CLEVELAND -- With a heavily taxed bullpen and an injury to their top setup man that wasn't showing enough improvement, the Rangers are being cautious and placing right-hander Chris Martin on the 10-day disabled list with right forearm irritation.
Martin last pitched on Monday, and he exited the game with what he described as a forearm cramp. He was eventually tagged with the loss after giving up four runs in two-thirds of an inning.
The 31-year-old has been an excellent free-agent pickup, and he leads Texas with six holds. Although his last outing inflated his ERA to 5.14, 12 of his 16 outings this season have been scoreless.
"I think that there's obviously some tightness in there that we want to get out," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "The benefit -- if there is one -- is that it gives us another arm out there for a group of guys that have been used."
The Rangers recalled right-hander Nick Gardewine, who cracked the Opening Day roster, from Triple-A Round Rock. The 24-year-old gave up two runs over three innings in two relief outings earlier in the season, and he struck out one in two scoreless innings in the Rangers' 12-4 loss to the Indians on Wednesday at Progressive Field.
Texas entered Wednesday having already used each of its relievers except Tony Barnette this series for a combined 8 1/3 innings, so the extra fresh arm was welcomed. The club's bullpen roles will remain largely the same, though, as Martin wasn't the Rangers' only reliever with eighth-inning experience -- Alex Claudio, Kevin Jepsen, Barnette and Jose Leclerc should also see late-inning appearances.
Rangers hope to find home for Gallo
The Rangers have used slugger Joey Gallo at first base, left field and third base since he started playing regularly in 2017, but the club is hoping to find a permanent positional home for him soon.

However, with injuries to Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor, Gallo's positional flexibility will be needed as the Rangers mix and match their lineup.
"I know that we'd like to be able to have a place for Gallo to play consistently, whether it's left field or first base," Banister said. "We know he's good at both, but right now with where we are with the players we have, left field has to be an option for us. I see him in the batter's box doing great damage."
Andrus making progress
Andrus, transferred to the 60-day DL on Wednesday, is working his way back from a right elbow fracture he sustained in April, and he is progressing toward being able to work out fully again. While he is waiting for his bones to heal in a brace, Andrus is not allowed to run since the vibrations could affect the healing process.
Andrus guessed that he is at least another week away from running, and in the meantime, he will continue work to keep his lower body in shape. During the offseason, Andrus typically focuses on his lower body and conditioning rather than his upper body since he needs to be agile for shortstop.