Notes: Rangers option 2; Kluber on injury

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers reduced their roster to the required 28 players on Thursday when they officially optioned catcher Jose Trevino and reliever Luke Farrell to the Minor Leagues and assigned them to the alternate training facility.

In doing so, the Rangers decided to keep Rougned Odor on the active roster even though he is sidelined with tightness in his right oblique muscle. Odor was not in Thursday’s starting lineup for the fourth straight game and Anderson Tejeda made his Major League debut at second base.

“We are kind of hoping [Odor] should be able to play either Friday or Saturday,” manager Chris Woodward said. “Yesterday looked a lot better, he swung a lot harder in the cage. We really didn’t want him to swing yesterday, but he felt good enough that he could. It gave me a little hope he could play tomorrow or Saturday.”

The Rangers sent down Trevino because he still has a Minor League option. The move leaves Jeff Mathis as the backup catcher behind Robinson Chirinos.

“We weren’t going to keep three [catchers], obviously,” Woodward said. “Mathis has been pretty impressive. Both guys have been impressive. It was a hard one. I really like Trevino; he has the heart of a champion. I like where Mathis is at. He has a ton of value.”

Farrell was impressive during Spring Training, not allowing a run in 8 2/3 innings. But he has allowed five runs over three appearances after making the Opening Day roster.

The Rangers are expected to make another move on Friday by activating right-handed reliever Rafael Montero when they return to Arlington. Montero has been sidelined with a strained right forearm.

The Rangers also activated Joely Rodríguez off the injured list on Tuesday. When Montero returns, the Rangers will have back their top two setup relievers and Woodward said now it’s time to put both back into their expected roles at the end of the game.

“It’s getting to that point yes,” Woodward said. “I was hoping to have a little softer landing for Joely. I thought about putting him in last night, just to get him in there. Obviously, at this point, you basically have to throw him into the fire. Same with Montero.”

Kluber: No warning on injury
Rangers pitcher Corey Kluber said there was no indication of anything being wrong with his right shoulder when he took the mound against the Rockies on July 26. Making his first start for the Rangers, Kluber pitched one inning before feeling tightness.

“Not at all,” Kluber said. “In all honesty, I probably hadn’t felt as good physically as I did leading up to that start. I felt like everything was good physically, mentally, delivery-wise ... and just in the middle of that first inning, it all of a sudden crept up, no warning or anything like that.”

Kluber was diagnosed with a torn muscle in the back of his right shoulder and has been shut down from throwing for the next 3-4 weeks.

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“It’s more frustrating because I actually feel good,” Kluber said. “Everything but throwing a baseball feels fine, which is obviously frustrating. In a sense, I almost wish that I did feel worse.”

Rangers beat

• Tejeda is the second Rangers player to make his Major League debut this season. Leody Taveras did so as a defensive replacement on Opening Day, but he has since been returned to the club's alternate training site.

• Elvis Andrus’ double in the third inning on Wednesday night was the 300th of his career. He is fifth all-time in club history behind Michael Young (415), Iván Rodríguez (352), Rafael Palmeiro (321) and Juan Gonzalez (320).

• Shin-Soo Choo on not playing regularly against left-handers: “Oh, I have no doubts against left-handers. I was hitting good against them earlier in my career, but you see left-handers throw harder now, from different angles. It's different than when I started 10-15 years ago. It's not easy. But I can show that I can do it. I have to prove that I can. That's the only way to play."