ARLINGTON -- The Rangers have called up rookie catcher Sam Huff from their alternate training site, and he is expected to make his first start on Friday against the Athletics.

Huff, ranked the No. 2 prospect in the Texas farm system by MLB Pipeline, will get playing time while he is on the active roster, manager Chris Woodward said. Huff was called up because Jose Trevino is unable to play with a sprained left wrist sustained in Wednesday’s 7-3 victory over the Angels.

• Trevino's injury opens door for Huff's debut

Woodward said the Rangers have been looking for the right moment to promote Huff, but that has been the plan ever since the focus switched to evaluating young players.

“We're excited about it,” Woodward said. “I didn't want to see Trevino go down for any time period. But if it meant getting Sam here for that reason, I think we were all kind of on board with that. He's obviously put a ton of work in on the other side, just in his game-calling and thought process in games and how he would handle it if he got called up.”

• What to expect from Sam Huff in bigs

Woodward said he can’t guarantee Huff will be with the Rangers the rest of the year. Trevino is still the No. 1 catcher, and Jeff Mathis is his backup. Woodward said he is not comfortable carrying a third catcher for an extended period of time.

But Woodard said if Huff does stay, “It'd be ideal, just to get him some experience, obviously, for the rest of the year.”

The Rangers included Huff in the alternate training site from the beginning so the season wouldn’t be a total loss. It also gave him a chance to work with Bobby Wilson, a former Major League catcher who was hired to be Double-A Frisco's manager last winter. The Rangers wanted Huff at Frisco this season working with Wilson, but instead they paired up at the alternate training site.

“That staff really pushed him a ton,” Woodward said. “He's game-planning every day as if he was catching. He's reviewing every game, going through what we called and how we called the game. So there's a ton of learning on his side.”

Huff was selected over Tim Federowicz, who has 163 games of big league experience and has been traveling on the Rangers' taxi squad. Federowicz has an excellent reputation for working with pitchers.

“If I didn’t feel confident that Sam was pushing really hard when it comes to game-calling ... I would recommend going with Federowicz,” Woodward said. “[Huff] is obviously a good receiver and has a really good arm. We know there is going to be potential struggle with the bat. Obviously, he’s got more power than anybody in baseball. As far as the game-calling goes, he has put so much work in, we feel confident he can navigate a game.”

Huff, a seventh-round pick in the 2016 Draft out of Phoenix's Arcadia High School, split last season between Class A Hickory and Down East. In a combined 127 games, he hit .278/.335/.509 with 28 home runs and 72 RBIs. He was the Most Valuable Player at the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game in Cleveland after hitting a game-tying two-run home run.

“He's in a good place,” Woodward said. “He should be fine tomorrow. I thought about getting him in there today but wanted to give him a little bit of time to prepare for that first start. So, I think tomorrow we'll probably get him in there.”

Rangers beat
• Third baseman Josh Jung is the Rangers' No. 1 prospect and is still in the alternate training site. But Woodward downplayed the possibility of bringing him to the big leagues before the end of the year. Jung was the Rangers' top Draft pick (eight overall) last year and does not need to be put on the 40-man roster this offseason. The Rangers are reluctant to use that spot unnecessarily.

• Woodward said he would still like to see right-handed reliever Demarcus Evans in the big leagues before the season ends. Evans is one of the hardest throwers in the system and has been using alternate training site to work on his breaking ball. Woodward said his curve has improved to the point where Evans is ready for a potential big league audition.

• Willie Calhoun, on the injured list with a strained left hamstring, is not ready to run the bases. The Rangers thought he might be an option this weekend, but his return won’t come until the club is on the road next week.