Foltynewicz worked out of the bullpen Sunday in his first game back from the COVID-19 injured list, tossing three innings while yielding two runs on two hits and two walks in the Rangers' 7-2 loss to the White Sox.
Texas cleared room for him on the 40-man roster and 28-man active roster by designating starting pitcher Kohei Arihara for assignment, but Foltynewicz doesn't look like he'll end up replacing Arihara in the rotation. Instead, Dane Dunning will be added to the Rangers' six-man rotation Tuesday in New York, likely leaving Foltynewicz to settle for low-leverage mop-up work out of the bullpen over the final two weeks of the season. Even after missing about a month of action while he was on the COVID-19 IL, Foltynewicz has still allowed the third-most home runs (34) of any pitcher in 2021, trailing only teammate Jordan Lyles (37) and Nationals lefty Patrick Corbin (36).