Rangers place Jeremy Jeffress on DL with lower back strain

Texas Rangers reliever Jeremy Jeffress was placed on the 10-day disabled list before Thursday’s game with a lower back strain.

Jeffress felt pain during warmups two days ago but pitched anyway. He allowed a hit and struck out one while recording the first two outs on eight pitches in the eighth on Tuesday against the Blue Jays.

“It was just one pitch. I waited to receive the ball back, I turned to my right and it just felt like something grabbed,” Jeffress said. “I felt OK pitching. My adrenaline was going, but I didn’t feel it as much, but then I woke up the next morning and I couldn’t get out of bed.”

His back was still stiff Thursday morning. He’s not sure how much downtime he’ll need. His DL stint is retroactive to Wednesday so he’d be eligible to come back July 1.

“I’m going to just let it run its course, see what happens with treatment. We’ve got one of the best training staffs, so we’ll treat it and see how it goes,” he said.

Right-hander Preston Claiborne was called up from Triple A Round Rock to help fill the void. Claiborne, 29, had a 1.37 ERA with 13 saves in  26 1/3 innings for Round Rock.

He last pitched in the majors with the Yankees in 2014. He has a 3.79 ERA in 71 1/3 relief innings in the majors between 2013-14 for the Yankees. Claiborne graduated from Carrollton Smith High School in 2006.

This story was originally published June 22, 2017 at 12:40 PM with the headline "Rangers place Jeremy Jeffress on DL with lower back strain."