There's still no word on how serious Matt Harrison's back stiffness is, but we do have some news on Martin Perez, who is dealing with elbow inflammation. Perez will take a trip to the DL.

If you had asked me two days ago what a DL trip would mean for Perez, I wouldn't have been too thrilled. However, given Harrison's early exit last night combined with the lack of bullpen depth and Nick Tepesch making his first Major League start tonight, the roster spot occupied by Perez was needed in order to add some bullpen depth.

It remains to be seen exactly how well Perez will recover from one of the latest medical setbacks for the rotation, but if he's able to return fairly quickly after his DL stay, I'd imagine the Rangers would consider it a win. Furthermore, if the inflammation was at least partially responsible for his shaky outings of late, then perhaps the best move was to give him a couple of weeks to rest and recover.