Rangers Using Well-Rested Starting Pitcher to Face Red Sox’s Sonny Gray

A variety of factors led to the Texas Rangers choosing their staring pitcher for Thursday’s game with the Boston Red Sox.

Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker. Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

All week the Texas Rangers have known they would face Boston’s right-handed ace, Sonny Gray, in the series finale on Thursday.

On Wednesday night, the Rangers finally reciprocated and named left-hander Cody Bradford the starting pitcher, per MLB.com.

Bradford will be pitching on extra rest. He made his last start against Seattle on Sept. 9, as he pitched four innings, gave up four hits, three earned runs and two walks against one strikeout. He took the loss.

Why wait until now to name him? The Rangers wanted to see who they used on Wednesday night before choosing a starter.

The Thought Behind Cody Bradford

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Cody Bradford. Credit: Richard Dizon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Rangers only used three pitchers against Boston on Wednesday. Left-hander MacKenzie Gore started the game and only went four innings, but he gave up two hits and three earned runs. Jakob Junis came in to throw a scoreless inning in the fifth and then the Rangers entrusted the rest of the game to Nathan Eovaldi.

The right-hander is working in a bulk relief role since returning from the injured list and he only allowed a hit in four innings to claim the win.

Texas had hoped for more coverage from Gore, but the fact that Eovaldi was able to pick up four innings preserved the bullpen for Thursday’s finale. The Rangers used four relievers behind Jake deGrom on Tuesday, including closer Jacob Latz, who had to record five outs for his 30th save.

The Rangers have four relievers that have not pitched in the series. Two are leverage left-handers in Robby Ahlstrom and Tyler Alexander. The other two are bulk options in left-hander Jordan Montgomery and right-hander Trevor Williams. Montgomery pitched on Saturday in Arizona. Williams hasn’t pitched in more than a week.

The Rangers wanted to ensure that they had enough coverage behind Bradford, who has only pitched four innings in each of his last two starts and hasn't pitched more than six innings since he threw seven innings against the Los Angeles Angels on Aug 11. In his last two starts he's given up 11 hits and eight earned runs.

The Rangers tied the Houston Astros in the American League West race with their win on Wednesday night and need a good start from Bradford. But even if the game gets away from the lefty, the Rangers know they have the coverage behind him to be able to handle the innings and give the rest of the bullpen a rest going into the next series on Friday against Toronto.

The Rangers simply wanted to ensure that before naming Bradford the starter.