OUTFIELDER SHIN-SOO CHOO PLACED ON 15-DAY DISABLED LIST;
OUTFIELDER MICHAEL CHOICE RECALLED FROM ROUND ROCK;
CATCHER TOMAS TELIS OFFCIALLY PURCHASED FROM ROUND ROCK
Choo to undergo left elbow surgery and miss remainder of 2014 season
Seattle, WA – The Texas Rangers today announced that outfielder Shin-Soo Choo has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 24, with a bone spur in his left elbow.
To replace Choo on the active roster, outfielder Michael Choice has been recalled from Triple-A Round Rock of the Pacific Coast League. Choice (#15) will be eligible to play in tonight’s game in Seattle.
Choo, who did not travel with the team to Seattle due to a virus that sidelined him for Sunday’s game with Kansas City, will miss the remainder of the 2014 season. He is expected to undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove the bone spur in his left elbow in the next two weeks with the surgery to be performed by Rangers Team Physician Dr. Keith Meister.
Choo is batting .242 with 13 homers and 40 RBI in 123 games in 2014, his first season with the club. He has been bothered by left ankle and left elbow problems much of the season while appearing in just 75 games in the outfield to go along with 44 starts as the DH.
Choice is batting .267 (40-150) with seven homers and 31 RBI in 43 games for the Express, seeing time at all three outfield positions and as the DH. He has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games at .333 (12-36) with two homers and nine RBI to raise his average from .246. The right-handed batter started the season with the Rangers, hitting .177 with eight homers and 28 RBI in 69 games, including starts in left (27), DH (12), right (7), and center (4). He was optioned to Round Rock on July 7.
Choice, who starred at Mansfield Timberview High School and the University of Texas-Arlington, was acquired by Texas in a four player trade with the Oakland A’s on December 3, 2013.
Earlier today, the Rangers officially purchased the contract of catcher Tomas Telis from Round Rock. Telis (#6) will be looking to make his major league debut and joined the club in Seattle today.
The 23-year-old switch-hitter has combined to bat .318 (129-406) with 23 doubles, 4 triples, 5 home runs, and 50 RBI over 106 games with Frisco (AA) and Round Rock (AAA) this season. He opened the season with Frisco and had the second highest average (.303) in the Texas League at the time of his promotion to Round Rock on July 17. With the Express, Telis has batted .345 (48-139) with 7 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, and 17 RBI over 36 games. He had multiple hits in 5 of his last 8 games with Round Rock, batting .406 (13-32) over that stretch.
The Venezuela native signed with the Rangers as a non-drafted free agent on July 2, 2007 and is a career .291 hitter over seven seasons in the organization. He has been named the club’s Minor League Defender of the Month twice in his career, most recently this past May.
With today’s moves, the Rangers have 40 players on their major league roster.
– RANGERS –
