Rangers’ Shin-Soo Choo out of lineup with back stiffness

Right fielder Shin-Soo Choo was out of the starting lineup to open the second half because of lingering stiffness in his lower back.

The Rangers sent Choo for an MRI on Friday morning as a precaution, and the belief is that he is not dealing with a disc issue. He said that his back had been feeling good enough to play after it acted up last week at Boston, but is tight again.

“During the All-Star break I didn’t feel it getting better,” Choo said. “Yesterday I worked out with the team, and it felt the same.”

With Choo out, Rougned Odor was the leadoff hitter, Nomar Mazara played right field and Ryan Rua was in left field against Chicago Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks.

This story was originally published July 15, 2016 at 2:50 PM with the headline "Rangers’ Shin-Soo Choo out of lineup with back stiffness."