Rangers Player to Watch Before Trade Deadline?
Is the Texas Rangers’ most pivotal player to their trade-deadline decisions a little-used young starting pitcher?
That’s what MLB.com seems to think. The site put together a player from each MLB that might directly impact what that team does at the trade deadline, which is in just a couple of weeks.
MLB.com’s choice was pitcher Spencer Howard.
Howard is preparing to make his first post-All-Star break start on Friday against Oakland. He looks like an odd choice. So far this season, Howard is 1-1 with a 6.97 ERA and he spent a good portion of the season at Triple-A Round Rock.
But there’s also a compelling reason for selecting Howard. As MLB.com points out, the Rangers have been paced by Martín Pérez and Jon Gray, the latter of which took the win in the Rangers’ 8-0 victory over Miami. The pair now have a combined 14 wins this season. They have, easily, been the Rangers’ 1-2 rotation punch.
The rest of the rotation has not been able to consistently match their effectiveness. The Rangers have primarily used young pitchers like Glenn Otto, Taylor Hearn (who will start on Saturday), Dane Dunning (who is on an injury rehab assignment in Arizona) and Howard, who started the season in the rotation but lost his spot after an injury.
The Rangers are waiting for a young pitcher to step up and be the consistent, effective third starter. And whether Howard, or someone else steps up and does that in the next two weeks, may determine how much the Rangers spend at the deadline to fix that.
Howard will make his fourth start since his recall from Round Rock on Friday. Yes, his season ERA doesn’t look great. But he went 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA (three earned runs in 10 innings) in his last two starts before the All-Star break.
Whether Howard continues that upward track or not, he could influence what the Rangers do at the deadline.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard
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