Rangers place lefty reliever Brock Burke on 15-day injured list

The Rangers will be placing southpaw Brock Burke on the 15-day injured list due to a broken right hand, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters including Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today. 

In corresponding moves, Texas selected the contract of right-hander Austin Pruitt and moved infielder Justin Foscue to the 60-day injured list to create 40-man roster space.

Bochy said Burke broke his hand while punching a wall following his rough outing yesterday.

Texas defeated Houston, 12-8, though the Astros drew a lot closer after scoring five times in the seventh inning.  Burke was charged with four of those runs over two-thirds of an inning of work, including a two-run homer off the bat of Kyle Tucker.

Burke now has a garish 15.00 ERA across three innings and five appearances this season, and he’ll face an extended absence while his non-pitching hand heals up. In a best case scenario, this might serve as a bit of a reset for Burke for just this season and really over two years as a whole, as his 2023 numbers declined after his breakout 2022 campaign. 

The advanced metrics behind his 1.97 ERA in 2022 suggested some regression was in order, and Burke ended up posting a 4.37 ERA over 59 2/3 innings last season. He couldn’t get on track in the postseason, as Burke allowed five runs over two-thirds of an inning (over two appearances) during the Rangers’ run to the World Series.

Even with Burke and Jose Leclerc struggling, Texas’ bullpen is pitching better overall than it did for much of last year’s regular season. David Robertson could now be getting closer duties since Leclerc has been temporarily demoted to lower-leverage work, and the trio of Jose Urena, Jacob Latz and Kirby Yates have combined for 21 2/3 innings of scoreless ball.

Pruitt now joins this mix, pitching less than an hour’s drive from his hometown of Plano, Texas.  Pruitt isn’t a hard thrower and he has had some problems keeping the ball in the park over his six MLB seasons, but the veteran reliever has posted some solid results. 

The righty quietly had a 2.98 ERA in 48 1/3 innings for the A’s in 2023, even if he enjoyed some good fortune in the form of a .264 BABIP and a 78% strand rate.  The Rangers signed Pruitt to a minors deal after the Athletics non-tendered him, and Pruitt now looks to temporarily step into Burke’s multi-inning relief role.

Foscue was placed on the 10-day IL earlier this week due to a left oblique strain, and this rather quick shift to the 60-day IL indicates that Foscue’s strain is a more severe variety. 

It makes for a tough start to Foscue’s big league career, as he only just made his MLB debut on April 5 and played in two games before suffering the injury. 

Injuries to Nathaniel Lowe, Josh Jung and now Foscue have left the Rangers a little thin around the infield, though Lowe is expected to start a rehab assignment this coming week as he plots his return from his own oblique strain.