Trade announced following Rangers game on Monday night
Arlington, Texas — The Texas Rangers announced this evening that the club has acquired infielder Mark Mathias (pronounced muh-THIGH-us) and left-handed pitcher Antoine Kelly from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for right-handed pitcher Matt Bush.
Mathias goes on the Rangers’ 40-man roster while Kelly will be assigned to a minor league affiliate in this week.
Mathias, who turns 28 on Tuesday, has seen Major League action with the Brewers in both 2020 and 2022, batting a combined .231 (12-52) with one home run and 8 RBI in 22 games. He has appeared in 6 Major League games this season and spent the balance of the campaign with Triple-A Nashville, batting .318/.421/.518/.938 (54-170) with 8 home runs and 30 RBI over 50 contests. He was originally selected by Cleveland in the third round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of Cal-Poly San Luis Obisbo.
Kelly, 22, has been ranked on top prospect lists by both Baseball America (7th) and MLB.com (16th). He has gone 2-4 with a 3.86 ERA (39 ER/91.0 IP) over 19 games/starts for High-A Wisconsin in the Midwest League this season, posting 119 strikeouts against 52 walks. He has averaged 11.8 strikeouts per 9 innings while allowing just 6 home runs (0.6 HR/9). Over a three-year professional career, the 6-foor-5, 205-pound left-hander has averaged 12.1 strikeouts per 9 innings across 38 games/37 starts and 142.0 innings in the Brewers system. The Chicago-area native was originally selected by the Brewers in the second round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Wabash Valley College in Mount Carmel, Ill.
Bush has gone 2-1 with a 2.95 ERA over 40 games/5 starts for the Rangers this season, allowing 10 walks against 45 strikeouts (11.0 strikeouts per 9 innings). His entire Major League career has been spent in a Rangers uniform, going 12-7 with a 3.34 ERA in 180 games/5 starts for Texas from 2016-18 and 2021-22. He was originally signed by the Rangers as a minor league free agent on December 18, 2015.
Following today’s transactions, the Rangers remain at the 40-man limit on the club’s Major League roster, along with two players (Mitch Garver and Eli White) on the 60-day Injured List.
