OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Texas Rangers finally got some good news on the injury front Tuesday.
An MRI revealed that left fielder Shin-Soo Choo has a sprained left ankle, but not the more serious high ankle sprain, Rangers assistant general manager Thad Levine said before Tuesday's game against the Athletics.
Choo will not play Tuesday or Wednesday against the A's, but he's considered day to day and the Rangers have no plan at this point to put him on the team's crowded disabled list. Team physician Dr. Keith Meister analyzed results from Choo's MRI and delivered the good news to Levine.
"We view this as very positive news considering, as high ankle sprains from our past experience ... are a little more of a lengthier time frame for recovery," Levine said.
Choo was injured in the top of the seventh Monday night when he tried to beat out an infield hit and landed hard on the base with his left foot.
The Rangers have 10 players on the disabled list, and the results from past MRIs this season have usually revealed bad news.
"We're hoping that this is an indication that we're heading in the right direction from an injury standpoint," Levine said. "We're kind of long overdue for some positive news back from the training staff. This is certainly a silver lining to what was a concerning injury that we thought we had last night. We feel very optimistic that hopefully Choo is a vital part of this team and will be back on the field soon."
The Rangers officially called up right-hander Nick Martinez to start Tuesday night's game, and they opened a spot on the 25-man roster by designating right-handed reliever Hector Noesi for assignment. Noesi had made three appearances with an 11.81 ERA since being acquired from Seattle on April 12 in a trade.
By designating Noesi for assignment, the Rangers have an open spot on their 40-man roster in case Choo doesn't recovery as quickly as they hope and they need to add another position player.
"These type of players, I think you give them every opportunity to play if the medical staff feels it's going to be within a reasonable time frame," Levine said. "We're willing to be patient and wait provided that [manager Ron Washington] doesn't feel it leaves him too limited."
The Rangers expect to activate third baseman Adrian Beltre from the disabled list Friday and will need to make a roster move, but Levine said that doesn't mean Choo has to be ready to play by then in order to stay on the 25-man roster.
"I don't think we view it that those two are linked, necessarily," he said. "I think we're prepared to make other moves if we need to. ... We would wait if we can. If we felt as if the light at the end of the tunnel was bright and the tunnel's not too long, we're going to wait."