Chirinos, Calhoun exit intrasquad game

July 14th, 2020

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers were left with tangible concerns about catcher and outfielder after both left Monday’s intrasquad game with injuries.

Chirinos left in the second inning after rolling his right ankle on a play at home plate when Scott Heineman slid in hard. He was able to walk off the field on his own, and a scan at Globe Life Field was negative. Chirinos will get further treatment and evaluation on Tuesday.

“Anytime a catcher rolls his ankle it is concerning to say the least,” manager Chris Woodward said. “Obviously Robbie is a pretty impactful guy on our team on both sides of the ball. We don’t want to lose him. We’ll know more tomorrow … maybe he’ll be in good shape or we might lose him for a while. I don’t know.”

Calhoun left the game early because of tightness in his left hip flexor, and the move is considered precautionary. Calhoun was 0-for-2 before leaving the game and is now 1-for-27 in Summer Camp.

“Tight hip flexor,” Woodward said. “Hopefully it’s nothing. If it is something, it might keep him out for a few days. We are hoping for the best for both of those guys.”

Rangers to stream intrasquad games

The Rangers are bringing their intrasquad games to fans via live streams on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The three games will be streamed live at rangers.com. The broadcasts are set to start at 6 p.m. CT with first pitches scheduled for 6:10 p.m. at Globe Life Field.

Dave Raymond and Jared Sandler will do the play-by-play on Tuesday. Matt Hicks will then step in with Raymond on Wednesday and Sandler on Thursday.

Lynn ready to go

, who will be the Opening Day starter on July 24 against the Rockies, said he is ready to go after throwing 107 pitches in Monday’s intrasquad game.

Lynn gave up a run in the first and four in the second while working on some pitches. He followed that with 3 2/3 scoreless.

“It wasn't terrible,” Lynn said. “I got a little sinker-happy trying to get double-play balls. I was really concentrating on that today. That's part of working on it and making sure it's there when you need it for a situation to get yourself out of an inning.”

Lynn has one more intrasquad outing left before his first regular-season start. That one will likely be limited to 85 pitches.

“For me it’s just making sure I am healthy,” Lynn said. “Right now I am ready to go.”

White sidelined with oblique tweak

Outfielder is going to be sidelined for an unspecified amount of time with a strained left oblique muscle. He injured the muscle early in camp and the Rangers did not get encouraging news from an MRI examination.

“He is going to be out a little bit,” Woodward said. “I don’t know exactly how long yet but it’s a little worse than we were kind of hoping. He strained his oblique pretty good. Hopefully not too long but we’ll get a little more of a diagnosis as we go along.”

Choo turns 38

Rangers outfielder turned 38 on Monday. This won’t happen in a 60-game season, but only four players in Rangers history had at least 400 at-bats in their age-38 season.

Adrián Beltré had 433 at-bats in his final season in 2018, Sammy Sosa had 412 in 2007, Rafael Palmeiro had 561 in 2003, and Brian Downing had 407 in 1991.

“A lot of people ask you questions, ‘Choo, one day are you going to think about stop playing baseball,’” Choo said. “’What do you look for? Do you lose bat speed? Do you lose power. Injury?’ Definitely I am looking at those but for me? Speed.

“I’m not trying to get faster. But I want to score from second base on a base hit. I am not getting faster, but I want to keep my speed and score late in the game. I don’t want anybody to run for me.”

Rangers beat:

• Joey Gallo played in his first intrasquad game since returning from his positive test for COVID-19. He was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

• Right-hander Edinson Vólquez pitched two scoreless with three strikeouts and José Leclerc pitched one scoreless, needing only 10 pitches to get his three outs.

• Rookie infielder Anderson Tejeda hit a three-run home run off veteran reliever Jesse Chavez. It was his second home run in two games.

• Greg Bird hit his first home run of Summer Camp and Woodward said, “He is starting to get a little more in sync with his swing and timing.”

• Isiah Kiner-Falefa had a home run and three-run double on Monday and is 10-for-24 with two home runs in nine games.

“You see a kid who is really comfortable with everything he's doing,” Lynn said. “He's confident.”

• Left-hander Yohander Méndez, a late addition to Summer Camp, has cleared his in-take testing and is able to work out with the team.