Texas Rangers Complete One Round Through Rotation
ARLINGTON, Texas - The Texas Rangers are through their first five games of the season and sit with a 3-2 record. They have also been through their new-look rotation once.
Their record to start the season is encouraging, especially considering they hosted both the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies and a very good up-and-coming team in the Baltimore Orioles at Globe Life Field.
However, through the first five games, this rotation has seen its fair share of ups and downs.
Jacob deGrom, a perennial Cy Young candidate, didn't have the debut he was looking for on Opening Day. Over the course of 3 2/3 innings against the Phillies, deGrom gave up an uncharacteristic five earned runs.
Of course, he had a slow ramp up during Spring Training due to a minor physical issue to start camp. However, the Rangers offense exploded in the fourth inning to pick up deGrom and win the opener 11-7.
Next up was fellow newcomer Nathan Eovaldi, an Alvin, Texas product. Eovaldi, making his debut in front of his family and friends in his new ballpark, threw five innings and allowed three earned runs.
Eovaldi wasn't impressed with his start, expecting more from himself. Despite it being a solid outing, the right-hander has more in the tank.
It wasn't needed, as Texas routed Philly 16-3 to get to 2-0.
Martín Pérez was on point against Philadelphia in the series finale. Picking up right where he left off in 2022, Pérez was solid and steady, giving his team 5 2/3 innings and giving up just one run in the 2-1 victory.
The southpaw has had a career renaissance since returning to Arlington and should be a stalwart in the middle of the rotation.
Jon Gray, another returnee, was even better than Pérez. In the opening game of three against the Baltimore Orioles, Gray had the longest outing so far for the Rangers by going 6 1/3 innings and giving up just two runs.
It was also the only quality start thrown by a Texas pitcher thus far. Gray said he felt a bit off during the start and his two home runs allowed came off of mistake pitches in the 2-0 loss
Still, he put his team in a position to win, but the offense, who had scored 29 runs in the first three games, could only muster one hit.
Finally, Andrew Heaney made his Texas debut on Wednesday night and things went of the rails quickly for the left-hander. Heaney lasted just 2 2/3 innings against Baltimore and gave up seven earned runs in the 7-2 defeat. Five runs came off homers from Ryan Mountcastle and Jorge Mateo. Both came with two outs in the second and third innings, respectively.
Heaney said after the game that he feels like he needs to be more aggressive in the zone with his fastball to set up offspeed pitches. The lefty also mentioned wanting to work on some mechanical stuff prior to his next start.
Lost in all of the rotation talk has been the performance of the bullpen. The unit hasn't allowed a run in 18 1/3 innings to start the season.
It does come as a bit of a surprise that the most encouraging starts have come from the two holdovers in Pérez and Gray.
Both deGrom and Eovaldi had slow starts to the spring due to injury. Both are also proven starters who are too talented to let one lackluster start get in their way.
Heaney is more of the wild card in the rotation. He has seen his fair shares of ups and downs throughout his career. Injuries have plagued him, but when healthy, he features some of the best stuff on the staff.
Heaney made it clear he knows what he needs to work on. He will need to prove he can make those adjustments and execute. His next start is slated for Monday at home against the Kansas City Royals.
As it stands, it's not what many expected from this rotation to start the season. But neither was sweeping the National League champs.
The rotation returns to the top of the order Wednesday with deGrom slated to start the series finale with the Orioles.
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You can find Kade Kistner on Twitter @KadeKistner.
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