The Rangers announced that left-hander Robert Garcia has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. The 40-man roster had a vacancy but is now full. Right-hander Ben Peoples has been optioned as the corresponding active roster move.

This has been Garcia’s most challenging season to date. From 2023 to 2025, split between the Nationals and Rangers, he logged 155 2/3 innings with a 3.58 earned run average. His 27.2% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 43.5% ground ball rate were all above-average figures.

This year, he tossed eight innings early on but clearly wasn’t right. He walked seven of the 34 batters he faced, an awful 20.6% clip. He only struck out six. He hit the 15-day IL in April due to shoulder inflammation and was later transferred to the 60-day IL.

Now that he’s back, he can ideally finish the season on a strong note and help the Rangers in the playoff race. They are currently two games back of the Astros in the West division and a game and a half behind the Guardians for the final Wild Card spot. The bullpen hasn’t been a strength for Texas this year, as their relievers have a collective 4.45 ERA, putting them in the bottom third of MLB teams. Garcia will qualify for arbitration for the first time after this season but his injury absence will limit how much of a raise he can earn.

With Garcia being added and a righty optioned, the Rangers are going with a 6/3 split in terms of lefties to righties. Garcia joins Jacob Latz, Tyler Alexander, Adam Macko, Robby Ahlstrom and Jordan Montgomery as the southpaw contingent. Jakob Junis, Chase Silseth and Trevor Williams are the righties. They open a series against a lefty-heavy Mariners lineup tomorrow.

Photo courtesy of Dennis Lee, Imagn Images