The Texas Rangers’ trade-deadline picture is tied, at least in part, to two left-handers working their way back from injury, and their rehab starts on Saturday pointed in different directions.
Jordan Montgomery and Cody Bradford are both trying to get back into the mix for a pitching staff that could use them. Montgomery has not pitched in a Major League game since 2024 after missing all of 2025 following Tommy John surgery.
Bradford also sat out last season after an elbow injury that eventually required surgery, though his road back has been less severe than Montgomery’s. Even so, the Rangers missed him in 2024 after he emerged as a useful rotation option.
Their rehab assignments lined up Saturday, with Montgomery pitching for Triple-A Round Rock and Bradford taking the ball for Double-A Frisco.
Bradford, even though he remains earlier in the process, turned in the sharper outing. It was his second rehab start and his second with Frisco.
After covering just one inning in his July 12 outing, he went two innings Saturday and was highly efficient. Bradford allowed one hit, struck out four and threw 37 pitches, 27 for strikes.
That marked a clear step forward from his first start, when he gave up a run, walked two and struck out one without allowing a hit.
At this stage, the results are less important than the process for Bradford. He’s still focused on control, mechanics and building up his workload. Montgomery, though, is further along, which means the bar is higher now - and Saturday looked more like a setback.
Montgomery entered the day with five rehab starts already on the books. In his previous outing on July 12, he reached four innings, gave up four hits and one run, struck out one and walked none while throwing 52 pitches. Another four-inning outing, maybe even five, seemed like a realistic next step.
Instead, he couldn’t get out of the third inning for the Express. Montgomery allowed seven hits, six earned runs and struck out two while throwing 53 pitches, 33 of them strikes. His pitch count didn’t move beyond where it had been before, and the bigger concern was that this was the first time in the rehab process he was tagged for more than five hits and two runs.
The trade deadline arrives Aug. 3, and the two lefties should have room for two more starts before the Rangers make their final calls. Montgomery figures to be closer to the majors than Bradford by then, but exactly how close either one is remains uncertain.
That uncertainty is part of what president of baseball operations Chris Young and his staff will be weighing as the deadline nears. How close Montgomery and Bradford are to being ready could shape some of the Rangers’ moves.
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Yolfran Castillo and Dalton Pence are the kind of names that make these conversations interesting because both have enough upside to matter in a deal, but neither feels disposable. Castillo has been productive in the low minors, while Pence has put together a strong season on the mound and sits among the organizations better arms. Even so, Texas has other pitching prospects in the pipeline, which could make moving Pence easier to swallow than it first appears, but the front office still has to decide whether Arraez is the sort of addition worth taking that step. [Read more 🡒]
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Brady Singer Is Putting The Reds At A Deadline Crossroads
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Singers contract status gives the Reds a reason to listen, and it also gives a contender like Texas a chance to pounce if the price is right. The Rangers are not alone in weighing starting pitching, though, and the broader pool includes other arms with varying levels of certainty, leaving Texas to decide whether to strike early or keep waiting for the right deal to surface. [Read more 🡒]