Left-hander Cody Bradford, who was placed on the injured list with a low back strain on April 14, is expected to be out for another month, at least, with a stress fracture to his 12th rib, according to manager Bruce Bochy.

Bradford, 26, was one of the club’s bright spots early in the season.

He was 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA in his first three starts, with 17 strikeouts and two walks in 19.1 innings before going on the IL.

Bochy said Rangers team doctors detected the very slight fracture after further examination.

“After further diagnostics, they located a very small stress fracture in the 12th rib on the right side,” he said.

The good news is Bradford hasn’t been transferred to the 60-day IL. ” It’s hard to say how long but we’re we’re maybe looking at another month,” he said.

Bradford, who grew up in Aledo, which is about 45 miles from Arlington, attended Baylor and was a sixth round pick for the Rangers in 2019.

As a rookie in 2023, Bradford was 4-3 with a 5.30 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 56 innings.

After being drafted in 2019, Bradford was sidelined while recovering from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery that March. His 2020 season was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, he combined to go 6-4 with a 4.11 ERA over 20 starts and 96.1 innings for Double-A Frisco and High-A Hickory.