The Texas Rangers placed All-Star catcher Jonah Heim on the 15-day injured list Friday due to a strained tendon in his left wrist.
Heim was injured while swinging at a pitch from the Houston Astros’ Framber Valdez in the fourth inning on Wednesday.
According to the Dallas Morning News, season-ending surgery is a possibility. The Rangers are going to have Heim rest the wrist for two or three weeks before making the next treatment decision.
Heim, 28, is hitting .280 with 14 homers and a career-best 70 RBIs through 90 games. He is batting .413 with runners in scoring position, third in the majors behind the Miami Marlins’ Luis Arraez (.481) of the Miami Marlins and the Rangers’ Corey Seager (.439).
Mitch Garver figures to receive the bulk of the catching work and is batting seventh for the Friday night game against the host San Diego Padres. The 32-year-old began the night batting .255 with five homers and 20 RBIs in 33 games.
The Rangers also added some catching insurance on Friday by acquiring journeyman Kevin Plawecki from the Padres in exchange for cash considerations. Plawecki will be assigned to Triple-A Round Rock.
Plawecki was batting .276 with three homers and 21 RBIs in 33 games at El Paso, the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate. He also was with the Washington Nationals’ organization earlier this season and played 24 games for Triple-A Rochester, batting .256 with one homer and six RBIs.
Plawecki finished the 2022 season with Texas and went 3-for-11 with one RBI in three games.
The 32-year-old is an eight-year veteran with a .235 career batting average, 22 homers and 137 RBIs in 447 games. He has played for the New York Mets (2015-18), Cleveland (2019), Boston Red Sox (2020-22) and Texas.
The now-No. 2 catcher for Texas is Sam Huff, and he hasn’t started a major league game behind the plate this season. Overall, Huff has 34 starts as a major league catcher.
Texas also activated right-handed reliever Josh Sborz (biceps) from the injured list and recalled outfielder Bubba Thompson from Triple-A Round Rock. In addition, the team demoted right-hander Owen White to Round Rock after the Wednesday game against Houston.
Sborz, 29, is 4-4 with a 4.54 ERA in 29 relief appearances for the Rangers this season.
Thompson, 25, batted .170 with four RBIs in 36 games for Texas earlier this season.
White, 23, was 0-1 with an 11.25 ERA in two relief outings with the Rangers. He is rated as the organization’s No. 2 prospect by MLB Pipeline.
–Field Level Media
