Rangers give Hoying chance to fill void in center with Gomez out

Jared Hoying was called up from Triple A Round Rock and started Tuesday night’s game in center field after the Rangers placed Carlos Gomez on the disabled list.

Gomez, who strained his right hamstring during Sunday’s game, is expected to miss four to six weeks.

The Rangers also signed outfielder Drew Stubbs to a minor league deal and assigned him to Round Rock.

Gomez hopes to beat the projected time missed.

“It’s good to know what I have so we can deal with it. I hope we come back sooner than the time that the doctors said,” said Gomez, who is hitting .246 with 11 doubles, four homers and 13 RBIs. “Everything depends on how the healing process goes. The only thing I have on my mind is recovering as fast as I can to continue helping my team.”

Hoying returns to the majors after making his debut in ’16. Manager Jeff Banister said Hoying will get a chance to play center field before deciding whether he’ll use a platoon system while Gomez is out. Delino DeShields has the most major league experience at the position but Hoying is probably the best defensive option.

“We’ll start with that,” Banister said. “I think he’s an extremely capable center fielder. I think Delino is capable of playing center field. Rua has the skill set to play center field. I think it’s hard right now to say that one guy is the best based on limited experience for all three of them out there.”

Complicating matters at the moment is Shin-Soo Choo’s lower back issue. He was scratched from Sunday’s game after reporting the problem to the club. Choo said he’s at about 80 percent recovered and told Banister he could play Tuesday.

“If I didn’t have the injury last year I’d probably be playing,” said Choo, who missed time last season with a lower back injury. Choo said his current injury is no where near as severe but the memories of ’16 frightened him. “I don’t want to lose two months.”

Also, with Gomez on the shelf, Banister wanted to play it conservatively and give Choo another day. Choo was available to pinch-hit Tuesday.

“We’re already one player down. We’re giving [Choo] some more time to make sure this thing is taken care of. I’d sure hate to be down two guys in one swing,” Banister said. “He was kind of fighting to be able to play [Tuesday] but I’m not going to go trying to create opportunities for him.”

The Rangers considered recalling either Drew Robinson or Jurickson Profar but decided that consistent playing time at Round Rock was the best move. Profar was sent down two weeks ago after struggling at the plate. Robinson was sent down in early April after making the Opening Day roster.

“Hopefully I can contribute a little bit and keep this streak going,” said Hoying, who was hitting .242 with seven homers and 23 RBIs in Triple A.

“We’re not looking for someone to come in here and replace what Gomez was doing,” Banister said. “Based on all the scouts’ reports and coaches’ reports, we felt like this guy could provide some stability.”

This story was originally published May 16, 2017 at 6:28 PM with the headline "Rangers give Hoying chance to fill void in center with Gomez out."