Martin Perez injury: Broken arm to sideline Rangers' LHP 2 months

The Texas Rangers suffered their first serious setback of the year Sunday afternoon, as young southpaw Martin Perez was hit on the throwing arm by a comebacker during the sixth inning of the club's matchup with the Mariners and suffered a broken bone.

A prime candidate for the open No. 5 slot in the rotation, the nearly 22-year-old Perez fractured the ulna bone in his left arm and will not even begin to attempt to throwing again for at least a month, reports the club's executive vice president of communications John Blake.

With Perez likely out until May, that leaves the back end of the Rangers' wide open for right-handers Justin Grimm and Kyle McClellan. Grimm, 24, has been rocked in two innings of work so far this spring, but seems to be the best candidate available as McClellan has been dealing with some injury issues of his own.

The club could decide that neither is a solid fit for the rotation, impelling the front office to go after Kyle Lohse, who is apparently still on the Rangers' radar. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports opines that the 34-year-old right-hander may be a good fit for Texas, but that there are several things keeping the club from pursuing him as well.

If the Rangers do go ahead and sign Lohse, at the very least it would result in a very crowded rotation when Colby Lewis returns in May and Neftali Feliz heads back to the mound after the All-Star break.