The Rangers have selected the contract of right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. from Triple-A Round Rock, according to multiple beat writers. To create space on both the 28-man and 40-man rosters, Texas designed right-hander Caleb Boushley for assignment.
Edwards’ 2025 season has consisted of two big league games with the Angels, a brief stint in the Mexican League, and 15 games (and 50 2/3 total innings) at the Triple-A level with the Angels’ and Rangers’ top affiliates. His time in Mexico ended when the Rangers inked Edwards to a minor league contract in July, and today’s selection is something of a full circle moment in the veteran’s career. Texas drafted Edwards in the 48th round of the 2011 draft, but he has never appeared in a big league game in a Rangers uniform, as the team dealt him to the Cubs in advance of the 2013 trade deadline.
After making his MLB debut with Chicago in 2015, Edwards became a staple of the Cubs’ bullpen during the 2016-18 seasons, but success has been much more sporadic for Edwards in the intervening years. Since Opening Day 2019, Edwards has pitched for seven different teams at the Major League level, with a 4.28 ERA over 124 innings in that nomadic stretch. The righty’s contributions to the last two seasons consisted of just a single game with the Padres in 2024, and then his two games with the Angels earlier this year.
Edwards’ 5.31 ERA over 39 innings at Round Rock doesn’t jump off the page, but his 26% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate, and 53.6% grounder rate are more palatable. The grounder-heavy arsenal has contributed to that inflated ERA, as Edwards has an unlucky .362 BABIP with the Rangers’ Triple-A club. Though Edwards is best known as a reliever, he has been trying to reinvent himself as a starter during his time in the Mexican League and in the minors, and he has started seven of his eight games in Round Rock.
The Rangers used six different pitchers in yesterday’s 11-0 loss to the Astros, so Edwards is very likely being brought up as an innings-eating long relief option rather than as a candidate for the rotation. If Edwards does happen to make a spot start, it would make the first start of his 11-year Major League career.
Boushley was one of the pitchers who took the mound in yesterday’s rout and was hit the hardest, allowing five runs to the Astros in an inning of relief work. If this DFA marks the end of Boushley’s time with the Rangers, he’ll have bookended his stint with five-run appearances, as he was also touched up for five ER over 3 2/3 innings in his Texas debut on April 12.
Over 43 2/3 innings this season, Boushley has an ugly 6.02 ERA but a much more respectable 3.81 SIERA. Some bad batted-ball luck (.358 BABIP) is to blame, not to mention a 58.7% strand rate. Boushley’s 7.3% walk rate and 21.2% strikeout rate have been decent, so a rival team exploring the waiver wire might have interest in the righty’s services. Boushley has two minor league option years remaining, so a waiver claim now could be more designed towards adding some relief depth for 2026 than the remainder of the 2025 campaign.
Boushley had pitched just 6 1/3 big league innings prior to 2025, and he has a 4.60 ERA across 503 1/3 innings (starting 97 of 105 games) at the Triple-A level. He has a prior outright on his resume, so if he clears waivers, Boushley has the right to reject an outright assignment to Round Rock and instead choose free agency.
I remember when he was CJ Edwards one of the top prospects in all of baseball.
I’m just surprised he hasn’t had more opportunities. Many have with a fat worse ERA. How were his other numbers?
I’m still cheering for Edwards to have some post-Cubs success. I’ll always feel sympathy for the guy not being able to finish off Cleveland in Game 7. You dream about a moment like that all your life, coming up in to pitch the final inning of relief in a Game 7, and in none of those dreams do you fall short by one out. That look of dejection on his face when Maddon finally had to bring Montgomery in to replace him.
Why is a .358 BABIP always considered unlucky? Just possibly it could be poor pitching.
Its generally considered to be a result of bad defense. But ur right if u dont put ball in play, it wouldn’t matter but alot of pitchers are groundbreaking pitchers that rely on defense
Boushley is now Boush league