Texas Rangers INF Andy Ibáñez to Rehab with Round Rock Express

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Andy is back! The Texas Rangers announced on Monday afternoon that INF Andy Ibáñez is returning to the Round Rock Express to begin a Major League Rehab Assignment starting with tonight’s 7:05 p.m. contest against the Sugar Land Skeeters (Houston Astros affiliate) at Dell Diamond. Tickets are available via RRExpress.com. Ibáñez is scheduled to start at second base and bat fifth in the Round Rock lineup tonight.

Ibáñez has been on the Rangers Injured List since August 30 after suffering a left hamstring strain. In two different stints with Texas this season, the 28-year-old is hitting .260 (52-200) with 11 doubles, a triple, six home runs and 19 RBI across 62 total games. Ibáñez opened the season at the Texas Rangers Alternate Training Site in Round Rock before having his contract selected on May 4. He made his Major League debut that night against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, entering the game as a pinch hitter and collecting a single in his first career at-bat.

After nine games with the Rangers, Ibáñez was optioned back to the Express on May 21. He appeared in 27 games for the E-Train, posting a red-hot .352 batting average (37-105) to go along with 11 doubles, a triple, six home runs and 25 RBI. Ibáñez tallied base hits in 22 of his 27 games with the Express in 2021, including 10 multi-hit and six multi-RBI games. He was recalled by Texas on June 21 and remained on the club’s active roster until suffering the hamstring injury on August 30.

Ibáñez has spent the duration of his five-year professional career within the Texas Rangers organization after being signed by the club as a non-drafted free agent on July 7, 2015. In 485 career games in the minor leagues, the Havana, Cuba native hit .289 (530-1837) with 112 doubles, eight triples, 59 home runs and 240 RBI.

He spent the duration of the 2018 season with the Express, appearing in 125 of the team’s 138 games, combining to bat .283 (131-463) with 21 doubles, a triple, 12 home runs and 55 RBI. He led the team in games played, hits and total bases (190) while ranking second in walks (40), home runs, doubles and runs scored (62). His 91 starts at third base currently ranks as the sixth-most in Express Triple-A franchise history.

Ibáñez and the Express continue their six-game series against the Skeeters tonight at Dell Diamond. Round Rock RHP Tyson Miller (3-2, 3.14) is scheduled to face Sugar Land RHP Hunter Brown (4-0, 4.32) with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m.