CHICAGO -- The baseball gods giveth and the baseball gods taketh away.
A day after Rangers third baseman Josh Jung returned from an IL stint due to neck spasms, outfielder Wyatt Langford was placed on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 1 right oblique strain. In corresponding moves, the club recalled outfielder Dustin Harris and utilityman Ezequiel Duran from Triple-A Round Rock and optioned infielder Jonathan Ornelas to Round Rock.
Langford, who was removed from Tuesday's game after his fourth at-bat, said he felt something in his side during the team's off-day on Thursday back in Texas. It went away, and he played the rest of the homestand and the first game in Chicago. He then felt it again during the first swinging strike of that final at-bat in the seventh inning Tuesday night.
Langford said he lobbied with the staff to avoid the injured list, but with just eight games in the next 10 days, they felt like this was the best thing to get the irritation knocked out early in the season.
¡°I feel good,¡± Langford said. ¡°This is one of the things you don't really feel when you're just sitting around. It's more so the action of it. Personally, I'm shooting [to come back] for [the Athletics'] series after the homestand, on the 22nd."
The 23-year-old missed about a week of Spring Training due to a mild left oblique strain, but he said this injury feels much less severe than that one.
Langford hit a game-tying home run and a double in the Rangers¡¯ eventual 10-6 loss to the Cubs, and he was slashing .244/.333/.561 at the conclusion of the game. He was leading the club with four homers and was tied for the team lead with six RBIs at the time of his placement on the injured list.
¡°It's frustrating any time you get hurt, really,¡± Langford said. ¡°I really want to be out there playing, especially when we're playing really well. The guys showed it today, it¡¯s not like I need to be in the lineup. They¡¯re all plenty good enough.¡±