Texas Tech Professional Athletes

The Trade That Keeps Paying Off

When the Pittsburgh Pirates inserted themselves into a three-team deal between the Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays last offseason, few outside the organization saw it as a landmark moment. They should have. Pittsburgh walked away with second baseman Brandon Lowe, outfielder Jake Mangum, and Texas Tech product Mason Montgomery — and it's Montgomery who has emerged as the crown jewel of the haul.

The left-hander out of Lubbock turned in an excellent 2026 campaign for the Pirates, earning recognition as the club's breakout star of the season. The Rays, looking to shed what was a cumbersome contract by their notoriously frugal standards, likely didn't anticipate they were handing Pittsburgh a legitimate bullpen weapon. The Pirates, to their credit, apparently did.

The structure of the deal reflects a broader truth about Pittsburgh's front office: they spotted value that other clubs passed on and built it into something real. Montgomery's rise validates that calculus in full.

The Anatomy of the Heist

The trade's genius wasn't just in the players acquired — it was in the positioning. The Astros were hunting rotation depth; the Rays needed financial relief. Pittsburgh threaded the needle, using both clubs' needs as leverage to extract a return that now looks wildly lopsided in their favor. MLB Trade Rumors' post-season assessment was blunt: the Pirates nailed it.

For Red Raider fans, Montgomery's emergence is a satisfying storyline. Texas Tech has quietly built a pipeline of professional arms — the alumni roster spans every level of the majors — but a legitimate breakout season in Pittsburgh gives the program a high-profile name to point to heading into the offseason.

Around the Rest of the Roster

Not every Texas Tech arm had a week to celebrate. Davis Martin, pitching for the rebuilding Chicago White Sox, ran into trouble in a Wednesday start against Cleveland, allowing two earned runs over a single inning of work in a 3-9 loss — ERA ballooning to 18.00 on the outing. It's been a rough season on the South Side, and Martin's numbers reflect the environment more than any individual failing; this is a Sox squad that has given its pitchers little margin for error and even less run support.

The broader Texas Tech MLB footprint remains substantial. From Jace Jung in Detroit to Josh Jung in Texas, Cal Conley in Atlanta to Ryan Sublette in Los Angeles, the Red Raiders have arms and bats scattered across nearly every division. But in 2026, the name that resonates loudest wears Pittsburgh black and gold.

Mason Montgomery didn't just have a breakout season — he became the centerpiece of one of baseball's best recent trades. For Texas Tech alumni watching from Lubbock or wherever life has taken them, that's a story worth raising a glass to.

Mason Montgomery, Pirates P

Mason Montgomery didn't just close out September — he authored one of the more remarkable stretches by any Texas Tech alum in recent MLB memory.

The Pittsburgh Pirates closer earned National League award honors for September, capping a dominant two-month run that featured an eye-popping 2.88 ERA as the Pirates punched into the postseason. Montgomery's final regular-season outing came Sunday against Detroit — a clean 1.0 inning, two strikeouts, Pirates win 4-2 — a fitting bookend to a month that turned him into one of the more talked-about relief arms in the NL.

According to Yahoo Sports, Montgomery and starter Jared Jones were recognized as Pittsburgh's standout pitching duo during the stretch run, with both throwing some of the hardest and most effective baseball on the staff. Sports Illustrated noted that Montgomery had been on an "incredible streak" over the final two months of the season before it finally came to an end — which, given the ERA he posted, says more about the unsustainability of elite performance than any decline on his part.

For Red Raiders fans, Montgomery entering October as an award winner and a key late-inning weapon for a playoff team is the headline. Watch for him as Pittsburgh advances.

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Davis Martin, White Sox P

While Montgomery was soaring, fellow Texas Tech alum Davis Martin had a rougher go of September's final act. The White Sox right-hander was on the mound for a pivotal Saturday loss to the Colorado Rockies — a 9-3 drubbing that knocked Chicago out of the AL Central race and relegated them to the third Wild Card seed.

Martin's outing drew pointed criticism, with Sports Illustrated calling it a "horrible" performance in a must-win game. The White Sox, who have leaned heavily on a patchwork rotation all year due to injuries and inconsistency, couldn't afford a bad start at that moment. Martin delivered one anyway.

To be fair, the full-season context is complicated: injuries hampered Martin's availability throughout the year, and Chicago's pitching situation was precarious long before Saturday. But the timing stung. The White Sox are now in the Wild Card round against the Astros, and Martin's role going forward — if any — remains uncertain.

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Braxton Fulford & Jace Jung, At a Glance

Two other Red Raiders appeared in Sunday's slate without making major headlines. Colorado's Braxton Fulford went 2-for-4 against the White Sox, though his .176 average reflects a difficult rookie campaign. Detroit's Jace Jung matched that line — 2-for-4 — against Pittsburgh, sitting at .222 on the season as the Tigers' third baseman heads into the offseason with a developmental year in the books.

Neither performance moved the needle significantly, but both players logging regular-season at-bats for playoff-adjacent rosters signals that the Texas Tech pipeline to the big leagues remains active and producing.

The story of the week, though, belongs to Montgomery. A Tech alum with an NL monthly award and a sub-3.00 ERA heading into October is the kind of postseason subplot Red Raider fans should absolutely be tracking.

Josh Jung Heats Up, Then Gets Hit By Reality

Texas Tech's most prominent MLB alumnus delivered one of the more bittersweet weeks of the Rangers' season — a surge that proved his resurgence was real, then an injury that may have cost Texas dearly in the AL West title race.

Josh Jung was flat-out locked in heading into the final stretch. Against the Mets on Thursday, Sept. 24, he went 3-for-something with a two-run home run, an RBI, a run scored, and a walk — a vintage outing for a player the Rangers needed to be at his best. The blast helped Kumar Rocker and Texas knock off New York 3-1, retaking the lead in the AL West. Earlier in the week, Jung hit a solo home run as part of a 6-2 win over the Blue Jays. With a .299 batting average and multiple multi-hit performances, his September was making a statement: the improvement was for real.

Then Friday happened. In the first inning of the Rangers' 10-2 loss to the Twins on Sept. 26, Joe Ryan hit Jung — who was in the lineup as the designated hitter — in the right hand. Jung gutted it out, stayed in to run the bases, and eventually scored on a Wyatt Langford RBI groundout. But imaging confirmed a fractured right hand, and Texas had no choice but to place him on the injured list ahead of Saturday's game, promoting Logan O'Hoppe to fill the void. Jung will likely miss the final two games of the season — as tight as the AL West race remains, that timing could hardly be worse.

Sports Illustrated noted the cruel irony well: Jung had spent the month answering lingering questions about his future in Texas, only to get shut down just as the answer became clear.

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Other Red Raiders Around the League

Davis Martin put together a strong midweek outing for the White Sox, tossing 4.1 scoreless innings with six strikeouts in a Sept. 20 win over the Tigers — a vintage stat line for a rebuilding rotation arm. He ran into trouble in his Sept. 26 appearance against Colorado, allowing two earned runs in just 0.2 innings, but his ERA for the period closed at 3.95, a respectable mark for a White Sox squad still developing its pitching depth.

Mason Montgomery had a solid week for Pittsburgh out of the bullpen. He struck out three batters in a clean inning of work against St. Louis on Sept. 24, keeping his ERA at 2.55 entering the week's final games. He ran into a rough outing Saturday against Detroit — allowing three earned runs in two-thirds of an inning as the Tigers walked off on a ninth-inning homer — but that single frame pushed his ERA to just 2.93, still an impressive mark for a young arm. Montgomery also appeared in a Sept. 20 win over Kansas City, striking out one batter across a scoreless inning.

Jace Jung, Josh's younger brother, made his own quiet contributions for Detroit. The Tigers' third baseman picked up a hit in consecutive appearances against Washington on Sept. 21 and Sept. 23, finishing the series with a .250 average. No fireworks, but steady presence from the younger Jung sibling.

Braxton Fulford logged a hit for Colorado in a Sept. 24 loss to Arizona, though the Rockies' rough finish to the season continued around him.

The week belonged to Josh Jung — surge, heartbreak, and all.

Josh Jung Reminds Everyone What They've Been Missing

Texas Tech's most prominent MLB alum made his presence felt in a big way this week, and the Texas Rangers couldn't be happier about it.

Josh Jung, the Red Raiders' standout third baseman, was everywhere in the Rangers lineup from Sept. 13–19 — hitting safely in every game he appeared in, posting a pair of home runs, and hovering right around the .298 mark. That's not a return from injury; that's a statement.

The week opened with Jung going 2-for-something in a 6-2 Rangers win over Arizona, driving in a run and crossing the plate himself. He carried that momentum into a Boston series, going 3-for-however-many on Thursday — one of the more complete offensive performances of his week — before adding another home run on Friday in a 3-4 loss to the Red Sox. Even in defeat, Jung was doing his job.

He capped the stretch with another multi-contribution effort in a Saturday doubleheader against Toronto, going 1-for-1 with a homer, an RBI, two runs scored, and a walk across the two games. By Sunday evening, Jung's average sat at .297–.298, a number that speaks to sustained production, not a hot streak. A Sportsnet highlight reel from the Arizona series captured the vibe succinctly: Wyatt Langford homered, Jung collected two hits and an RBI, and the Rangers rolled. That's what a healthy Jung looks like inside a functioning Rangers offense.

For Tech alumni tracking their own in the bigs, Jung is the headliner — and right now, he's playing like it.

The Supporting Cast

Jung wasn't the only Red Raider logging meaningful innings this week.

Davis Martin (White Sox, P) turned in a quietly efficient outing Tuesday against Cleveland, going 5.1 innings and surrendering just one earned run. The White Sox ultimately lost 7-6 — the bullpen couldn't hold it — but Martin's individual line was clean. His ERA settled around 3.96, respectable for a White Sox rotation that has had a rough go of it.

Mason Montgomery (Pirates, P) continued his steady late-season work out of the Pittsburgh bullpen, appearing in three games during the period. He didn't allow a run in any of them, tossing 3.1 total innings across outings against the Cubs, Brewers, and Royals while striking out three. His ERA now sits at 2.63 — the kind of number that earns a guy a longer look heading into the offseason.

Caleb Kilian (Phillies, P) had a tough week off the mound: the right-hander was transferred to the 60-day injured list to clear a 40-man roster spot for the Phillies' waiver claim of José Urquidy. Kilian, 29, now sees his 2026 season effectively ended by injury.

Braxton Fulford (Rockies, C) drew a walk in Colorado's Thursday loss to San Diego, though his .167 average reflects the difficult developmental road for a young catcher on a rebuilding club.

The headliner, though, is Jung. The Rangers needed him healthy and producing — and this week, they got exactly that.