Rangers shut down Cashner after setback

Andrew Cashner had a setback with the soreness in is right biceps, and Texas Rangers pitching coach Doug Brocail said that the right-hander won’t be ready by Opening Day.

The former TCU star and native Texan was shut down by the Rangers medical staff for at least a few days. Another MRI exam is likely.

Cashner was first bothered by the soreness in the upper part of his biceps last week, but the initial MRI didn’t show anything of major concern. He had been throwing to 120 feet and reported as recently as Tuesday that there hadn’t been any issues.

“We tried to ramp him up, and it didn’t respond,” assistant general manager Mike Daly said. “It certainly pushes back his time frame. It’s a little bit of a concern in mid-March. There’s still time. Each day that it gets pushed back, the window closes a little bit.”

But the window opens for those pitchers who are competing to be the No. 5 starter, a group headed by A.J. Griffin, Chi Chi Gonzalez and Mike Hauschild. Gonzalez is scheduled to start Thursday against Team Venezuela.

“It means these kids have to help us make up our minds who we are going to leave camp with,” Brocail said. “I don’t see any way Cash will be ready by Opening Day. We have some work to do. We have to decide what direction we’re going and who gets the innings. We have a lot of camp left. That’s good.”

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 9:53 AM with the headline "Rangers shut down Cashner after setback."