After coming out of nowhere as a late-spring waiver claim and being one of the big pleasant surprises of the Texas Rangers' first half, it appears Wandy Rodriguez's time as a starting pitcher is up, at least for now.
That's because the Rangers moved the veteran lefty back to the bullpen after another inefficient outing his last time out against the Padres when he lasted just 5 1/3 innings. In fact, over his last five outings, that 5 1/3 innings matched his high.
To replace Rodriguez in the rotation on Monday in Colorado, they're calling on a familiar face in Nick Martinez, who got off to an unreal start in April that proved to be exactly that, unreal. In his four April starts, Martinez was 2-0 with a 0.35 ERA, but his lack of swing-and-miss stuff eventually caught up with him.
When he was sent down to Triple-A earlier this month, he had a 3.43 ERA in 16 starts with a 5-5 record.
Martinez made two appearances in Round Rock with so-so results, but Rangers manager Jeff Banister said he's excited to get the young righty back in the mix.
“We wanted to get Nick back in play,” Banister told reporters. “Felt like we gave him an opportunity to freshen up.”
Rodriguez was a viable trade candidate before this recent run of struggles that has resulted in a 6.57 ERA over his last five starts with the aforementioned lack of quality innings. This move will all but kill any idea of moving the veteran before the July 31 trade deadline.