CLEVELAND (AP) — Rusty Greer will miss 4-6 weeks after the Texas Rangers placed the outfielder on the 15-day disabled list Saturday while he has surgery for bone spurs in his right ankle.
Greer strained his left hamstring Thursday during batting practice, and was scratched from the lineup against the New York Yankees.
The Rangers figured Greer would be out about two weeks because of the hamstring, and decided to go ahead with ankle surgery. Greer has been bothered by that problem since spring training.
Greer will have surgery in Dallas on Sunday.
The Rangers placed Greer on the disabled list, retroactive to Thursday, before Saturday’s game at Cleveland. It’s the first time he has been on the disabled list since he broke into the major leagues in 1994.
Texas purchased Jason McDonald from Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League to replace Greer, then designated pitcher Brian Sikorski for assignment.
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CLEVELAND — Texas outfielder Rusty Greer was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday. Then the Rangers’ got some bad news.
Hours after Greer was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, the team announced that he will undergo right ankle surgery in Dallas on Sunday. Dr. Charles Cook will perform the procedure, which will remove bone spurs from the front of the ankle. Greer is expected to be sidelined at least a month.
Greer, 31, strained his left hamstring during batting practice at the stadium on Thursday and was scratched from the lineup moments before Texas’ loss to the Yankees. He had never been on the disabled list in his five-year major league career.
To fill the roster spot, the Rangers purchased the contract of outfielder Jason McDonald from Triple-A Oklahoma of the Pacific Coast League. Pitcher Brian Sikorski was designated for assignment to make room for McDonald on the 40-man roster.
Greer has appeared in seven games this season, going 6-for-25 with a homer and five RBI. Last season, the left-handed hitting left fielder batted .300 with 20 homers and 101 RBI in 147 games.
Greer had his best all-around season in 1996, when he batted .332 with 18 homers and 100 RBI.
McDonald, a switch-hitter, was hitting .192 (5-for-26) with a homer and three RBI in eight games at Oklahoma. He was one of the Rangers’ final spring training cuts as a non-roster invitee and has a .242 career minor league average in 248 games.
Sikorski had been at Oklahoma. Texas has 10 days to trade, release or outright him to the minors.