Rangers Place Brett Martin on 60-Day Injured List

Brett Martin had surgery in January and was not expected to be with the team on Opening Day.

The Texas Rangers moved pitcher Brett Martin to the 60-day injured list on Friday, a move made to open up a space on the roster for outfielder Robbie Grossman.

Martin is not in Surprise with the Rangers. He had shoulder surgery on Jan. 18 and is expected to miss a majority of the 2023 season.

Martin is the first Rangers player to be moved to the 60-day injured list.

Last season Martin was a consistent piece of the bullpen once he got off the IL. He reached the Rangers roster on April 9 and made a couple of additional IL trips after that, last of which ended his season on Sept. 27 with a left shoulder strain.

Martin finished 1-7, with his ERA rising from 3.18 in 2021 to 4.14 in 2022. While he notched three saves on the season, his holds went down. He threw fewer innings (50), but he struck out basically as many in 2022 (40) as he did in 2021. Batters hit .260 against him and he gave up 18 walks.

Grossman combined to bat .209 (86-for-411) with seven home runs and 45 RBI over 129 games with Detroit and Atlanta last season, with a .320/.436/.443/.879 (39-for-122) slash line against left-handed pitching. He had the 21st-highest walk rate in the Majors (min. 450 PA).

The switch-hitter set career highs in games played (156), runs scored (88), hits (133), home runs (23), RBI (67), walks (98) and stolen bases (20) with the Tigers in 2021, becoming the first Detroit batter to hit 20-or-more home runs and steal 20-or-more bases in a single season since Curtis Granderson in 2009.

Since 2016, Grossman ranks among MLB leaders (min. 3,000 PA) in walk pct. (9th, 13.3 percent), pitches per PA (18th, 4.06), walks (20th, 416), and on-base pct. (31st, .351). He has slashed .286/.394/.436/.829 (211-for-739) against left-handed pitching in that span, the 12th-highest OBP versus lefties in MLB (min. 500 PA vs. LHP) over the last seven seasons.

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