Tony Barnette returns to bullpen, Tanner Scheppers optioned

Reliever Tony Barnette was activated from the disabled list before the Rangers’ game Sunday afternoon. Reliever Tanner Scheppers was optioned back to Triple A Round Rock to make room. Barnette was placed on the DL on June 16 with a sprained right ring finger. But he also was struggling and it gave him time to work on his mechanics in two rehab appearances for Round Rock. He threw three scoreless innings with three strikeouts, including two innings on Thursday.

Barnette has a 7.23 ERA in 23 appearances this season. A year ago, he had a 2.09 ERA in  60 1/3 innings.

This story was originally published July 2, 2017 at 2:08 PM with the headline "Tony Barnette returns to bullpen, Tanner Scheppers optioned."