Rangers notes: Hamilton’s knee still sore, but he’s back in lineup
Josh Hamilton is no stranger to playing with pain.
He’s fine with it. The Texas Rangers’ outfielder was back in the lineup Friday after missing two games with a sore left knee. An MRI scan showed there was no structural damage.
That’s all Hamilton needed to know. He told manager Jeff Banister he wanted to play in Friday’s series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays at Globe Life Park.
“Mentally, I know it’s structurally fine, so the pain part of it is fine,” said Hamilton, who homered in the second inning Friday to give Texas a 2-1 lead. “As long as I can’t tear anything.”
It was his sixth homer this season and first since Aug. 2.
Hamilton told Banister it was still sore but “I’m a gamer.” He joked that he’s “just getting old.”
“This is the time of year you want to play, so we’re going to get him out there and let him go play,” Banister said.
Hamilton missed the past two games in Minnesota.
He’s missed 33 of the 69 games since he rejoined the Rangers on May 25 with multiple nagging injuries.
Hamels better
Cole Hamels threw a normal bullpen session Friday afternoon and hopes to make his scheduled start on Monday against the Seattle Mariners.
Hamels (left groin strain) missed his start on Thursday. Hamels threw without any major issues, but he’ll wait to see how his body responds Saturday before determining whether he can pitch Monday.
“It was just nice to get out on the mound,” he said. “Trying to make my pitches and being able to do that rep after rep. Everything felt pretty good. I was able to throw all my pitches with the type of execution I would in a game. Nothing was irritating or nothing was in the back of my mind that I was having to think about.”
Hamels wants to prevent aggravating the injury into something more serious.
“You want to feel comfortable and confident when you’re giving the exertion out on the field at that game speed that you’re going to be able to recover and not irritate something,” he said. “[Where] it’s going to linger and bleed into the next start and pull you in a downward spiral.”
Martin injured
Outfielder Leonys Martin injured his right hand in a game with Triple A Round Rock on Thursday.
The early prognosis was a broken hamate bone, which would likely keep him on the disabled list for six weeks. He’ll be evaluated by team doctors.
Catching up
Injured catchers Carlos Corporan and Robinson Chirinos continue to progress.
Corporan (strained left thumb) has been hitting the past five days and caught his first bullpen session Friday.
Chirinos (left shoulder strain) is scheduled to catch a bullpen session Saturday. He hit Friday and felt good but will be evaluated again Saturday.
Briefly
▪ Right-hander Nick Tepesch will have surgery to repair Thoracic Outlet Syndrome on Wednesday. He has been on the disabled list since the start of the season.
▪ Right-hander Dillon Tate, the Rangers’ first-round pick (No. 4 overall) in June, was moved up to Low A Hickory and was scheduled to pitch Friday.
Stefan Stevenson, 817-390-7760
Twitter: @StevensonFWST
This story was originally published August 14, 2015 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Rangers notes: Hamilton’s knee still sore, but he’s back in lineup."