Cody Bradford (elbow) fans four in rehab start

Bradford struck out one and walked two as the Rangers went on to lose 3-2. The soft-tossing southpaw has made seven starts since returning from elbow surgery, with just 17 strikeouts through 34 1/3 innings. A K rate that low keeps him off the fantasy radar ahead of his next start, at home against the Red Sox.

The Rangers are pushing Cody Bradford back an extra day to take the ball against Seattle on Wednesday instead. It doesn’t appear to be an injury-related situation. Quantrill has been an unexpected revelation for Texas, posting a surreal 2.79 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 73/24 K/BB ratio across 96 2/3 innings this season. It’s hard to argue against his streaming appeal against a Seattle lineup that has consistently struggled to score runs this season.

All five runs came via the long ball. This was Bradford’s sixth start since returning from internal brace surgery a little over a month ago. It was also the most runs he’s given up in an outing this year. Through 30 1/3 innings he has only struck out 17, severely limiting his fantasy upside. He’ll look to rebound on the road against the Mariners next time out.

Bradford gave up seven hits, walked none and struck out three. He fell to 0-2 with the loss. Bradford was solid in his fourth start back since returning from Tommy John surgery, but had no margin for error with the Rangers offense failing to score a run. He has a 3.05 ERA. Bradford is lined up to face the Brewers on the road next weekend.

Montgomery, who topped out at 91.1 mph tonight, didn’t make much of a case for stepping into the rotation if Jacob deGrom needs a break. He’s surrendered seven runs over six innings in his two appearances since returning from Tommy John.

Bradford tossed two scoreless innings before the Angels got to him for three runs on three hits and a hit batter in the third. He settled in for four more scoreless frames, ending his day after seven innings with only one strikeout. The three runs were the only runs he’s allowed across two starts with a 6/3 K/BB ratio over 11 1/3 innings. The 28-year-old left-hander will take on the Athletics in Sacramento on Sunday.

Montgomery underwent Tommy John surgery in March of 2025 and made his way back after several rehab starts in the minors. While he received a lot of love from the fans in his return to the Rangers, the Orioles hitters greeted him rudely, including a two-run homer from Pete Alonso in the fourth and a two-run shot from Tyler O’Neill in the sixth. The veteran southpaw gave up six hits in all while walking one and striking out a pair. He’ll continue to pitch out of the bullpen for now, and there’s no fantasy relevance at this stage.

The 33-year-old southpaw has finally made it all the way back from Tommy John surgery and is ready to help out the Rangers over the final two months of the regular season. It’s unclear if he’ll work as a starter or out of the bullpen initially, either way though fantasy managers should take a wait-and-see approach here as he’s likely to show inconsistency while shaking off the rust following his extended absence.

It’s good to have Bradford back from elbow surgery. Despite averaging just 90 mph with his fastball, he had a 3.03 ERA in 13 starts for Texas in 2024. Today, he averaged 88.8 mph with his fastball, but he had his changeup working and racked up five strikeouts and a 40 percent CSW. He was, however, quite lucky to get outs on long flies from Buddy Kennedy and Bryce Eldridge that would have been homers in 26 and 16 ballparks, respectively. He’s probably not a mixed-league starter right now, but he might be once he gets back to throwing 90-100 pitches. He’ll face the Angels next week.

Schumaker was not clear about the role that Montgomery would have, saying he could work as a starter or reliever. Montgomery has not pitched in an MLB game since 2024, so we’re not expecting tremendous results right away. You can take a wait-and-see approach in fantasy leagues.