Evan Grant wrote the following about Jordan Montgomery’s rehab outing yesterday: “Montgomery struggled through an outing with Triple-A Round Rock Saturday evening that was scheduled for five innings and about 75 pitches. He,instead lasted just 2 ⅔ innings against Las Vegas, allowing seven hits and six runs. More concerning: His velocity stepped backwards. Montgomery averaged only 90.1 mph with the fastball, down 1.7 mph from his previous five rehab outings. The Rangers had hoped to see it tick closer to 93 mph.” (emphasis added)
Grant is wrong about the velocity loss, but that’s not his fault. In the player breakdown section of the AAA Statcast gameday feed, there’s a velocity section and sub-columns called “Yr-Avg” and “+/-,” which show “91.8” and “-1.7,” respectively. The problem is that 91.8 is not Montgomery’s fastball (specifically sinker) average in Round Rock in 2026, it’s his average in 2024 as an Arizona Diamondback. It’s a little annoying, but Statcast is programmed to use MLB data for comparison purposes, even if the pitcher hasn’t played in MLB in 2026, and even if the pitcher has minimal experience in the Majors (like Winston Santos).
There’s no way for Evan or anyone to know this just from looking at the gamefeed. I know mainly because of Josh Sborz, who isn’t throwing as hard as year’s past but somehow has a 95.1 average fastball velocity if you peruse the gamefeed from one of his outings. That caught my eye earlier this year, and I discovered that the 95.1 is Sborz’s fastball average from 2024, the last time he appeared in the Majors.
As for the Rangers hoping to see closer to 93 from Montgomery, I have nothing encouraging to offer. Montgomery’s sinkers in three prior AAA outings averaged 89.7, 90.6 and 90.1.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 1, Las Vegas (ATH) 8
Round Rock: 3 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 10-10, 5 GB, 41-54 overall
SP Jordan Montgomery: 2.2 IP, 7 H (1 HR), 6 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 53 P / 33 S, 6.94 ERA
RP Austin Roberts: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 6.00 ERA
So: Montgomery. For two innings he cruised, needing only 19 pitches to retire six batters in order. I had a Narrative ready: “Montgomery doesn’t throw as hard as he used to, but he doesn’t really need to. He can put the ball where he wants, get ahead and have batters guessing in unfavorable counts.” Then, a 34-pitch, seven-hit, six-run 3rd.
I was focused on Montgomery’s pitch selection and sequencing, but he tricked me by throwing first-pitch fastballs to his first eight opponents. That’s not the usual Montgomery experience, but they were well-located, generating six strikes. Then, Montgomery dealt a first-pitch curve to weak-hitting #9 hitter Jack Winkler, who drove it to center for a single. Then, Max Muncy crushed a first-pitch change for a homer. That is not the usual AAA experience, but credit the Aviators for hopping on a couple of mid-mid offspeeds intended as strike-stealers. Montgomery didn’t walk anyone but lost the precision on his location, losing the borders that made such quick work of the earlier innings.
I don’t want to fret too much about a Triple A rehab, but at the same time, we’ve reached the point where the performance actually matters, and the organization has to be deciding on what role he can serve and when. Revisiting the velocity, It’s not as though I can predict the future, but I’ve been under an assumption that he’s just someone who has a 90 MPH fastball now. He could be a decent back-of-rotation option but absolutely has to hit his spots. 
AA: Frisco 4, Tulsa (LAD) 3
Frisco: 11 hits, 0 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 11-9, 1 GB, 50-38 overall
SP Cody Bradford: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 37 P / 27 S, 3.00 ERA
RP Dalton Pence: 4 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 2 R, 3 BB, 5 SO, 2.49 ERA
DH Sebastian Walcott: 2-4
CF Dylan Dreiling: 2-4, HR (13), .285/.361/.474
LF Yeison Morrobel: 1-3, HR (1)
Cody Bradford had the control that was missing from his previous rehab and fanned four of seven batters. He wasn’t missing badly last time, just consistently off enough for an ugly 33% strike rate. Sebastian Walcott slapped a grounder through the right side for a single and lined earnestly to left for another. He also lined squarely at the midsection of pitcher Adam Serwinowski, who caught it with some combination of glove and torso. 
Hi-A: Hub City 7, Greensboro (PIT) 10
Hub City: 12 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 2 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 6-17, 9 GB, 40-49 overall
SP Caden Scarborough: 2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 2 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 34 P / 26 S, 3.85 ERA
RP AJ Russell: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2.92 ERA
RP Owen Proksch: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1.98 ERA
3B Gleider Figuereo: 3-4, 2B, HR (14), BB, .240/.341/.440
C Arturo De Freitas: 3-4, 2B, HR (1)
On another sweltering night, the teams combined for six homers following Friday’s eight. Greensboro leadoff hitter Sammy Stafura knocked a 2-2 pitch from Caden Scarborough beyond the 411′ sign in right-center. Scarborough flung high fastballs past the next two batters for strikeouts and concluded his short evening with a third.
I wrote the following when Texas traded away Hub City catcher Ben Hartl for reliever Ben Peoples: “Texas was already very light on catching in the A levels… but, well, who cares. The Rangers can probably sign someone of similar caliber from an indy league if they want.” Five days later, Texas bought the contract of catcher Arturo De Freitas from Quebec of the Frontier League, where he was hitting .311/.423/.602. He’d been released from Philadelphia’s system in August 2024. In three games, he’s collected three extra-base hits and thrown out four of nine runners. I’d like to thank the Rangers for giving me the opportunity to look like I know what I’m talking about. 
Lo-A: Hickory 5, Wilson (MIL) 4
Hickory: 7 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 6 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 17-6, 4 G up, 51-36 overall
SP Jormy Nivar: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 53 P / 33 S, 2.63 ERA
RP JD McReynolds: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 3.60 ERA
RP Geury Rodriguez: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 3.09 ERA
RP Louis Marinaro: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 4.46 ERA
DH Pablo Guerrero: 2-4, HR (1), .391/.500/.565
CF Jamaurion McQueen: 0-1, 2 BB, HBP, SB (1)
Nivar made only his second start but has been on what passes for a low-level starter’s workload all season, dealing three to five innings once per week. McQueen was last year’s final pick but paid $280,000, equivalent to slot for a seventh-rounder. He batted .361/.465/.526 in 48 games at the complex, and while I wouldn’t put much emphasis on those numbers per se, they do show his promotion was easily justified.
Today’s Starters
AAA: unlisted, maybe Stephan
AA: Townsend
Hi-A: Perry
Lo-A: Keaney
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Texas reinstated catcher Huff from the 60-day IL by optioning him to Frisco, and to make room, the Rangers surprisingly designated righty Tyler Phillips for assignment. “Always more control than command, his introduction to AA in 2019 was predictably on the rough side. Still, Phillips was added to the 40-man roster after 2019. Because of covid and a minor elbow injury, he’d pitched only 25 innings since being added. In 2021, his first two starts seemed to offer some of the improvements needed to reach the big leagues, but his most recent eight outings were so far removed from his historical results that they defy belief: 18 walks, five homers, 18 other hits allowed in just 16.1 innings. In the midst of that span, certainly not on merit, he was curiously promoted to AAA.” He would be claimed by his hometown Phils and reach the Majors three years later, albeit without much success. Phillips is now thriving as a reliever with the Marlins (although with peripherals not nearly matching his low ERA). While the manner of Phillips’ departure from Texas was startling, his latter-day success isn’t a mark against the Rangers. Some pitchers take longer to develop than can be reasonably accommodated under the reserve system.
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