The Texas Rangers placed right-handed reliever Koji Uehara on the 15-day disabled list, the team said Thursday.
Uehara strained a back muscle in Saturday's game against the San Francisco Giants, the last time he pitched. The 37-year-old was placed on the DL retroactively from Sunday. He has been instructed not to throw for two weeks, when his condition will be evaluated.
"There isn't a player who doesn't feel anguish about an injury," the former Sawamura Award winner said. "You go 100 percent all the time, and you're bound to get hurt at some point."
According to MLB.com, the injury is a strain of the latissimus dorsi muscle under the right armpit.
Uehara has a 2.11 ERA over 21⅓ innings in 20 games this season. He had a streak of 12 consecutive games from April to May when he did not allow a run for the American League West division leaders.