Kinsler looking ahead

Ian Kinsler is getting over being upset about his season being cut short by a sports hernia. He’s now preparing for his surgery Thursday in Dallas and looking forward to being completely healed in eight weeks.

"I need to be ready for this off-season and to be ready for next spring,"Kinsler said."It’s definitely a little bit of relief. I was stuck in between there for a while. I didn’t know which direction I was going to go. Just to get the decision behind me that I’m having the surgery and going to move on, it’s a little bit refreshing."

Kinsler hopes to start working out four weeks after the surgery, which would put him in line with his normal off-season program.

Murphy hitting again

David Murphy (sprained knee) was back in the batting cage Friday and is still hoping he can play again this season. Murphy isn’t allowed to run or work on his fielding because he’s supposed to avoid impact exercises.

"If it’s up to me, I’d still like to get out there this year,"Murphy said.

Neither manager Ron Washington nor general manager Jon Daniels wants Murphy to push things. Daniels said the biggest benefit of Murphy playing again this season would be that it would give him confidence.

Padilla set to go

Vicente Padilla, who has been on the disabled list since Aug. 30 with a strained left hamstring, threw a bullpen session Friday. He’s scheduled to throw again Sunday. If all goes well, he’ll be activated from the DL in time to start Tuesday in Seattle.

"He’s all right,"pitching coach Andy Hawkins said."He’s feeling much better. I don’t see any reason why he won’t start."

New role for Mad Dog

Reliever Warner Madrigal’s recent outings have garnered him the role of set-up man. Madrigal, who has a 3.00 ERA in his last 27 innings of work, pitched a scoreless eighth inning Wednesday. Manager Ron Washington said others would get opportunities in the eighth, but he wanted to see how the right-hander responded to the new role.

"It’s my plan to see if he can handle it,"Washington said."As long as we can keep him to a pretty good pitch count, I’m not afraid to use him back-to-back days."

Briefly

Broadcaster Tom Grieve will receive the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award on Nov. 18 in a ceremony at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

The Rangers named Derek Holland the organization’s pitcher of the month, while Mitch Moreland earned player of the month honors and Jose Vallejo was the top defensive player.

Right-hander Doug Mathis will have surgery to remove the bursa sac in his right shoulder next week. The recovery is expected to take eight weeks.