Jon

Gray

Gray has been sidelined since mid-August with nerve irritation in his pitching shoulder. Since he isn’t expected to return this season, the Rangers opted to utilize his spot on the 40-man roster to promote Dustin Harris from Triple-A Round Rock on Friday.

No word yet regarding how much time Gray will wind up missing. However, nerve-related issues tend to result in extended absences. The 33-year-old righty, who has posted a disastrous 7.71 ERA across 14 innings (six appearance) since making his season debut back in late July, cleared outright waivers earlier this weekend and will be a free agent at the conclusion of the year.

Gray is still owed around $3 million for the remainder of 2025, and no one was interested in paying that price. The right-hander could hit waivers again before August, but there’s no guarantee that anyone will have interest in his services. Gray will be looking for a new organization at the end of 2025 either way.

Rosenthal mentions that the Rangers are pushing for a postseason spot after their strong production over the last two weeks, but they also would prefer to stay under the luxury-tax threshold. As a third-time offender, the Rangers would be taxed at 50 percent for every dollar they spend over the threshold, so it’s a steeper price to pay than most other teams. That could lead to Rangers to trade García right-hander Jon Gray or one of their catchers, Jonah Heim or Kyle Higashioka to free up salary to acquire “another right-handed hitter as well as a high-leverage reliever, such as the St. Louis Cardinals’ Ryan Helsley or Pittsburgh Pirates’ David Bednar.”

Gray returns to the Rangers after missing nearly four months with a fractured right wrist sustained in spring training. The 33-year-old righty doesn’t have a clear path to a rotation spot, so he’s expected to work in a swingman role — something he’s done before, shifting between the bullpen and rotation — over the final two-plus months.

Gray finished with five strikeouts and threw 61 pitches (37 strikes) in his latest rehab outing. The 33-year-old veteran right-hander should factor into the Rangers’ pitching plans at some point before the end of July. He’s been on the shelf since spring training when he suffered a fractured right wrist.

Gray headed to Arizona after Sunday’s scheduled rehab outing for Triple-A Round Rock was rained out. The 33-year-old righty, who has been out since spring training recovering from a fractured right wrist, has a pair of starts under his belt already and will likely only need one or two additional tune-up outings before he’s ready to rejoin Texas’ pitching mix.

Gray threw two innings at Triple-A Round Rock on Wednesday and it sounds like he’ll be making his next start on short rest as the Rangers hope to expedite his timeline. The expectation is still that the 33-year-old hurler will return to the team’s starting rotation when he’s healthy enough to do so — which could happen before the end of the month if he avoids any setbacks.

Gray averaged 94.3 mph on his four-seam fastball and showed strong command of the pitch as well. He mixed in nine sliders, which seemed to have slightly different shape and velocity than we saw previously, and four curves. The Rangers plan to build Gray up as a starter, and with Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter both showing some cracks, Gray could be an option for the Rangers’ rotation by early August.

Gray is working his way back from a fractured right wrist and figures to be ready to rejoin Texas’ pitching mix at some point before the end of July. The 33-year-old righty has been on the shelf since suffering the injury during the late stages of spring training.