The Rangers cleaned up a pair of roster moves this week, activating infielder Cody Freeman from the 10-day injured list on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, and then bringing Cody Bradford off the 60-day injured list on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.
Freeman was optioned to AAA Round Rock after coming off the IL. He’d been sidelined with a herniated disc in his neck and had surgery on June 29.
His rehab path started with the ACL Rangers on July 20, where he played three games, before the assignment moved to Round Rock on July 25. He’s been there since.
It’s been a stop-and-start year for Freeman from the jump. He opened the season on the injured list because of a stress reaction in his lumbar area, which kept him out until mid-May.
He spent four days on a rehab assignment with the ACL club in mid-May, then played three games for Frisco later that month before moving on to Round Rock. The Rangers called him up for one game in early June, sent him back down, then brought him back a week later.
Freeman appeared in six big league games before landing back on the injured list on June 25 for the herniated disc.
That’s left him with just 32 games across the ACL, AA and AAA levels this season, along with 137 plate appearances. He’s also logged seven games in the majors. Freeman was in the mix for an Opening Day roster spot this spring before the injuries started piling up.
Bradford’s return gave Texas a lift right away. He worked 4.1 scoreless innings on Wednesday against the Giants in a 6-0 Rangers win.
Bradford’s comeback has been a long one after internal brace surgery. He was originally expected to potentially be back as early as May, but after a rehab outing for Round Rock on April 2, he reported elbow soreness and was shut down for a stretch.
To make room for Bradford on the active roster, the Rangers placed pitcher MacKenzie Gore on the paternity list. That move let Texas carry an extra arm temporarily and delay the decision on a roster cut.
Since a player can remain on the paternity list for up to three days, Gore will need to be activated either today or tomorrow. If there are no other injuries in play, Nolan Kingham looks like the most likely candidate to be removed from the active roster.
Texas also has another move looming with Jordan Montgomery, who made his eighth rehab start for Round Rock on Sunday, August 2, throwing 86 pitches over five shutout innings. The expectation is that Montgomery will be activated for this weekend’s series rather than making another rehab start. Skip Schumaker has said Montgomery could be used either in the rotation or out of the bullpen, and the bullpen seems the likelier landing spot at first, given there isn’t an open rotation job and his stuff has been down in rehab compared to where he was before the injury.
Montgomery will need a 40-man roster spot when he comes back, and that could force another move. One possibility is that Kingham gets designated for assignment instead of simply being optioned, if the Rangers choose to send down one of their relievers with options - Ben Peoples, Peyton Gray or Robby Ahlstrom - to clear space. Cal Quantrill and Cole Winn are both out of options, so if Texas decides to move on from one of them to make room for Montgomery, that would open a 40-man spot and allow the Rangers to option Kingham rather than designate him for assignment.
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