ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers activated left-hander Robert Garcia from the 60-day injured list Monday. To open the active roster spot, Texas optioned right-hander Ben Peoples to Triple-A Round Rock after Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Garcia’s return also took the club’s last open spot on the 40-man roster.
April 16 at the Athletics was Garcia’s last major league appearance. He retired the one batter he faced in a 9-6 Texas win. A week later came the 15-day injured list, left rotator cuff inflammation, retroactive to April 20. The transfer to the 60-day list came May 31.
Robert Garcia Returns From Left Rotator Cuff Inflammation
Through nine appearances before the injury, Garcia was 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA. He allowed 5 hits and 3 earned runs over 8 innings, with 7 walks and 6 strikeouts.
On Saturday night at Dell Diamond, in what turned out to be the only game of his rehab assignment, Garcia was the first arm out of the Round Rock bullpen against the Oklahoma City Comets. A leadoff single was the only baserunner he allowed. He retired the next three, striking out two, one on a slider and one on a fastball. He threw 16 pitches, 10 of them for strikes. Round Rock lost 2-1 in 11 innings.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said last week that the plan called for two or three rehab appearances, including one set of back-to-back days, before Texas considered activating him.
“We want him back, obviously. We want his health, that part is obviously most important, but we need him to produce,” Schumaker said.
Schumaker wanted more progression out of Garcia before the bullpens and live batting practice in Arizona settled anything.
“It’s a good sign,” Schumaker explained. “But we’ll see how rehab goes. Obviously, Jack’s didn’t go great, so it’s a rehab assignment for a reason. And there is still some progression you want to see. But it’s a good sign.”
Jack Leiter made his third rehab outing for Round Rock on Aug. 26, his first of the three in relief. He reported biceps soreness afterward and was shut down.
No left-handed hitter has a hit against Garcia this season, in 13 at-bats. In 71 games last year, his first in Texas, he pitched 64 innings and finished 4-8 with a 2.95 ERA, 9 saves, and 68 strikeouts. Garcia came to the Rangers on Dec. 22, 2024, straight across for first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. Four seasons with the Miami Marlins, Washington Nationals, and Texas have produced a 9-17 record and a 3.57 ERA, with 182 strikeouts over 163 2/3 innings and 177 appearances, all out of the bullpen.
Ben Peoples Optioned To Triple-A Round Rock
Peoples has been up and down since the Rangers selected his contract on July 2, two days after acquiring him from the Chicago White Sox for minor league catcher Ben Hartl. Three days separated the trade out of Chicago and the roster spot in Arlington, and Peoples never got into a game for Round Rock in between.
“Crazy,” Peoples said in July, the day his contract was selected. “I feel like I’ve been all over the place these last few days, but it’s been all exciting, and all good things.”
His major league debut followed on July 4. Texas optioned him Aug. 8 and recalled him Aug. 31. In 16 games this season he is 0-1 with a 2.76 ERA. He has allowed 14 hits and 5 earned runs over 16 1/3 innings, with 8 walks and 10 strikeouts, and opponents are batting .241 against him. The last of those outings came Sept. 2, when he finished a 9-2 loss to the Athletics with one inning, one hit, two walks, and one strikeout.
Tampa Bay drafted Peoples in the 22nd round in 2019 out of Giles County High School in Tennessee.
Rosters around the majors expanded from 26 players to 28 on Sept. 1. The pitcher limit rose from 13 to 14 for the rest of the regular season.
Sunday’s 8-6 win over Tampa Bay closed the homestand and left Texas 71-73, second in the American League West and two games behind the Houston Astros. The final road trip of the season opens Tuesday night in Seattle, where first pitch against the Mariners is 8:40 p.m. CT at T-Mobile Park.
