22-year old righty starting pitcher Omar Poveda looks like he will need Tommy John Surgery. He pitched in 24 games (all starts) in Rookie+AA+AAA ball last season and he was 11-6 with a 4.10 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Poveda has now pitched in 108 games (103 starts) in his 5 years in the minors and he is 33-36 with a 4.25 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. This is a bad break for Poveda who worked his way to AAA-ball last season.

Backup shortstop Khalil Greene is still struggling with anxiety issues and it will cause him to stay at home instead of coming to spring training. I expect the Rangers will try to void his contract and move on. It’s good that the Rangers found out early on that they couldn’t depend on Greene before they had to start making moves. Esteban German and Joaquin Arias will battle for the job that would have likely went to Greene if he had showed up for spring training.

UPDATE: The Rangers have voided the contract of Khalil Greene.

The Rangers have shut down 28-year old lefty swinging CF Josh Hamilton for the season. He played in only 89 games for the Rangers this season and he was 90 for 336 (.268 avg, .741 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 10 homers, 54 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Hamilton was solid when he played this season but that wasn’t often enough. Still his pace was nothing compared to the numbers he put up last season for the Rangers. Hamilton played in 156 games for the Rangers last season and he was 190 for 624 (.304 avg, .901 OPS) with 98 runs scored, 32 homers, 130 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Luckily for the Rangers they have a couple of capable replacements in Marlon Byrd and Julio Borbon.

The Rangers have shut down 24-year old switch hitting catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia for the season. He will undergo surgery next Monday for thoracic outlet syndrome. Saltalamacchia played in only 84 games for the Rangers this season and he was 66 for 283 (.233 avg, .661 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 9 homers and 34 RBIs. Salty also whiffed 97 times this season which is way too many for a hitter like him. Salty has now played in 238 games in his major league career and he is 198 for 789 (.251 avg, .703 OPS) with 100 runs scored, 23 homers and 93 RBIs. He has whiffed a stunning 246 times in his major league career to date. I’m starting to think that Saltalamacchia will never live up to his “potential” as he has not improved one bit from the day he became a major leaguer.

Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton is out at least a week longer with a pinched nerve in his back.  He has now missed seven games in a row and received his third root-nerve epidural injection today.  Hamilton has been on the disabled list twice already this season and this is not good news for the Rangers, as they are right in the middle of a wild-card race.  Currently, the Rangers are two games back of the Boston Red Sox for the AL Wild Card and are also missing their All-Star third basemen Michael Young with a hamstring pull.  The only good news is that Young should be back soon as he took batting practice and did some running in the outfield today.