Montgomery inches closer to season debut after third rehab start

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers are, again, another step closer to rotation reinforcements.

Rangers starter Jordan Montgomery made his third rehab start, this time with Triple-A Round Rock, allowing two runs on three hits with three strikeouts and no walks in two innings. He threw 39 pitches, 26 for strikes.

Montgomery signed a one-year deal with the Rangers during Spring Training, when he was midway through his Tommy John rehab. Texas expected him to bolster the rotation in the second half.

Luckily for him, the Rangers are in desperate need of rotation innings with Jack Leiter on the injured list following ankle surgery. They duct-taped over the issue with Chris Paddack making one start last week before he was designated for assignment.

A Montgomery return shortly after the All-Star break would pay dividends.

Additionally, fellow elbow rehabber Cody Bradford threw a live batting practice at Globe Life Field pregame on Thursday. Bradford said he was able to throw all four of his pitches -- fastball, curveball, slider, changeup -- for strikes as he got through one “inning” and 20 pitches.

“It’s all a really good sign,” said Rangers manager Skip Schumaker. “Cody has one more live, and then he’ll probably head out to a rehab assignment. He felt really good today and has been feeling good, which is encouraging. He looked like Cody Bradford today, which was awesome. The fastball was there, spinning a ball how it's supposed to. He's in a really good spot.

“As far as Jordan. He’s recovered well [on rehab], feels good about it. Those are always good signs that there's no setbacks, because Cody had that setback months ago, and he hasn't had any since. So that's encouraging, and the same with Monty. I like those text messages and Slack channel updates more than the previous ones I've had [with injuries] lately.”