Kohei Arihara has not been what the Rangers hoped when they brought him over from Japan. Injuries hampered his performance in 2021. In 2022, He had been alright so far at Round Rock.
In 2021 Arihara posted a 11.17 ERA in 3 starts (9.2 innings pitched). Now in 2022, he had a bad first outing (3 runs surrendered in 3 innings pitched) but otherwise he had been okay.
In the month of April he posted a 3.38 ERA. In his first outing in May on Thursday, Kohei Arihara lasted just one-third of an inning giving up 5 runs on 3 hits and two walks. The Reno Aces hit .750 off of him.
So it begs the question, is Arihara injured again or is he just done? An ERA of 135 is not very good for a start. The start brought his total ERA from 3.38 up to 5.18.
Although Round Rock only lost 8-4, you can’t put your team that far behind and expect to get a W most of the time. I tuned in during the second inning on Thursday so I did not get the chance to see what went so wrong for him.
He only threw 12 strikes out of 28 pitches. Those strikes were hit hard.
At 17-11, Round Rock still has the best record in their division. They still have Cole Winn, Jake Latz, A.J. Alexy and others taking the mound for them.
Also, last nigh was Willie Calhoun‘s first game this year in a Express (well, Chupacabra) jersey. He did not get a hit but played some good outfield.
The Express are going to be okay, but I am not sure if Arihara is. He has not shown the Rangers a whole lot to be excited about.
The Express press on tonight again in Reno.
