ARLINGTON, Texas — Tyler Alexander is opening for the Texas Rangers against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night, and Cody Bradford is the bulk pitcher behind him, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said before the series finale at Globe Life Field.
Schumaker made the comments on The Skip Schumaker Show, the pregame segment Rangers Sports Network posted at 6:42 p.m. CT. First pitch against Boston right-hander Sonny Gray (17-5, 2.76 ERA) is 7:05 p.m. CT on Rangers Sports Network.
Right after Wednesday night’s 7-3 win, Schumaker said Bradford would start Thursday, Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports reported. The club announced Alexander as its scheduled starter later that night.
Wednesday’s game needed quality, high-leverage innings with the score tied 3-3, and Nathan Eovaldi ended up finishing it out of the bullpen.
“There’s a lot of conversations throughout the week on exactly what we’re trying to give ourselves the best chance and give our players the best chance to succeed,” Schumaker said. “But it changes daily based on who we used the night before. So the fact that we used Evo for four innings changed things going into today.”
“Knowing that Cody has pitched out the bullpen before in a very effective way,” Schumaker continued. “Alexander has been very good at opening and trying to match up the best we can against a really good lineup. So it’s going to be a chess match today, back and forth, and hopefully we’re on the right side of it.”
Alexander (5-2, 3.38 ERA) retired the side in order in the seventh inning Tuesday. He also opened games for Texas on May 19, June 22, and July 22. In seven career appearances against Boston, one of them a start, Alexander is 1-0 with a 5.63 ERA. The Southlake Carroll product is in his eighth major league season.
Since the Rangers reinstated him from the 60-day injured list Aug. 5, Bradford has made seven starts and is 0-5 with a 4.72 ERA. He had an internal brace procedure on his left elbow in June 2025 and missed that entire season. His most recent outing came Sept. 9 at T-Mobile Park, where he went 4 innings against the Seattle Mariners and allowed 4 hits and 3 runs, with 2 walks and 1 strikeout.
Eovaldi (11-9) entered Wednesday with the game tied 3-3 in the sixth inning. His line over the final 4 innings was 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, and 1 strikeout. He retired the last 11 batters he faced, MLB.com reported, and became the first Rangers pitcher since Sept. 25, 2007, to earn a win by throwing 4 or more scoreless innings to finish a game.
Closer Jacob Latz and Robert Garcia were not available Wednesday, Schumaker said after that game. Latz got the final 5 outs Tuesday for his 30th save in 33 chances.
Eovaldi finished Wednesday’s game on a low pitch count, in his second relief appearance since Texas activated him from the 15-day injured list Sept. 12.
“Pretty special night for him to come out of the bullpen in front of a home crowd that kind of erupted when they saw him come out of the bullpen,” Schumaker explained. “So 3-3 game, needed some innings, some quality innings, some high-leverage innings, and he ended up finishing the game. So it was with a low pitch count, too, which was nice to see. But super effective, gave us a jolt of energy in the dugout and a good quality win.”
Before Sept. 12, Eovaldi had not pitched since Aug. 7 because of right posterior elbow inflammation. In his first game back that night at Chase Field, he threw 45 pitches over 2 2/3 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks. On Monday, Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young said on 105.3 The Fan’s G-Bag Nation that Eovaldi could move into a longer role by the end of the week if he went unused for a day or two.
Schumaker said protecting the player’s health stays part of every decision on how to use Eovaldi.
“This is a day-to-day thing,” Schumaker said. “We have 10 left. I mean, we’re going forward as much as we can and trying to match up the best we can, but there’s some health stuff that we have to make sure that is [in the] back of our mind in protecting the player.”
“But if they’re ready to, then we’re going to use them,” Schumaker added.
Before the elbow injury, Eovaldi was 10-9 with a 4.21 ERA and 137 strikeouts over 22 starts. The 36-year-old is in the second season of a three-year, $75 million contract.
Cal Quantrill Ready For Next Start After Back Tightness
On Sunday at Chase Field, Cal Quantrill’s back tightened after the fifth inning, and he stayed in to finish 6 innings in a 7-6 win over Arizona. His line was 6 innings, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 0 walks, and 4 strikeouts on 70 pitches, his fewest in six starts. Texas did not place him on the injured list.
Schumaker said Quantrill threw about 10 pitches off the slope Thursday.
“He’s feeling better today,” Schumaker said. “Threw, I don’t know, not too many off the mound, off the slope today. Just out there, maybe 10 pitches total. But he felt good, and he’s ready for his next start.”
Quantrill said Thursday that his back is fine and that he will make his next start during this weekend’s series against Toronto, Wilson reported. On Monday, Young said he is not worried about it.
Quantrill is 9-5 with a 2.90 ERA over 31 appearances, 14 of them starts, and 108 2/3 innings. The Rangers signed him to a minor league contract Jan. 29.
Skip Schumaker On Sonny Gray’s Sweeper And Lineup Conversations
Gray has a 1.17 WHIP over 156 2/3 innings. The 36-year-old is a three-time All-Star, and Boston acquired him from the St. Louis Cardinals before the season. He is in the final year of a three-year, $75 million contract that includes a mutual option for 2027.
Entering the June 12 series opener at Fenway Park, Gray was 11-5 with a 2.87 ERA in 19 career games against Texas, 18 of them starts, the Boston Globe reported. Boston won two of the three games in that series.
Gray throws a cutter around 90 mph and a sinker that runs from 92 to 95 depending on the night.
“He’s been doing this for a long time, like you said, in a very effective way,” Schumaker said. “He can really spin the ball. I mean, his sweeper is legit. He has a cutter at 90 miles an hour and a sinker that’s between 92 and 95, depending on the night. So he throws strikes. He controls the run game.”
“So, but we just have to make sure we keep him on the plate, and that sweeper is, seems like it’s a strike for a long time and makes a hard left turn pretty late off the plate,” Schumaker detailed. “So we got to make sure it’s inside the strike zone and start moving the ball forward aggressively, and I think we have a good chance tonight.”
Boston started left-handers in each of the first two games of the series. Against Gray on Thursday, Ezequiel Durán is leading off at third base and Corey Seager is batting second. Brandon Nimmo is hitting fourth, and Wyatt Langford is hitting fifth. Justin Foscue, who led off Wednesday, and Elias Díaz are both out of the lineup.
Nimmo broke the 3-3 tie Wednesday with an RBI double in the seventh inning. Seager added an RBI single in the eighth.
Moving an everyday player up or down the lineup comes with a conversation first.
“I think players in general want to know where they’re hitting,” Schumaker said. “I think the everyday player, I have conversations with them if I’m going to move them up or down in the lineup. But I think the platoon player or the role player, I think you just put them in the lineup and we’re good.”
“But I think the Corey Seagers and the Wyatt Langfords and the Brandon Nimmos of the world, I mean, I’m going to have conversations and the reasons why I see them moving up and down in the lineup,” Schumaker noted. “But for the most part, the other role type of players were platoon-neutral or platoon-strength guys. I’m just going to submit the lineup and send it out the night before.”
At 76-76, Texas has won 4 straight and is tied with the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West. Houston holds the tiebreaker. With 10 games left entering Thursday, the Rangers were one game out of the third and final American League wild card, and a win would complete a sweep of Boston (82-70).
The Toronto Blue Jays visit Globe Life Field from Sept. 18 to 20, and the New York Mets follow from Sept. 22 to 24.
