The Rangers’ third base situation worked itself out in a sad way when they placed the hot-hitting Kevin Kouzmanoff on the 15-day disabled list with a herniated disk in his back, and activated Adrian Beltre from the 15-day DL. Beltre was dealing with a strained left quadriceps and missed the minimum amount of time. The news comes from Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.
Kouzmanoff hadn’t played in the Majors since 2011, but came out of the gate on fire for the Rangers, replacing the injured Beltre. In 51 trips to the plate, Kouzmanoff slashed .362/.412/.617 with two home runs and 10 runs batted in. Leading up to his injury, Beltre was slashing .286/.394/.393.
Beltre is in Friday night’s lineup against the Mariners, batting third and playing third.
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