Monday, September 28

ARLINGTON -- No, that’s not a vampire playing first base for the Rangers. 

The guy with the bright red eyes is Jake Burger, who is experimenting with amber contact lenses to help him see the ball better in darker, closed-roof stadiums. 

“Houston and Seattle, especially with the roof closed, it's dark and I feel like I can't pick up spin in those places,” Burger explained. “I was like, ‘OK, let's try and figure something out.’ And I came up with these. I'm trying to learn how to put contacts in and get comfortable with them. I thought about getting the Oakley Amber glasses, but I don't like the nose piece when I'm hitting.”

Burger, who has 20/20 vision, was sent the contacts ahead of the Rangers’ exhibition games against the Royals on March 23-24. He’s not wearing them in games yet, though he continues to experiment during batting practice and fielding drills. The brightening effect is meant to help in those darker ballparks.

Burger said he thinks he remembers a player in Minnesota last year using them, though he couldn’t recall who that may have been.

“They're like blue light blocking, in a sense,” Burger said. “Everything kind of looks green to me. I’m figuring it out. I guess if the first game I wear them, I punch out horribly, then it's affecting something badly.”

Burger is correct in that he does struggle in some of those ballparks, though he does say that the Rangers’ home of Globe Life Field is maybe “too bright” at times, and therefore he doesn't need the lenses there. He’s 4-for-34 in at Houston’s Daikin Park and 4-for-22 in Seattle’s T-Mobile Park, which account for two of his four worst OPS marks among all big league ballparks. 

He mentioned other indoor parks like Milwaukee, Arizona and Tampa as ones where he’s also affected. 

“He's used it during BP and stuff in the cages, so we'll see what happens if he ever uses it in a game,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “Guys wear glasses -- I wore different lenses all the time with shadows in Milwaukee back in the day, amber lenses or those yellow glasses. So I think it's just another way to try to figure out shadows or dome-like dark places, that type of thing. I haven't seen contact lenses like that, other than like Halloween probably. But he likes them, so he's trying to get used to them.”

Cody Bradford, who is coming back from an internal brace surgery, threw 27 pitches in his first rehab assignment with Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday, allowing a pair of solo homers in his two innings.

Schumaker said he came out of it “feeling good” as he continues to progress, though Bradford had a different point of view of his start.

“It was good for the first rehab, but from a results-oriented perspective, it was pretty horrible,” Bradford said. “The fastball coming out, just overall execution wasn't great. But a lot of coaches have been like, ‘Yeah, it's kind of what we expected.’ My expectations just aren't quite aligned with maybe what they should be, sure, but it'll get better.”

Despite wanting better results, Bradford is still on track for a mid-May return to the big leagues.

Bradford was arguably the Rangers’ best starting pitcher when he was healthy in 2024, though he was sidelined for months with nagging back and rib injuries. He had a 1.40 ERA when he first landed on the injured list on April 14, 2024. He finished the season with a 3.54 ERA in 76 1/3 innings.

Then, in 2025 -- a season that could have solidified him as a quality big league starter -- a Spring Training elbow injury ended his campaign before it even began. Bradford didn’t pitch at all and had an internal brace surgery on June 24.

“I think recovery, right now, is the biggest part,” Bradford said. “Right now, it's taking three full days before it starts kind of loosening back up and that limits what I can do in a bullpen session. The higher-intent, better-quality reps I get in a bullpen, that's obviously more game-like, body's moving quicker, the arm's moving quicker, that's gonna help me refine command a lot better. In the past, I had no problem recovering, and usually by day two, I can just about replicate game speed again. I don't know if that's a realistic expectation right now, but that's what I'm trying to get to.”

"When I got to the mound, I kind of looked down there [to home plate], and it felt like it was like a mile away. So I'm just happy I didn't bounce it into the catcher's shin. … When they told me it was going to be Opening Day, I was like, 'And you want me to do it?' I was pretty surprised by that. But yeah, it's just been such a fun day. And my family's here for spring break, so just the timing worked out great." -- Dallas Stars goalkeeper and Team USA gold medalist Jake Oettinger after throwing the first pitch at the Rangers’ home opener

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