Mahle (elbow) struck out three and allowed three earned runs on three hits and one walk over four innings in his rehab start Thursday with Double-A Frisco.

EDGE Analysis

Mahle tossed 55 pitches (34 strikes) in the outing, his second with Frisco and the fifth overall of his minor-league rehab assignment. Over those five starts, Mahle has turned in a 2.03 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 14:3 K:BB in 13.1 innings, and his fastball velocity has mostly sat in the lower 90s -- right in line with his readings from before he underwent Tommy John surgery last May. Mahle will likely look to push up his pitch count to the 60-to-70 range his next time out Wednesday with Triple-A Round Rock in what could be his final minor-league outing before he returns from the 60-day injured list. Texas has an off day coming up Thursday and could be able to get by with a four-man rotation this week before Mahle potentially returns from the IL to make his Rangers debut Aug. 5 against the Astros. The Rangers will have a spot open for Mahle in the rotation after trading Michael Lorenzen to the Royals on Monday.