ARLINGTON, Texas — Joc Pederson was scheduled to hit Tuesday afternoon, and Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said the club expected a more definitive answer on its designated hitter within about 90 minutes of that session. Schumaker gave the update on The Skip Schumaker Show, the pregame segment Rangers Sports Network posts before games, ahead of the series opener against the New York Mets at Globe Life Field.
Schumaker said Pederson felt a lot better. He also said the club did not yet know whether Pederson could play this week.
“He’s going to be hitting in a couple hours, so we’ll have more definitive answer probably in, next hour and a half or so,” Schumaker said. “But not real sure where he’s at. He feels a lot better, but not sure where he’s at.”
Texas placed Pederson on the 10-day injured list Tuesday, retroactive to Sept. 19. That makes him eligible to return Sept. 29, two days after the regular-season finale at Minnesota. The postseason begins that day.
Joc Pederson’s Hitting Progression
Arizona right-hander Brandon Pfaadt hit Pederson with a fastball Sept. 12 at Chase Field. X-rays came back negative. An MRI on Sept. 14 found a small fracture in his left hand, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reported. Pederson has not played since.
Three days after the MRI, Pederson said the pain had gone from “sharp” to “dull.” He said he was still “a couple of days at the absolute quickest” from swinging a bat, The Dallas Morning News reported. That afternoon, he walked the Globe Life Field clubhouse holding a bat of about 12 ounces, MLB.com reported.
On Monday, president of baseball operations Chris Young said on 105.3 The Fan’s G-Bag Nation that swelling in the wrist was the only thing holding Pederson back. He said he could not give a timeline that day.
“We’re hoping that tomorrow he’ll come in and feel a little bit better, and we can advance some more hitting,” Young said. “But we’ve got to let that pain and swelling calm down, and we don’t want to put him in harm’s way any further. So I can’t say today. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have a better update.”
Pederson hit off a tee Tuesday afternoon, Jeff Wilson of AllDLLS.com reported.
Joc Pederson’s Season And The Rangers’ Final Week
Pederson is batting .235/.329/.487 with 26 home runs and 53 RBIs in 136 games, one homer behind team leader Jake Burger. Against right-handed pitching, he has slashed .245/.338/.496 with 25 home runs.
Texas (78-78) leads the Houston Astros by one game in the American League West with six games left, though Houston holds the tiebreaker. MacKenzie Gore faces left-hander Sean Manaea at 7:05 p.m. CT Tuesday. After the Mets leave town Thursday, the Rangers finish the regular season with three games against the Minnesota Twins from Sept. 25-27.
