Rangers Are in Great Shape Part 1

Every year the Rangers are infamous for their lackluster pitching staff and this year might appear on paper the same way to most. The opposite could not be farther from the truth.

The Rangers pitching staff came out bad overall because of injuries.

The opening day roster of starting pitching is certainly nothing to brag about with Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Jason Jennings, and Kason Gabbard, but what does deserve to get talked about is who got called up to replace them throughout the year.

The pitchers who got called up appeared to be bad because they were forced to come up way to early. That explains why the Rangers pitching staff appeared to be really bad statistically.

Lefty, Matt Harrison appears to be the real deal and sadly not many got the chance to see him develop this year because many believe the Rangers aren’t worth watching. In his final start of the year he got his ninth win becoming the first rookie left hander to win nine games.

Everyone knew this guy because he was on the Ranger prospect list, but he still wasn’t expected to be in the majors until the September call-ups. Because of the injuries the Rangers were forced to see him develop at the major league level.

His overall game log is exactly what you expect from a player of his type. He had a really good game usually every other start, textbook for a rookie pitcher. Let’s not forget his complete game this month where he gave up only five hits.  

One thing is for sure Matt Harrison is ready to be a starter at the major league level, although not yet a front line starter.

Tommy Hunter is another young arm who was forced to get called up extremely early because of the Rangers injuries. He became the first player of the 2007 draft to make a major league experience. That’s nothing to shy away from. Although his stat line may not show it, he showed some great promise during his brief stint here in Arlington.

Eric Hurley is another name most are familiar with because of a extremely hot start to his major league career and a very successful minor league career. Sadly, he got injured too and was out for the season back in July.

In his four starts in June he compiled some underrated statistics. Two quality starts and went over five innings all of them. His ERA was 3.57, a very impressive number.

Hurley figures to be a part of the rotation here in Arlington or at least somewhere.

The only thing bad with the Rangers pitching staff is Kevin Millwood, but let’s face it he’s not going anywhere until his contract is up.

If the Rangers are able to add one or two of the big pitchers through free agency watch out. This team will be one of the best teams in the league instantly. More on that for another article. In the next part I talk about the lineup.