Rangers Injured Starter Looks Sharp in First Rehab Start of Recovery

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jon Gray began what should be the final stage of his recovery from a fractured wrist.

Mar 15, 2024; Salt River Pima-Maricopa, Arizona, USA; General view of a Texas Rangers hat, glove, and glasses prior to a spring training game against the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. | Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

After weeks of wringing their hands over starting pitching depth, the Texas Rangers could be getting a starter back shortly.

Veteran right-hander Jon Gray began his final step toward a return to the rotation with his first injury rehab game on Wednesday with Triple-A Round Rock.

Gray has been on the injured list since the start of the season after suffering a right forearm fracture during a spring training game when he was hit by a comebacker.

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The 33-year-old threw 32 pitches in his first action since the spring, with 20 of those pitches going for strikes.

He gave up one hit, one earned run and struck out one in two innings. He didn’t walk a hitter. He allowed the run in the second inning on a Sam Hilliard home run.

This rehab game was the first of what is likely to be a ramp-up similar to what a pitcher might do during spring training. Gray would expect to take incremental steps toward being able to assume a starting pitcher’s workload in the Majors when he returns.

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Throughout the process, Gray has remained on schedule, which means he could return after the trade deadline on July 31.

Oddly, Round Rock piggy-backed one of the organization’s top prospects on Gray’s start. Kohl Drake — who was recently named the Rangers minor league pitcher of the month for June — took over in the third inning.

After absorbing a beating in his first Triple-A game last week, he fared much better in relief of Gray. Drake pitched five innings of one-hit, one run baseball as he struck out two and walked two.

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Gray is in the final year of a four-year deal that he signed before the 2022 season. For the most part, Gray has been a back-of-the-rotation right-hander.

In three seasons with Texas, he is 21-21 with a 4.16 ERA. 72 of his 76 games regular-season games with the Rangers have been starts, as he’s struck out 362 and walked 121 in 387.1 innings.

Texas doesn’t have quite the surplus of starting pitching that it had at the start of the season. Tyler Mahle is on the 60-day injured list with a shoulder injury and won’t return until August. Cody Bradford is out for the reason after having an internal brace procedure on his left arm.

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The Rangers’ rotation includes Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Patrick Corbin, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker. Jacob Latz has been stretched out enough to be a spot starter if needed.

But, if Gray progresses, the Rangers will have some much-needed depth.

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