Rangers send reliever Matt Bush to Milwaukee for LHP Antoine Kelly, infielder Mark Mathias

Matt Bush’s comeback story with the Rangers has come to an end.

The Rangers sent the 36-year-old reliever to Milwaukee on Monday night for left-handed pitching prospect Antoine Kelly and infielder Mark Mathias.

Kelly, 22, received a $1.025 million bonus as the 65th overall pick — two picks ahead of current Ranger Josh Smith — in the 2019 draft out of Wabash Valley College. He had 119 strikeouts in 91 innings at advanced Class-A Wisconsin this season. Kelly, who had thrown 99 mph in the past, had thoracic outlet surgery in late 2020. The 16th-ranked prospect in the Brewers system, according to MLB Pipeline, was back to throwing in the mid-90s this season. The Rangers will send him to Double-A Frisco immediately.

“He’s got a very bright future ahead of him,” Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels said. “He’s got a three-pitch [fastball, slider, changeup] mix. We’re going to send him to Double-A and see what he can do.”

Mathias, who turns 28 on Tuesday, is a utility infielder who made his MLB debut in 2020. He’s appeared in 22 games with the Brewers with 53 plate appearances. He’s a .231/.226/.346/.573 in his limited playing time. He will go to Round Rock.

The deal will allow the Rangers to start looking at some of their young bullpen arms. Manager Chris Woodward had lauded reliever Yerry Rodriguez, currently at Round Rock, over the weekend. Side-armer Chase Lee, a 2021 draft pick, is also on the map.

Lefty Taylor Hearn performed well in a couple of multi-inning relief outings before being sent back to Round Rock last week. Barring the placement of another pitcher on the IL, he’d need to remain in the minors another 10 days.

“Matt’s done a tremendous job for us,” Daniels said. “He’s pitching as well as any back end guy in the big leagues right now. We felt like we wanted to consider quality baseball trades. We feel like there is some quality depth we want to look at from within.”

The Rangers had developed a very close relationship with Bush, who was the first overall pick by San Diego in 2004 and went through a litany of alcohol-abuse related issues before turning into one of baseball’s more inspiring comeback stories.

Bush struggled with the San Diego organization, eventually ended up with Tampa Bay and moved from playing shortstop to pitching. But the alcohol issues continued. In 2012, he was involved in an accident in which he ran over a 72-year-old motorcyclist, who survived the wreck. Bush served 39 months in prison.

He signed with the Rangers in December, 2015, two months after his release from prison. He’d worked with Rangers special assistant Roy Silver, who has been involved in the recovery battles for several former Rangers. He reached the big leagues in 2016, was a surprise star in the bullpen, and closed for part of 2017. But arm injuries limited him to 27 major league innings between 2018 and the end of last season. He returned to the big leagues to pitch a perfect inning on the final day of the 2021 season and vowed to continue pitching.

“He could have just gone home and hung it up after that,” manager Chris Woodward said. “But to see what he’s done this year, he’s meant so much to us. He’s been a model teammate for our guys. I’m really sad to see him go.”

Said Daniels: “He’s been inspirational, really. He’s turned his life around and become a husband and a father … and an outstanding pitcher.”

He made the Rangers opening day roster as a non-roster invitee out of spring training and had a 2.95 ERA in 40 appearances before the trade.

“I’m a little shocked,” Bush said afterwards. “Still kind of processing it. It’s just a bittersweet moment. This has been home. I’ve been treated so well here by the organization. They took care of me first, then baseball. But I’m excited to go to Milwaukee.”

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