<\/p>\n
Texas Rangers pitcher Cody Bradford gets high fives in the dugout after exiting the game in the fifth inning against the San Francisco Giants Wednesday, Aug 5, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/ Richard W. Rodriguez)<\/p>\n
Richard W. Rodriguez\/AP Photo\/Richard W. Rodriguez<\/p>\n
ARLINGTON\u00a0\u2014 The notion that reinforcements would eventually arrive has been ever-present since the winter (when the\u00a0Texas Rangers<\/a> had only one sidelined starting pitcher), the spring (when they signed a second) and the summer (when a third went down unplanned). This idea that, sooner or later, their somewhat-thin rotation would receive an injection of healthy arms has seemingly lingered in the background of the team\u2019s operations for a mighty long time.\u00a0<\/p>\n If it feels like that to the organization, or neutral observers, imagine how it\u2019s felt to one backup in question.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSix-hundred seventy-nine days since I last pitched,\u201d left-handed pitcher Cody Bradford said, \u201cback when there was a team in Oakland still.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Even if it didn\u2019t look it.<\/p>\n Bradford pitched 4 \u2153 scoreless innings in a 6-0 win over the San Francisco Giants at Globe Life Field on Wednesday afternoon in his first big league start in nearly two years. The 28-year-old last pitched in the major leagues Sept. 25, 2024, against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum, underwent elbow surgery last summer<\/a> and navigated a start-and-stop rehabilitation process<\/a> that lasted nearly three months longer than he or the Rangers originally expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was really grateful just to be pitching for the Rangers again,\u201d Bradford said. \u201cIt\u2019s something I dreamed of as a kid, I grew up a Rangers fan, and I can\u2019t be thankful enough to have another opportunity to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Bradford threw 50 of his 70 pitches for strikes, and though manager Skip Schumaker nearly lifted him before he faced his last batter, \u201che was looking good still\u201d despite the fact that he hadn\u2019t pitched this deep into any of his five minor league rehab games. The Aledo native\u2019s fastball was responsible for three of his five strikeouts and averaged 88.8 mph, a full tick slower than it ran two seasons ago, though batters swung and missed seven times when they did offer at it. His changeup notched the other two strikeouts and elicited soft contact. He gave himself a 6.5-out-of-10 grade and believes there\u2019s \u201ca lot\u201d that he can improve upon before his next start.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cHe was on the attack, throwing strikes, and that\u2019s so hard to do after missing two years,\u201d Schumaker said. \u201cIt just felt like he was the same guy.\u201d<\/p>\n The offense offered run support as a welcome-back gift. The Rangers scored four runs in the third inning\u00a0\u2014 each with two outs\u00a0\u2014 on hits from Wyatt Langford, Brandon Nimmo, Jake Burger, Justin Foscue, and Elias Diaz off left-handed pitcher Carson\u00a0Whisenhunt. Langford (who scored the game\u2019s first run on Nimmo\u2019s single) and Foscue (who drove in two more with his first career triple) are the only players on the active roster who appeared in Bradford\u2019s last big league start nearly two years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n This was the Rangers lineup the last time that Cody Bradford started a game for them. Only two of these players (Langford and Foscue) are on the roster today. pic.twitter.com\/pCdnGbawp2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) August 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve played with Cody basically my entire pro career,\u201d Foscue, who was drafted one year after Bradford, said. \u201cI\u2019ve never liked facing him myself when I face him in live at-bats. I was really happy for him to get back. He\u2019s worked hard to come back from these injuries. He showed today that that\u2019s what he can do and he can help the team win at the big league level.\u201d<\/p>\n Bradford showed he can help the team win at a critical time, too, because his return coincided with a quiet trade deadline and a legitimate playoff push on the horizon<\/a>. His performance helped pull the Rangers to within a game and a half of the first-place Houston\u00a0Astros in the American League West, and unless the team goes on a significant run or suffers a significant drought, it\u2019s likely that his next handful of starts will carry meaningful consequences as it pertains to postseason chances.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been here before,\u201d Bradford, a World Series champion in his rookie season, said with a smile. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be our first time.\u201d<\/p>\n Texas Rangers pitcher Cody Bradford follows through on a pitch against the San Francisco Giants in the second inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug 5, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/ Richard W. Rodriguez)<\/p>\n Richard W. Rodriguez\/AP Photo\/Richard W. Rodriguez<\/p>\n Bradford\u2019s return is the first of three that the Rangers expect within the month. Schumaker said Jordan Montgomery,\u00a0whom the Rangers signed in the spring with the belief that he\u2019d return from elbow surgery sometime in the middle of the season<\/a>, could be activated \u201csoon\u201d and operate as either a starter or a reliever. Jack Leiter, who\u2019s been sidelined since June 21 with a surgically repaired ankle,<\/a> will throw a second live bullpen this weekend and could start a minor league rehab assignment after that.\u00a0<\/p>\n Their collective return will give the Rangers\u00a0flexibility they haven\u2019t had this season. They\u2019ve effectively operated with only six available starters \u2014 the five-man rotation that they broke camp with plus former long man\u00a0Cal Quantrill\u00a0\u2014 and a dearth of internal options. The Rangers have been able to creatively navigate that with the use of four different openers, an occasional bullpen game and crafty schedule manipulation.\u00a0<\/p>\n The tightrope will only become thinner as the season progresses and as the mileage begins to seriously accumulate. Kumar Rocker has already thrown more innings this season than he has in any previous professional campaign, and MacKenzie Gore is on pace to do the same. Nathan Eovaldi is on track to throw 192 innings\u00a0\u2014 something he hasn\u2019t done in more than a decade\u00a0\u2014 and has already been scratched from two starts this season because of various physical ailments. Jacob deGrom is on schedule to make 32 starts\u00a0\u2014 something he hasn\u2019t done in seven years\u00a0\u2014 and has battled glute soreness for the last month<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Schumaker said that the Rangers have yet to determine exactly how they will use their six starters for the foreseeable future, but in the present, they\u2019ll use the surplus to \u201cgive guys a little bit of time\u201d to rest when needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to make sure that we\u2019re still good on this second half health-wise,\u201d Schumaker said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good problem to have. There\u2019s going to be probably conversations with guys\u00a0\u2014 there\u2019s a lot of good guys, team guys, that whatever you need to win, they\u2019ll do whatever it takes\u00a0\u2014 but these things always work out. It\u2019s a good problem to have when you have multiple guys that can start.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a while since the Rangers have been able to say that.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n