OAKLAND, Calif. _ Jeremy Jeffress, on MLB's restricted list since being arrested on DWI charges last month, has been cleared by Major League Baseball to return to team activities after completing an alcohol treatment program, and has traveled to Oakland to join the team.
It is unclear when or if the Rangers will reinstate him.
The Rangers, however, have recalled left-hander Andrew Faulkner, who had been working out with the Instructional League team in Surprise, Ariz., as extra bullpen depth. Faulkner, 24, struggled in an early-season stint with the Rangers, but pitched well at the end of the year with Triple-A Round Rock. He had 2.75 ERA for 19.2 innings in the second half of the minor league season and held hitters to a .197 batting average.
Jeffress' situation is cloudy. The Rangers acquired him to be a key part of the bullpen for the stretch run and the postseason, but he landed in a Houston-area treatment facility after his August arrest on suspicion of DWI. He has not pitched in exactly one month since allowing a run on one hit in an inning against Cincinnati on August 23.
