Tolleson Throws to Live Hitters, Decision Coming

Heading into last weekend's series, embattled former Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson was placed on the family medical emergency leave, which lasts for seven days, to be with his ailing father whose battle with cancer had taken a downturn.

That's just an unfortunate situation for all involved and it came at a time when Tolleson likely needed to clear his head from everything going on around him, which from a baseball perspective was all negative as of late.

Tolleson threw 30 pitches to minor leaguers at Frisco on Tuesday while his teammates were winning a series with a second straight win in Cleveland, and now the Rangers will have a decision to make on Friday when the family leave expires.

The Rangers will either have to activate Tolleson and stick him back in the bullpen, option him to the minor leagues so he can try to get his recent problems figured out or send him to the disabled list.

At this point, it's hard to imagine Tolleson being stuck back in a big-league bullpen with his recent struggles and his obvious, understandable mental obstacles he must have right now with his ailing father. The Rangers could come up with a reason to stick him on the disabled list or even better just send him to Round Rock along with Tom Wilhelmsen and hope he can rediscover his effectiveness (and his change-up) and get back soon to help out the Rangers' bullpen that's been ridden hard lately.

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