Texas Rangers general manager Chris Young is understandably excited about the acquisitions of St. Louis Cardinals pitchers Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton.
The Rangers acquired the pair for two minor-league prospects — infielder Thomas Saggese and pitcher Tekoah Roby — and reliever John King.
Montgomery will slip into the Rangers starting rotation, while Stratton moves into the bullpen.
“Jordan is having a tremendous year and we felt like he was one of the better starters on the market and we felt that, given where we are, we needed to continue to upgrade our rotation,” Young said.
The Rangers acquired New York Mets starter Max Scherzer on Saturday. The Rangers also placed pitcher Nathan Eovaldi on the 15-day injured list on Sunday.
Montgomery is 6-9 this season with a 3.42 ERA in 21 starts. He’s coming off a 9-6 season with a 3.48 ERA in 2022, when he pitched for both the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals.
He comes with solid strikeout and walk rates per nine innings, as he strikes out 8.5 and walks 2.5 in a career that started in 2017 with the Yankees.
Stratton has made 42 appearances in 2022 and has a 1-1 record with a 4.35 ERA. He has a save and four holds. He also has 59 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings.
He also has a history with members of the Rangers organization. Bruce Bochy was Stratton’s manager with the San Francisco Giants from 2016-18, including a 10-10 season as a starter in 2018.
Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux was Stratton’s pitching coach last season in St. Louis.
“Stratton is going to slide right into the bullpen,” Young said. “I think that it’s going to take a little pressure off some of the young guys that we’ve been depending on.”
The Rangers are off Monday and will start a three-games series with the Chicago White Sox at Globe Life Field on Tuesday.
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