Rangers injury update: Scheppers improved, Alberto has setback

For now, Rangers right-hander Tanner Scheppers hopes it was mostly just a scare. The pain he felt near his lower abdominal area was sharp enough for him to leave a game in the ninth inning Friday. An MRI showed no significant injury. He played catch Sunday morning to test his progress.

“It’s something I’ve never really experienced, something we didn’t want to push through in a spring training game,” said Scheppers, who thought at first it might be a sports hernia. “That’s what we initially thought but it’s possible it’s just a nerve that needs to calm down. It was scary at first but I’m definitely encouraged.”

After resting on Saturday, Scheppers said it’s feeling better.

More updates on injured Rangers’ players:

▪ Infielder Joey Gallo (left hamstring) practiced Sunday with the team, including work at defense and hitting. He was scheduled to work separately with conditioning coach Jose Vasquez to ramp up his conditioning, which has lagged while he’s let the hamstring improve.

▪ Center fielder Carlos Gomez (jammed left shoulder) was scheduled to do some light hitting Sunday. He said he still expects to be back in a game before camp breaks after Wednesday’s game in Surprise.

▪ Infielder Hanser Alberto (right shoulder) had a setback after feeling more pain in his throwing shoulder and received an MRI scan Sunday morning. He’ll be reevaluated Monday.

This story was originally published March 26, 2017 at 11:30 AM with the headline "Rangers injury update: Scheppers improved, Alberto has setback."