Seattle, Wash. — The Texas Rangers announced prior to Saturday afternoon’s game in Seattle that the club has selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Matt Bush (#49) from Triple-A Round Rock.  To make room for Bush on the active roster the team has optioned left-handed pitcher Jake Latz to Round Rock.  To accommodate Bush on the 40-man roster, right-handed pitcher Alex Speas has been designated for assignment

The 37-year-old Bush will be seeking his first Major League action since his final outing with Milwaukee on June 30 at Pittsburgh.  He went 0-2 with a 9.58 ERA over 12 relief outings with the Brewers this season before he was designated for assignment on July 1.  He signed a minor league contract with Texas on July 12 and combined for a 2-0 record with a 2.64 ERA (9 ER/30.2 IP) over 24 appearances with Frisco (AA) and Round Rock (AAA) to end the season.  With the two Texas affiliates, he held opponents to a .191/.250/.346/.596 slash line with 8 walks and 38 strikeouts (11.15 strikeouts per 9 innings).  His last game action came with Round Rock in Pacific Coast League Championship Series Game 2 on Wednesday at Oklahoma City (0.1 IP, 1 BF, 2 pitches/1 strike).

Bush made his Major League debut with the Rangers in 2016 and has spent the bulk of his MLB career with Texas.  He went 12-7 with 12 saves and a 3.34 ERA over 180 games/5 starts with the Rangers from 2016-22.  He was traded to Milwaukee on August 1, 2022 in exchange for infielder Mark Mathias and left-handed pitcher Antoine Kelly.  His last outing with the Rangers was on July 29, 2022 at Los Angeles-AL.

Latz pitched 2.0 scoreless innings to finish Friday night’s loss in Seattle.  He has 6.1 scoreless innings over 3 appearances spanning two stints with Texas this month: September 16-26 and September 29.  Latz has spent the balance of the season with Round Rock, posting a 1-4 record with a 4.10 ERA (29 ER/63.2 IP) across 46 games/5 starts.

The Rangers have seven days to release or outright Speas to the minor leagues.  Speas combined to go 5-2 with a 2.86 ERA over 49 games/one start with Frisco (AA) and Round Rock (AAA) this season.  He also saw his first Major League action, allowing 3 runs-earned runs over 3 relief outings and 2.0 innings during his lone stint with Texas from July 19-24.

Following today’s transactions, the Rangers remain at the 40-man limit on the club’s Major League roster, along with five players (Jacob deGrom, Ian Kennedy Brett Martin, Brad Miller, Jake Odorizzi) on the 60-day Injured List.