HOUSTON — The Rangers expect Nathaniel Rowe to spend about two to three weeks rehabbing, manager Bruce Bochy said Sunday.
The timeline can be a little fluid.
It depends on how deep the slump is on the first base side.
On Sunday, as Lowe was about to start his third rehab game, Bochy faced an ailing first baseman and another first baseman, despite facing a right-handed starting pitcher to give Ezequiel Duran an at-bat. He was substituted and left-handed hitter Jared Walsh was given a day off. Because Duran is also struggling. The Rangers entered Sunday with just one hit from first base in 15 at-bats all week.
On Saturday, Walsh had no hits in four at-bats and struck out three, and his swings and whiffs seemed unusually slow. He has just two hits in his past 18 at-bats and four hits in his last 27 at-bats.
“Obviously the timing was off yesterday,” Bochy said. “You can't get around it. You saw the swing. He seemed to be in between. He had an idea about the swing and seemed to have thought about a lot of things.”
Things weren't much better for Duran. He entered the game 0-for-10, but improved to 0-for-12 before a seventh-inning single, and was immediately doubled on a liner by Leody Taveras to end the inning. The Rangers' first basemen had a combined 2-for-19 at-bats and no RBIs this week. The struggles at the position, combined with a strong start from pinch-hit third baseman Josh Smith, pushed Smith into the No. 5 spot in the lineup. The Rangers rank 17th in first base WAR through the first 10 percent of the season. They have finished in the top 10 the past two seasons as Lowe won the Silver Slugger Award and then the Gold Glove Award.
Meanwhile, Lowe, who had only 14 at-bats in February and early March before injuring his oblique muscle, is essentially trying to cram all of his spring at-bats into a two- to three-week period in the minors. Lowe, who was 0-for-5 in his first two games, went 1-for-3 on Sunday with a two-run homer and three RBIs.
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