Texas Rangers pitcher Dane Dunning was activated from the COVID-19 injured list on Friday, the team announced. To make room for Dunning on the active roster, the Rangers optioned pitcher Demarcus Evans to AAA Round Rock.
Dunning pitched an inning for the Rangers in their 10-5 loss to Oakland on Friday, his first action since starting against Boston on August 20. The Rangers have been managing his innings and workload since he missed all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery, and had just 34 innings in 2020 due to recovery and the COVID pandemic. With just 20 games remaining in the season, Dunning having logged 105 solid innings in 2021 already, and his having had this three week layoff due to being in the COVID protocols, I suspect he will mostly be used in a tandem setup the rest of the way, making three or four more appearances with a total of ten or so innings.