Rangers to skip struggling Alexi Ogando in starting rotation

Alexi Ogando is about to get a bit of a breather.

According to Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com, Rangers manager Ron Washington announced this afternoon that Scott Feldman will start in place of Ogando on Monday against the Rays. The struggling right-hander won’t make his next start until September 10 against the Athletics.

Ogando was pulled after just 2 2/3 innings against the Rays on Wednesday and has an 8.34 ERA over his last five starts. Some fatigue isn’t a huge surprise given that he has logged 154 innings this season after throwing 72 1/3 innings between the minors and majors last season, but Washington is convinced that his problems are more mental than physical.

“The velocity is fine and it’s coming out of his hands fine,” Washington said. “It’s just the adjustment part of it. When you get to the adjustment part of it out there when things are not happening like you want them to happen, that’s mental.”

Ogando isn’t the only member of the Rangers’ starting rotation getting a rest. Matt Harrison is scheduled to start tomorrow against the Red Sox, but because of two upcoming off-days, he won’t start again until September 13. Should they continue to struggle, it’s possible one or both could be bullpen-bound if the Rangers make the playoffs.