Injury Update: What's Rangers Status Of Willie Calhoun?

A string of bad luck continues for Willie Calhoun.

After putting a very troubling year behind him, Calhoun is already facing adversity in 2021. After experiencing some groin tightness in a contest with the Chicago Cubs on March 8, Rangers manager Chris Woodward can't rule out a short stint on the Injured List (IL) to begin the season.

"Potentially, just based on how he's feeling," Woodward said of Calhoun's IL chances. "He's definitely getting better. If he trends up in the right direction quickly, that may shorten that time. As of right now, we can't keep that out of the possibility."

Calhoun is coming off a year where a 95-mph fastball broke his jaw in spring training, then a hamstring injury held him to only 29 games in a shortened 60-game season.

The Rangers still believe Calhoun could recapture the same form he had in 2019 where he posted an .848 OPS with 21 home runs in 83 games. Groin issues can linger if they don't heal properly, so they need to make sure when Calhoun returns, he's 100 percent over it.

"Obviously, we want to get him back as soon as possible, but it's also a 162-game season," Woodward said. "That's what I told him. He's had some muscle issues the last couple of years. We don't want to force this and have it turn into something where he's out for two months, and now we've ruined one third of his year."

The Rangers are continuing to take this day by day, and plan for Calhoun to begin some baseball activity in the coming days.

In the meantime, this opens the door for Khris Davis earning more at-bats at designated hitter. In addition, the Rangers could have room for both Nate Lowe and the hot-hitting Ronald Guzmán, with one of them competing with Davis for at-bats at DH and the other manning first base.