We wake up midway through our second full week of baseball and seem to finally be getting into a routine: night games, fewer off days, no more home openers, Marlins park doesn’t seem quite the carnival it did last week, and the Texas Rangers keep winning games. The Texas Rangers just beat the Red Sox 18-3 last night, and as happy as I am that they scored 18 runs, I’m more concerned with their only giving up 3 runs. To this point, the Rangers have given up the fewest runs in Major League baseball and I don’t expect that is a result of another fluke early season success (cough, Mets, cough). The Texas Rangers could very well have the best pitching staff, top to bottom, in the Majors.
The Rangers’ pitching success doesn’t stem from one dominant starter as does the Tigers (Verlander) or Dodgers (Kershaw) or Mariners (Felix), but rather a consistent, 12 man out-getting unit. Sure, Yu Darvish could prove to be really good and dominate American League hitters his first time through the league. I expect that the other guys, Derek Holland, Colby Lewis, Matt Harrison, and Neftali Feliz are the young guns that may carry the Rangers to the best record in baseball. Derek Holland appears poised to make that Clayton Kershaw Next Step and Matt Harrison has the makeup to really get people out and what Colby Lewis brings to a rotation as a 200-inning, 4.00 ERA guy is worth a lot on the free agent market. The Rangers’ rotation may not match up with the likes of the Phillies and Giants, but it is the bullpen that sets these guys apart.
All-Star closer Neftali Feliz is now a starter, but that does not matter: this still may be the best bullpen in the game. Joe Nathan is the closer and he ranks in the top 10 closers in the game. Mike Adams is the setup man and he ranks in the top 5 setup men in the game. Alexi Ogando, Scott Fieldman and Robbie Ross all have what it takes to start at the big league level with Ogando posting a 2.92 ERA before the all-star break in that role just last season. Scott Fieldman serves as the long guy in the bullpen while Robbie Ross has yet to give up a run and has a 2-0 record. They’ve also got Koji Uehara to help in the 7th inning after the Japanese pitcher posted consecutive sub-3.00 ERA’s over his past two healthy seasons. Mark Lowe rounds out their staff and after a 3.40 ERA last year, that may not be such a bad thing.
It’s not an argument of whether the Rangers have the best starters in the game, or the best closer/setup combination. It’s an argument about whether the Rangers are best suited to get people out on a consistent basis and I really think they are. From Game 1 to Game 162 for every inning, the Rangers will have a guy who is talented and ready to toe the rubber in Arlington. If Yu Darvish pans out as the $100-million investment that the Rangers thought he was worth, then this is the best team in baseball with one of the top pitching staffs in the game. Nolan Ryan has to be happy as he sits back and watches his team this year.
-Sean Morash
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