Rangers activate Adrian Beltre from DL, keep Joey Gallo on roster

The Texas Rangers activated Adrian Beltre from the disabled list on Tuesday and kept rookie Joey Gallo on the active roster.

The Texas Rangersactivated Adrian Beltre from the disabled list on Tuesday and kept rookie Joey Gallo on the active roster.

Beltre jammed his thumb while sliding into second base on May 31 against the Boston Red Sox and was expected to miss at least two weeks at the time. As of Tuesday, he had taken only one round of batting practice without a rehab assignment. Beltre also said late last week that he was having difficulty swinging the bat.

“He’s a freak,” general manager Jon Daniels said, according to The Dallas Morning News. “Freaky players do freaky things.

“I don’t pretend to think he’s 100 percent, but whether we wait a week or have him go take a few at-bats on rehab, it was going to be there a while. He’s not going to further hurt himself, we’ve been told. It’s not a surgery. The doctors say he’s not risking anything. Today, he felt like he took another step forward.”

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Over 51 games this season, Beltre is batting .257 with six home runs, 18 RBIs and a .702 OPS.

The Rangers intended on sending Gallo down once Beltre returned, but instead optioned righthander Jon Edwards to Triple A Round Rock on Tuesday.

Over 18 games, Gallo battled .222 with five home runs and 10 RBIs.

Beltre returned to third base and batted fourth Tuesday night. Gallo, who played 13 games at third, shifted to left field and batted second.

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The Rangers are also still without outfielder Josh Hamilton, who sustained a strained hamstring earlier this month.

Texas entered Tuesday 37–33, three games behind the Houston Astros in the AL West.

- Mike Fiammetta