Mike Napoli was back in the Rangers’ lineup Wednesday after missing the previous two games with a tight back.
Napoli, 35, said the hard turf in Toronto only made the back spasms worse. He first started having the issue during some cold and wet nights in Boston before Toronto.
A pitcher can’t take anything off 1 through 9. He’s going to have to throw stressful pitches and that can wear on a starter.
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“I was locked up pretty bad. It was just spazzing up, and I probably could have gutted through it, but I’ve been playing with it for a little bit and being on the turf in Toronto didn’t really help,” Napoli said.