Rangers place Adrian Beltre on 15-day disabled list with strained left quadriceps muscle - MLB

As first reported by Anthony Andro at FOX Sports Southwest, the Rangers have placed third baseman Adrian Beltre on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 9, with a strained left quad. Hector Noesi, acquired Saturday from the Mariners, was added to the Rangers’ 25-man roster in a corresponding move.

Beltre suffered the Grade 1 (least severe) strain last Tuesday in a game against the Red Sox. He was hoping to avoid the disabled list, but the Rangers don’t want to risk making the injury worse and couldn’t continue playing a man down. Kevin Kouzmanoff is filling in as Texas’ primary third baseman for now.

Beltre, 35, was 8-for-28 (.286) with seven runs and four RBI through eight games this season.

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Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN when the defending World Series champion Houston Astros host the Chicago White Sox on opening day.

Clemens made four appearances on last year’s KayRod Cast with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez. He will be stepping in on March 30 for David Cone, who will be doing the New York Yankees opener against the San Francisco Giants on YES Network.

“Roger has been sort of a friend of ours for the last year, so to speak, he’s in. He’s been engaged, knowledgeable and really present,” said ESPN Vice President of Production Phil Orlins. “You know, whatever past may be, he’s still tremendously engaged and he really brought that every time he was with us.”

Clemens was a seven-time Cy Young winner but his career after baseball has been tainted by allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. He is a Houston native and pitched for the Astros for three seasons.

Orlins said that with the rules changes and pitch clock, it is important to have a pitcher in the booth with Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez.

“We don’t feel like we have to have the dynamic of Eduardo with a pitcher, but we certainly think that works. Throw in the added factor of rule changes and it is better to have a batter-pitcher perspective,” Orlins said.

Orlins did not say if this would open the door for future opportunities for Clemens as an ESPN analyst.