Anytime a pitcher and injuries to the elbow and forearm go together, it’s not good, especially with just over two weeks until Opening Day.

However, it seems that the Texas Rangers may have avoided the worst with two key pieces to their rotation.

Yesterday, Tyler Mahle was scratched from his start due to some soreness in his forearm, prompting an MRI.

Fortunately for the Rangers, it looks like they might have avoided a nightmare scenario less than a year removed from Mahle returning from Tommy John.

Mahle’s MRI came back clean, and he noted that he feels “great” and expects to pitch again in just a few days.

“I was feeling a little extra soreness, and I just wanted to make sure,” Mahle said. “I knew nothing was wrong, I just wanted to see what it was.”

Despite the good news, Texas learned this morning that they aren’t totally in the clear yet when it comes to pitching injuries.

Cody Bradford was scratched from today’s start with elbow soreness, per Rangers President of Baseball Operations Chris Young.

Bradford also already underwent an MRI, and like Mahle, it came back clean, giving Rangers fans a breath of fresh air.

Moving forward, the plan is to shut Bradford down for the next 4-5 days and see if the issue clears up on its own.

Although Bradford isn’t in the clean just yet, it appears that the Rangers have avoided two terrible situations with their starting pitchers.

Texas will open up play on March 27th when they take on the Boston Red Sox at Globe Life Field for the start of a four-game set.