MVN - Most Valuable Network

NEWSFLASH: Millwood To 15-Day DL; Mathis Purchased; Fukumori Clears Waivers

Where are you going, where have you been?

The Texas Rangers bullpen, thoroughly beset by exhaustion after being forced to record 25 outs in Saturday evening’s narrow 6-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics, received a much-needed insurance policy on Sunday.

His name? Doug Mathis.

The 24-year-old sinkerballer’s contract was purchased from Triple-A Oklahoma before the Mother’s Day series finale at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, with veteran right-hander Kevin Millwood (strained right groin muscle) being placed on the 15-day disabled list to accommodate his addition to the 25-man roster.

Mathis will apparently make his Major League debut against the Minnesota Twins on May 20th, as the Rangers will employ the upcoming Thursday off-day as an opportunity to keep the remainder of the starting rotation on their regular four days of rest, while delaying what would have been Millwood’s 10th start of the 2008 season (and is now shaping up to be Mathis’s first big league start) until next week.

In seven starts and 45.2 innings pitched with the RedHawks this spring, Mathis - crowned the BTiA Minor League Pitcher of the Month for April - had recorded a solid 3.55 ERA and 1.16 WHIP, while posting a fine ground-to-fly ratio of 2.06 and notching 30 strikeouts.

His success is largely dependent on his ability to consistently throw strikes, rather than devastating stuff or overwhelming deceptiveness, and because of that he’ll need to maintain his sharp command if he is to remain at the Major League level for long.

Texas also successfully slid Japanese right-hander Kazuo Fukumori through waivers and outrighted him from the 40-man roster, again placing their player quota at 39.

The 31-year-old movement artist has pitched well at Oklahoma City since his April 13th demotion to the minor leagues (delivering a 1.59 ERA, 0.71 WHIP and 10 strikeouts in 11.1 innings), and though he may be presently absent from the big league squad, his two-year, $3 million contract will ensure the Rangers don’t forget about him.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 11th, 2008 at 11:25 am and is filed under The Season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.