Cody Daniel Bradford (born February 22, 1998) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the Texas Rangers of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.

Amateur career

Bradford attended Aledo High School in Aledo, Texas. He produced a 0.64 ERA with 87 strikeouts over 66 innings during his senior season of 2016. Undrafted out of high school, Bradford attended

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Bears Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the North ...

. Bradford appeared in 15 games for Baylor in his freshman season of 2017; posting a 5–5 record with a 5.52 ERA and 43 strikeouts over innings. He posted a 7–6 record with a 2.51 ERA and 87 strikeouts over innings in his sophomore season of 2018. Bradford appeared in two games for the Chatham Anglers of the

Cape Cod League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

in 2018, posting a 2.25 ERA over 8 innings. Bradford was named to the 2018 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team; posting a 1–0 record with a 0.00 ERA and 5 strikeouts over 5 innings. Bradford was named the 2018

Big 12 Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Year The Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year is a baseball award given to the Big 12 Conference's most outstanding pitcher. The award was first given following the 2001 season. It is selected by the league's head coaches, who are not allowed to vote ...

. Bradford appeared in 3 games for Baylor in 2019, before being shut down due to injury. He underwent surgery for Thoracic outlet syndrome on March 27 and missed the rest of the 2019 season.

Professional career

Bradford was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 6th round of the

2019 MLB draft The 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In additi ...

. He signed with Texas for a $700,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

, which was $418,000 over slot value. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Bradford was assigned to the Hickory Crawdads of the High-A East to open the 2021 season. With them, he posted a 4–4 record with a 4.23 ERA and 87 strikeouts over innings. He was promoted to the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are nam ...

of the Double-A Central in August. In 7 games for Frisco, he went 2–0 with a 3.89 ERA and 41 strikeouts over innings. Bradford returned to Frisco for the 2022 season, going 10–7 with a 5.01 ERA and 124 strikeouts over innings. Bradford received a non-roster invitation to major league spring training in 2023. He opened the 2023 season with the

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

of the Triple-A

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. Bradford was named the PCL pitcher of the month for April after going 5–0 with a 0.64 ERA in 5 starts. On May 15, 2023, the Rangers selected Bradford’s contract and promoted him to the major leagues for the first time to start that day against the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

. In his MLB debut, Bradford allowed 6 runs over 5 innings. In 20 games (8 starts) during his rookie campaign, he compiled a 4–3 record and 5.30 ERA with 51 strikeouts across 56 innings pitched. After the season, Bradford won the

PCL Pitcher of the Year Award The Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year Award is an annual award given to the best pitcher in Minor League Baseball's Pacific Coast League based on their regular-season performance as voted on by league managers. Broadcasters, Minor League B ...

. Bradford began the 2024 season as part of Texas' rotation, recording a 3–0 record and 1.40 ERA across three starts. On April 14, 2024, he was placed on the injured list with back soreness. However, the injury was revealed to be a rib stress fracture on April 26, and Bradford was transferred to the 60–day injured list on May 23. He was activated on July 29.

Personal life

Bradford was the valedictorian of the 2016 Aledo High School class. Bradford graduated from

in 2019 with a degree in supply chain management. He married his wife, Madi, in December 2019.

References

External links

Baylor Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, Cody 1998 births Living people People from Aledo, Texas Baseball players from Parker County, Texas Major League Baseball pitchers Texas Rangers players Baylor Bears baseball players Chatham Anglers players Arizona Complex League Rangers players Hickory Crawdads players Frisco RoughRiders players Round Rock Express players United States national baseball team players