ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers are still looking for their first long winning streak of the year, but they won their second consecutive series, with this one coming against a competitive Washington Nationals team to conclude a winning homestand.
Inconsistencies continue to plague the offense, as they were shut out in between two games where they scored a composite 13 runs. There were a few consistent performers at the plate, and while they certainly merit a mention, the biggest story of this series surrounds the Rangers’ pitching, which has exceeded expectations.
The Ranger arms allowed just two runs total to the Nationals over this three-game set, and yet, they were still somehow unable to secure a sweep. That falls at the feet of a lineup, but it’s certainly worth acknowledging the pitching while it is running hot and it was with their artistry that Texas finished their homestand with a 5-4 record.
Game 30: Washington 1, Texas 7 (W: Gray, 1-1, L: Gore, 2-3)
Game 31: Washington 1, Texas 0 (W: Williams, 3-0, L: Heaney, 0-4, Sv: Finnegan, 10)
Game 32: Washington 0, Texas 6 (W: Eovaldi, 2-2, L: Parker, 2-1)
Gray’s gone good
There was a stretch last year, really right around this time, where Jon Gray was the Texas Rangers’ second best pitcher. In this month of April, which he closed out with a one-run, eight-inning performance in the opener against Washington, Gray flew under the radar again.
Amidst the expectations of Nathan Eovaldi and Dane Dunning, the arrival of Michael Lorenzen, and the unfortunate injury to Cody Bradford, Gray has just been putting in the work. With a very varied selection of pitches, including a highly effective, very tight slider, increased velocity and full command of the strike zone, Gray turned in not just his best performance of the year so far, but the best performance by a Ranger pitcher so far.
His full line showed eight innings, one earned run, zero walks and three strikeouts. He pitched to weak contact, and with the standout Rangers’ defense behind him, Gray was nearly able to go the distance on 98 pitches as he picked up his first win of the season.
In the month of April, Gray finished with a 1.24 ERA in six games (five starts, one emergency relief outing), eight walks, 33 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.000. After a few inefficient outings to start the season, Gray is firmly entrenched as one of Texas’ best again.
Appreciating Andrew
It hasn’t been often that we’ve been able to list Andrew Heaney as a hard-luck loser in his tenure with the Rangers. After the point where his effectiveness was fairly limited after the 80-pitch mark, Heaney has almost been seen as a liability as someone that almost needs a tandem longman to keep the bullpen fresh.
Over the last three starts, however, Heaney has given the Rangers the most efficient use of his pitch limit that could be asked for. He’s truly gone above and beyond, beginning with his outing in Atlanta, a five-inning performance that the Rangers needed to try and give some measure of rest to a beleaguered bullpen.
To open up May, Heaney showed why the “win” stat isn’t necessarily a great way to measure how good a pitcher is by allowing just one run in a season-high seven innings. He scattered four hits over just 74 pitches, striking out four and not walking anyone. For his effort, he was saddled with a loss as Texas failed to score.
The last time that Heaney threw seven innings came in an outing in Baltimore last year – on May 27th. He gave up one run in that outing as well, but came away with the win. Perhaps of note is that he would go on to get shellacked in four of his next five starts, but for now, we can appreciate how much Heaney is giving the club as they still await the return of several of their notable starters.
Bulletproof bullpen
Gray and Heaney allowed for minimal bullpen usage. Some unfortunate news out of the finale resulted in the usage of three relievers. The good news is that the bullpen held up. Cole Winn was able to keep the Nationals limited to their one run off Gray. Jake Latz and Jose Leclerc kept Washington off the board after Heaney exited on Wednesday. In the finale, Latz, David Robertson and Jonathan Hernandez preserved the remainder of the four-hit shutout.
After a season in which they finished the regular season near the bottom of the league with a 4.77 ERA, the Rangers’ bullpen is now sitting at a 3.75 ERA one month into the season, which has them middle of the pack, but that’s a huge step forward after relief corps provided nothing but consternation last season.
The Rangers were also able to go this whole series without using the high leverage arms of Josh Sborz and Kirby Yates to keep them fresh ahead of a road trip.
And now the bad news…
Max Scherzer’s apparent fast track back to the big leagues is on hold. Scherzer, who had been wowing professionals and fans alike by shooting for a mid-May return from sports hernia surgery in December, was scratched from his Double-A Frisco start on Tuesday night with a sore thumb that was endangering his wrist and forearm.
General Manager Chris Young explained that the hiccup could delay the return of the future Hall-of-Famer until June at the earliest and July at the latest. But the spinning plates continued for the staff as current ace Nathan Eovaldi left the finale with right groin tightness.
For as much as the team and Eovaldi want to play it off as precautions, early in the season, the ominous feeling of another pitching injury with four starters already on the injured list could bring more weight to bear to an already taxed pitching depth chart.
Eovaldi looked phenomenal during his start, but pulled up right after throwing a 94-MPH fastball in the sixth that forced him out of the contest. Texas has a couple of options for spot starters, notably Cole Winn and Jake Latz, and Jack Leiter could join the squad as early as next week in Oakland, but having a full five-man rotation on the injured list isn’t optimal for a team trying to repeat as World Series champions.
Offensive stars
Josh Smith is the gift that keeps on giving. Smith, who has manned third base since Josh Jung went on the injured list four games into the season, is riding a 19-game on-base streak. He is slashing .318/.423/.500 with two homers and 14 RBI on the season and has become one of the few Rangers that you want to see up with runners on base thus far this season, a starling turn of events as Texas came into the year perceived to be strong offensively and with Smith thought of as the last guy on the bench.
Making up for lost time and providing another difference maker is first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. Lowe has been on base in each of the 11 games that he’s been in since debuting following an oblique injury during the spring. He’s only hit one home run so far, but has scored 12 runs in those 11 games.
And lastly, Adolis Garcia earned Rangers’ Player of the Month accolades for finishing April with a .301/.359/.570 slash line with eight homers, 25 RBI and 19 runs scored. While names like Marcus Semien, Corey Seager and Jonah Heim haven’t fully hit their stride, there are still some key contributors doing their fair share of helping the Rangers win ball games.
Texas will now head to Kansas City for the first leg of a three-city road trip.
Do you think the pitching will continue to thrive for the Rangers despite the injuries? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
