Buzz: No decision on No. 5 spot yet

September, 16, 2012
9/16/12
12:36
PM CT
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington said that he hasn't had a chance to sit down with his coaching staff and discuss what the club might do with the No. 5 spot in the rotation.

Scott Feldman has held that job but struggled in Saturday's game with the Seattle Mariners, allowing six runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings. So that leaves the Rangers with a decision to make. The club could decide to move some things around with Monday's off day, but assuming the rotation stays the same and just backs up, the No. 5 spot would once again come up in Seattle and then twice against the Oakland A's.

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"We haven't made any decision on that yet," Washington said. "I haven't talked to anybody about that yet. We'll probably talk today at some point."

Washington said that right now the club is set through the Angels series. That's Ryan Dempster, Derek Holland and Yu Darvish in Anaheim for that series, which starts Tuesday.

Washington was asked about Feldman's up-and-down year, which has included losing six straight decisions to start the season, then winning six and now being in a five-game losing streak with two no-decisions.

"If you look at the past six or seven that he's had, if he could have caught a break here or there it might have made a difference," Washington said. "To go through what he went through and then have a short outing like last night, it brings up questions. The questions it brought up, we haven't sat down and tried to answer them yet."

Other notes:

* Mike Adams will not pitch today and hopes to throw Tuesday. He said his tight trapezius muscle felt better Sunday morning (as he walked in wearing a DeMarcus Ware jersey and predicting a Cowboys victory), but he's going to stay rested.

* Joe Nathan says he doesn't expect to pitch Sunday, either. He could but thinks it's more likely the club will stay away from him to give him today and Monday before he returns on Tuesday.

* Robbie Ross was activated Saturday and is ready to pitch. ... Washington said Koji Uehara is available, but that they probably don't want to pitch Alexi Ogando. So we'll see how things line up in the bullpen.

* Mike Napoli said his strained quad muscle felt fine Saturday and he was pleased with how he felt behind the plate. The catcher had a big day at the plate, highlighted by the three-run homer to help get the Rangers back in it.

"I felt pretty good," Napoli said. "But it's one day. I'm going to take one at-bat at a time and try to keep this going."

Napoli was excited to play in front of the Rangers crowd again.

"The fans here are great," Napoli said. "I love playing here. It was a good feeling being back here. I was excited."

* Wilmer Font and Justin Grimm have been recalled and give the bullpen some depth. Washington said he plans on using Font in low-pressure situations to ease him in and he's glad to have another guy in Grimm that can give him multiple innings.
Richard Durrett joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He writes about colleges, the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. Richard spent nine years at The Dallas Morning News covering the Rangers, Stars, colleges, motorsports and high schools.

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TEAM LEADERS

BA LEADER
Ian Kinsler
BA HR RBI R
.302 7 20 24
OTHER LEADERS
HRN. Cruz 11
RBIN. Cruz 34
RE. Andrus 30
OPSM. Moreland .908
WY. Darvish 7
ERAY. Darvish 2.84
SOY. Darvish 91

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