Lyles is expected to piggyback starting pitcher Spencer Howard (COVID-19 injured list) in Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks in Arizona, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.
Texas will formally reinstate Howard from the COVID-19 IL later Tuesday and likely cap him at around 2-to-3 innings after he covered two frames (36 pitches) in a rehab start Sept. 2 with Triple-A Round Rock. Even before Howard landed on the COVID-19 IL, the Rangers had been regularly limiting his workloads in starts, so it's possible the tandem arrangement with the 25-year-old and Lyles continues beyond Tuesday. That setup won't do too much to improve Lyles' fantasy outlook, which had been especially bleak while he worked in a traditional starting role for much of the campaign. The 30-year-old right-hander has served up an MLB-high 36 home runs in 2021 while submitting a 5.63 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and 7.3 K/9 across 148.2 innings.