Will Texas Rangers’ Ezequiel Duran return from injury to play against Seattle Mariners on Saturday?

Ezequiel Duram marks his return, as Texas Rangers placed infielder Brad Miller on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain in exchange for the activation of Duran off the injured list on Saturday.

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Duran had been out since his last game on May 23 against the Pittsburgh Pirates because of slight pain in his right oblique. He was thus put on the 10-day injury list four days later. Duran took part in batting practice on Saturday before being activated on the first day of his eligibility to return.

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Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said that Ezequiel Duran is expected to play left field in the upcoming game on Saturday against the Seattle Mariners. In the lineup, he is anticipated to bat ninth. However, he also highlighted that Duran, who had started four games in left field prior to the injury, might not always fill that position going forward for Texas.

Bochy said, “He can give Josh [Jung] a day [off] at third, give Corey [Seager] a day at short”, “I’ve got [Josh Smith], too. That’s why I said it’s going to be challenging to keep them all fresh and going”, he added.

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Prior to his injury, the 24-year-old had an impressive performance, batting .301 with seven home runs and 23 RBIs in 40 games.

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Recently, Luis Valdez, a left-handed pitcher, was acquired by the Texas Rangers from the Los Angeles Dodgers. They exchanged Ricky Vanasco, a right-handed pitcher. With Low-A Rancho Cucamonga this year, 19-year-old Valdez has shown off his skills, going 0-2 with a 3.12 ERA (6 earned runs/17.1 innings pitched) in 8 games and 8 starts. Notably, he has struck out 24 of the 83 batters he has faced, for a respectable strikeout rate of 28.9%.