The Texas Rangers lacked pitching in 2019. At least they lacked quality pitching. Jon Daniels and the front office tried to rectify that by bringing in three new starters for the 2020 campaign. Corey Kluber, Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles. I will write about Kluber at a later date. I want to talk about the back end of the rotation.
In 2019, the back end of the rotation was not good for the Rangers. The team trotted out players like Shelby Miller (8.59 ERA for the club), Drew Smyly (8.42 ERA for Texas), Edison Volquez (6.75 ERA) and Adrian Sampson (5.89 ERA). There were others, but they were the main guys. They combined for an ERA of 7.41 over 41 starts combined with a record of 12-18. The Rangers needed a change.
Looking at the 2019 that Gibson and Lyles had, it sure looks like an improvement. For the Twins, Gibson was 13-7 with a 4.84 ERA on the season. He struck out 160 while walking 56. In 2018 he had a 3.62 ERA. Lyles bounced around between Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, and combined he was 12-8 with a 3.91 ERA on the season. He struck out 146 batters while walking 55. Both are a significant upgrade over anyone the Rangers trotted out there last season.
Potential studs like Kolby Allard and Brock Burke will have more time in the minors to improve their game, it would seem. My only issues are that Lyles only pitched in the National League in 2019 and in fact has spent most of his career in the NL. That has been a problem in the past for the Rangers (remember Ryan Dempster?) The other issue is the health of Gibson. He battled E-coli in spring training in 2019 related to a mission trip he took to Haiti, and then he finished the season with ulcerative colitis. He still pitched well for the battles he faced, and it has to be a concern for the Rangers and their fans.
Overall, Lyles and Gibson are an improvement for the back end of the rotation for sure. Only time will tell if the Rangers made a good choice or if it will turn out to be more of the same from the 2019 season. I am hoping that it will be much improved, but history tells me the team will still have problems with the back end of the rotation. I sure hope I’m wrong.
