Brock Burke Injury: Rangers LHP suffers absurd fracture after punching wall, placed on IL

The season took a turn for the worse for the Texas Rangers' reliever Brock Burke as he was placed on the Injured List on Saturday, following his game against the Houston Astros.

On Friday, after suffering from strings of poor outings in recent games, Burke vented his frustration by punching a wall, resulting in a fractured hand. Jared Sandler of 105.3 The Fan reported the news on X (formerly Twitter) with some updates on the roster.

“Brock Burke is on the IL. He broke his hand punching a wall after last night's performance. Plano-born, The Woodlands-raised Austin Pruitt's contract has been selected. Justin Foscue has been transferred to the 60-day IL to make room on the 40."

Burke's outing against the Houston Astros saw him give up four runs in just 0.2 innings after succeeding Jose Leclerc in the seventh inning. The Texas Rangers had a nine-run lead before Burke took the mound, which dwindled to a four-run lead when he left.

In the previous game against the Astros on 8th April, he took the mound from A. Heaney, but failed to control the situation, and gave up three runs. Unsatisfied with his personal performance, he hurt himself, leading him to the IL without a return timeline.

Texas Rangers are leading the division but not dominating as World Series Champions

The reigning World Series champions, Texas Rangers, are currently leading the AL West division with six wins out of 12 games played against four teams. They won the series against the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays and tied to the Oakland A’s.

Following Friday’s 12-8 win, they are now on a one-game lead over Houston. However, with Brock Burke’s departure with injury, the team’s late-inning pressures fall upon Grant Anderson, David Robertson, and Kirby Yates, and results may alter in upcoming games.

Currently, Adolis Garcia is leading the Rangers’ offense with a .321 batting average and recorded 15 RBIs and four home runs with a .980 OPS. Meanwhile, Cody Bradford (1.40 ERA in 19.1 innings) and Nathan Eovaldi (1.45 ERA in 18.2 innings) are leading the rotation.

Texas and Houston have a rivalry that ignited last year when the Astros took the division pennant, and in return, the Rangers eliminated them in the ALCS to take their World Series crown. So emotions run high whenever these two come head-to-head.