Texas Rangers pitcher Chi Chi Gonzalez will be recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to start Thursday against the Minnesota Twins, according to the team's official website.

Texas Rangers pitcher Chi Chi Gonzalez will be recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to start Thursday against the Minnesota Twins, according to the team's official website. Gonzalez will make a spot start after Cole Hamels was scratched with a groin injury, and is likely to be sent back down following Thursday's outing.

Gonzalez was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday, John Blake of the Rangers' official site reports.

Gonzalez has been removed from the big league rotation to open up a spot for Matt Harrison (back). In seven starts for the Rangers, Gonzalez posted a 2-4 record, 3.74 ERA, 1.246 WHIP, and 15:19 K:BB in 43.1 innings.

Gonzalez failed to pitch two innings Friday, allowing seven runs in 1.2 innings in a loss to the Angels.

That's two poor starts in a row for Gonzalez, who has now allowed 15 earned runs in his last three starts covering 13.1 innings. With a Martin Perez return looming after the All-Star break, it seems likely that Gonzalez will return to the minors after one more start.

Gonzalez took the loss Sunday, allowing three runs on four hits and four walks while striking out three in six innings against the Blue Jays.

After giving up just three runs in his first four starts (30 innings), the Rangers' rookie has now allowed a total of nine runs in his last two outings. Gonzalez's walk total has matched or exceeded his strikeout total in all but one of his six starts this season, but he is maintaining a groundball rate around 50 percent. He will look to push his record back above .500 against the Angels next weekend.

Gonzalez took his second loss as he allowed six runs on eight hits and a walk over 5.2 innings Tuesday against Oakland.

The other shoe finally dropped for Gonzalez, who was running a 0.90 ERA despite more walks (12) than strikeouts (10) entering the game. Gonzalez induced just four swings and misses and one strikeout with 88 pitches, something that'll make it very hard for him to succeed no matter how many ground balls he gets -- 11 grounders against Oakland didn't help Tuesday night. His ERA bounced all the way to 2.27.

Gonzalez was strong in a no-decision Tuesday against the Dodgers as he went 8.1 innings and allowed two runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out two.

The only runs came on a ninth-inning Justin Turner home run, the first Gonzalez has allowed in four major league starts. Even with the blemish, it was an excellent start for Gonzalez, against the toughest lineup he had faced thus far, and it came with a career high in strikeouts with five. His ERA more than doubled but remains a shiny 0.90.

Gonzalez (2-1) took the loss despite allowing just one run over seven innings Thursday in Oakland. He gave up eight hits and walked three while striking out four.

Gonzalez also hit a batter and was charged with a balk, but he escaped with minimal damage despite putting a dozen men on base. The 23-year-old still has more walks (10) than strikeouts (eight) over his three starts thus far, so even though he owns a microscopic 0.42 ERA, fantasy owners shouldn't get overly excited. Regression will be coming painfully for Gonzalez, who owns a .197 BABIP and 95.8 percent strand rate. He gets a tough draw against the Dodgers on Tuesday.

Gonzalez tossed a three-hit shutout in his second major league start in a 4-0 win over the Royals.

The only concerning thing was the 116 pitches it took Gonzalez to record the 27 outs, but he's now had two solid starts to start his career. If he wasn't on the waiver radar following his debut, he certainly is now.

Gonzalez, who tossed 5.2 scoreless innings against Boston in his big league debut Saturday, will face the Royals in Kansas City on Friday in his next big league start.

Walks were an issue in an otherwise impressive debut, and the Rangers' need in the rotation opens the door for Gonzalez to remain in the mix as a starter indefinitely if he pitches well. Beyond Friday, Gonzalez's next start would likely come in Oakland on June 11 if the Rangers don't use an off-day on June 8 to skip their young starter's turn until a weekend series in Minnesota.

Gonzalez was officially called up and will start Saturday against the Red Sox.

Thomas Field was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for Gonzalez, who will oppose Wade Miley in his major league debut. General manager Jon Daniels said the team is "not viewing it as a spot start" for Gonzalez as the club intends to keep Ross Detwiler in the bullpen.

Gonzalez will be called to start Saturday against the Red Sox, Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest reports.

There was plenty of speculation after the team scratched Gonzalez from his scheduled start for Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday, but the club has confirmed that "Chi Chi" will make his debut Saturday opposite Wade Miley. Gonzalez has posted underwhelming numbers in eight starts with Round Rock so far this season (4.15 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 26:19 K:BB), but could get an extended audition with Texas.

Gonzalez was scratched from Thursday's scheduled start for Triple-A Round Rock, and he will likely make his big-league debut Saturday against the Red Sox, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.

The 23rd overall pick in the 2013 draft, the 23-year-old Gonzalez owns uninspiring numbers -- 4.15 ERA, 4.42 FIP, 5.4 K/9, 4.0 BB/9 -- through eight starts (43.1) for Triple-A Round Rock this season. He's pitched in some extremely hitter-friendly PCL ballparks, but the statistics, and especially the strikeouts, still fall short of expectations. To be fair, Gonzalez has progressed through the minors rather quickly, making just 14 starts at the Double-A level before his promotion to Triple-A to start this season. He's more interesting for the long term than the short term but may still be worth a flier in deeper/AL-only leagues. Gonzalez will probably get just one start if he's called up, as Ross Detwiler (shoulder) is nearing a return.

Gonzalez has a 4.15 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP with just 26 strikeouts in 43.1 innings with Triple-A Round Rock.

The case can be made that Gonzalez's ERA can be attributed to the difficult pitching environments of the Pacific Coast League. Rough outings at Round Rock and at Omaha have contributed greatly to inflate that ERA, and both of those ballparks rank as some of the toughest pitching environments in the minor leagues. Still, the fact that he has notched more than four strikeouts in just one of his eight starts is pretty concerning. He still projects as a solid No. 3 starter, with a four-pitch mix that offers a lot of movement and deception. However, he may not have the swing-and-miss stuff to fully satisfy fantasy owners in shallower formats.