Key Rangers starter's injury is much worse than expected according to a recent update

With the Texas Rangers dealing with so many injuries in their rotation to important guys like Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom, Cody Bradford's emergence in 2024 was absolutely delightful. He posted a 1.40 ERA in his three starts this season and was on track to be one of the season's biggest surprises after his decidedly mediocre 2023 season where he posted a 5.30 ERA bouncing around between starting and coming out of the bullpen.

Unfortunately, Bradford hit the injured list with a back injury earlier in April. While the injury was previously thought to not be serious and just required him to take it easy for a bit, things took a turn on Friday when the Rangers gave an update on him. As it turns out, Bradford has a stress fracture of his bottom rib and is going to be out for much longer than anyone thought.

Rangers News: Cody Bradford to miss at least another month with rib fracture

While Bradford's rib injury doesn't appear to be as serious as the one Triston Casas is dealing with over in Boston -- which he described as a "car crash" in his body -- Bradford's injury is significantly worse than the Rangers had planned for. Texas did all of the usual scans when he first got hurt and truly thought that it was just a run-of-the-mill back strain, but Bradford wasn't improving even after treatment. He was sent for further testing and scans, which showed the fracture in a weird place, and Bruce Bochy said on Friday that the left-hander could be missing for "about a month".

Not only does Bradford's injury interrupt what could have been a breakout season for him, but it puts the Rangers in a really tough spot pitching-wise. Getting Michael Lorenzen on the mound helps, but Texas' rotation is looking very tenuous at the moment, and is likely to stay that way until Bradford and Max Scherzer return from the IL.

The good news is that, even with the news that his bottom rib is broken, the Rangers haven't moved Bradford to the 60-day IL. That means a return towards the end of May is theoretically possible, even if he needs a short rehab stint in the minors. Based on the team's luck with injuries this year, that is at least some cause for celebration.

More Texas Rangers News from Nolan Writin'