Today I am going to look at the opening day roster for the Rangers Rotation as of right now. Things will change between now and April 2022, for sure. Now remember that this is just for fun and I am not a professional, no matter how right I am sometimes. Be sure to go check out our Buy Me A Coffee or Patreon if you enjoy reading our blog or listening to our podcast. It really helps us out.
Jon Gray
As of now, Gray will be the opening day starter for the Texas Rangers. Gray is coming off a season where he struck out 157 batters. His ERA was 4.57, but keep in mind that is in Colorado. He pitched 159 innings in 2021. Gray has more strikeouts than innings pitched in his career. I expect him to have a much lower ERA in Texas, more like a 3.50 or so. Ideally he would turn into another Lance Lynn or Kyle Gibson. He will be better than anyone not named Kyle Gibson on the 2021 roster. I think he is a good upgrade for the Rangers rotation and will help this team going forward.
Dane Dunning
Coming off a season where the Rangers pitched him carefully, I expect Dunning to be cut lose in 2022. He should be able to pitch a full load of innings in the coming campaign, and will need to for the Rangers to be successful. Dunning only pitched 117.2 innings in 2021, posting an ERA of 4.51. He struck out 114 while only walking 43. Dunning is viewed as a top of the rotation guy, maybe a number two starter. He could be a number one starter one day, but that day is not yet. He should take a step forward in 2022 and pitch over 150 innings. I also believe he will lower his ERA to somewhere around 4.00. Dunning intrigues me going forward.
Taylor Hearn
Taylor had a really good 2021. While he did go through some rough patches, overall he earned a spot on the rotation going forward. Hearn logged 104.1 innings going from bullpen to starter. He was really good in September. He is a very likeable person, and again he pitched himself into a rotation spot in my opinion. I expect him to be the number three guy coming out of spring training in 2022.
Kolby Allard
Allard had his ups and downs in 2021. He had an ERA of 5.41. While he started 17 games, he pitched in 32 games total. His strikeouts per nine innings is 7.5. Allard gave up 2.1 home runs per nine innings in 2021. I picked Kolby as my pitcher to watch in 2021, and while not perfect, Allard had a good 2021. As of now I have him as the fourth starter in the Rangers rotation. He has good enough stuff that if he corrects a few things, he could be special. I still like him going forward. However, I could see him moving to the bullpen at some point if he continues to struggle.
Spencer Howard
I decided that I would go with Howard over Glen Otto. John King was another option. The Rangers liked what they saw in Howards minimal innings for both Philly and here in Texas. Although his ERA was 7.43 total in 2021, he struck out 8.9 batters per nine innings and he did not give up the long ball. Howard is a prospect that the Rangers were excited to get back in the Gibson trade, and they think he can turn into a nice starter for them. His innings were kept very low in 2021, so I look for him to get a lot more innings in 2022.
There you have it. If the season started today, this would be my predictions for the opening day rotation for your Texas Rangers. Let me know what you think.
