As if the Texas Rangers needed any more injuries to their starting pitchers, the previously unheralded Nick Tepesch, who won the fifth starter job out of spring training, was drilled with a comeback line drive on Saturday in the second inning of the Rangers' win over the Seattle Mariners.
Tepesch was hit in the right wrist, which was visibly bleeding after the play and was removed from the game. This all came shortly after it was announced that No. 2 pitcher Matt Harrison would be out until at least the all-star break after undergoing surgery to repair damaged discs in his back.
But good news, Rangers fans, you can breathe easy as it looks like Tepesch should be ready to roll in his next scheduled start on Thursday in Minnesota after X-rays on the wrist were negative.
Tepesch told reporters he had been hit in a similar fashion in college at Missouri and suffered no ill effects after the incident.
And manager Ron Washington added that he wasn't concerned with his bulky 24-year-old rookie pitcher.
“That’s the hazard of being a pitcher,” Washington told The Dallas Morning News. “If you have stage fright because of it, you need to get another job. It won’t bother him. He’s a tough kid.”
