Rangers' Perez may miss next start after fracturing thumb on hotel door

With his next start scheduled for Wednesday, a freak accident may put Martin Perez's pitching ability in jeopardy as the Texas Rangers' left-hander suffered a small fracture and tore the nail off of his right thumb after catching it on a hotel door, according to Evan Grant of SportsDay.

While the start could be called into question according to team officials, Perez was optimistic that he would not miss a start.

"My bullpen is (Saturday) and I'm going to throw it and I'm not going to miss a start. As long as I can hold on to my glove and kind of defend myself, I am going to pitch."

The injury is on the 26-year-old's non-pitching hand and wouldn't impede his ability to grip the baseball.

With Cole Hamels and Andrew Cashner on the mend and ready to come off the disabled list, the Rangers may have the option to skip Perez's start out of caution and take advantage of the shortened 10-day DL.

In 2017, Perez has pitched 82 1/3 innings over 15 starts while posting a 4.70 ERA and 4.28 FIP.