The club will make a corresponding move on Thursday, which will most likely be used on first baseman Ronald Guzman, who's ready to return after missing a month of action with a strained hamstring.
Several factors came into play when it came to the decision to demote DeShields. With Rangers starters (Drew Smyly and Shelby Miller) not able to eat up innings, the club couldn't afford to demote a reliever such as Jeanmar Gomez.
“Delino is a valuable player. He’s a big leaguer," Jon Daniels told the Dallas Morning News. "At this point, we are choosing to keep a deeper bullpen and didn’t want to cut ties permanently with anyone. Delino will play every day in Nashville, get himself going, and be ready to help us again this year.”
DeShields has struggled at the plate through the first portion of the season, hitting just .184 in 107 plate appearances.
The 26-year-old is also a victim of a numbers game. Due to the unexpected solid play of Logan Forsythe and Danny Santana, both of whom don't have minor-league options, DeShields was expendable.
With the move, Joey Gallo will likely be the team's primary center fielder moving forward, and Santana will get more looks in the outfield. Hunter Pence should also see an uptick in his playing time.