Texas Rangers Injured Pitcher Shut Down Amid Lack of Progress

The Texas Rangers are going to give left-handed starter Cody Bradford a break from his injury rehab.

Apr 10, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Cody Bradford. / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

ARLINGTON — One of the bright spots of the season's first two weeks for the Texas Rangers was the start of left-handed pitcher Cody Bradford.

Now his injury rehab has hit a snag. He told reporters on Sunday that he's been shut down for the time being.

Bradford has been on the injured list since April 14 with a low back strain. About a week after that, more imaging revealed Bradford had a relatively freak injury — a right rib stress fracture.

When that was discovered in late April, it was expected that he would miss at least another month.

Bradford said he isn’t in pain, but he’s not recovering fast enough. The Rangers are shutting him down in hopes that a break will accelerate his recovery.

“We want to make sure,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “We’re dealing with a stress fracture.”

In other words, the Rangers want to avoid any further set-backs.

Bradford was 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA, 17 strikeouts, and two walks in his first three starts (19 1/3 innings).

In his absence the Rangers have taken on further injuries in the rotation.

Both Dane Dunning and Nathan Eovaldi are on the IL and threw bullpens on Sunday. Bochy said on Friday there was a possibility that Dunning could be activated on the Rangers’ road trip to Philadelphia. An activation date is less clear on Eovaldi.

Texas is without three starting pitchers who are on the 60-day injured list — Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle.

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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