanging over his rehab stint is bigger than one sharp inning.
Garcia opened his injury assignment with Triple-A Round Rock by working the sixth inning behind Dalton Pence, who had already put together five innings of one-run ball. The left-hander looked ready from the jump: one hit allowed, two strikeouts, 16 pitches, and 10 of them for strikes. He was done after one inning, exactly as planned.
Texas has had Garcia sidelined since April with a left rotator cuff strain, and the club is not rushing anything. Manager Skip Schumaker said earlier this week the Rangers want Garcia to get two or three rehab appearances in before they even think about bringing him back, and they also want to see him pitch on consecutive days.
If everything stays clean, Garcia could be part of the group headed to Seattle and Arizona on the upcoming road trip. Whether he can actually move the needle for a club chasing a playoff spot is another matter. Before the injury, he was 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA in nine appearances.
Carter Baumler is in a similar holding pattern, though his rehab has started with encouraging results. Since beginning his assignment on Sept. 2, the right-hander has made two appearances and worked two innings, allowing one hit, no runs and no walks while striking out five. He last pitched Friday against Oklahoma City.
Baumler has also been out since April, dealing with a right intercostal strain. Texas acquired him in a trade after he was selected in the Rule 5 Draft, and like Garcia, the Rangers want to see him handle back-to-back outings before deciding whether to activate him from the 60-day injured list.
All of that comes as Texas heads into its final two-city road trip of the season, beginning Tuesday in Seattle and then moving on to Arizona on Friday. If the Rangers are going to stay in the playoff conversation, the next week away from Globe Life Field has to go better than the rest of their road season has.
Texas is 31-41 on the road and will finish with a road record of .500 or worse, something it has done for a decade. The trip opens with three games in Seattle, an AL West opponent the Rangers have already struggled against: they are 22-27 in the division and just 6-17 on the road there.
By the time Texas comes home, the picture will be clear enough. The Rangers will either still have a path forward or be hanging by a thread.
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Jake Burger was at the center of it, giving the Rangers the kind of pop they have been searching for with a pair of home runs and several key RBIs. The relief work held Tampa Bay down when the game tightened, and Texas added a little more cushion in the late innings before Jakob Junis finished it off with the save. [Read more 🡒]