Chris Sale's News Can Give Rangers Fans Solace in Revamped Rotation

Boston's Chris Sale will undergo Tommy John surgery. Who would've guessed the turnaround between the two clubs?

Here's your chance of a lifetime: I'm giving you a working time machine. And with it, you get to go back to the night the Boston Red Sox won the 2018 World Series. 

Okay, so maybe that's not the most desired time to travel back to, but hey, you get to be the world's first time traveler. Quit complaining. 

Now, after everything Boston did right in 2018 (with the exception of sign stealing), what if I told you that going into the 2020 season, the Texas Rangers would have a better starting rotation?

I can imagine the GIFs that would be used in response. Most people would call me crazy, but here we are. Rick Porcello? Gone. David Price? Gone too. Chris Sale? Now he's set to have Tommy John surgery. 

Now all that's left are Eduardo Rodriguez and Nathan Eovaldi. Martin Perez, yes the former Texas Ranger, is penciled in the potentially be their number three starter. On the other hand, the Rangers rotation looks like this:

Mike Minor
Lance Lynn
Corey Kluber
Kyle Gibson
Jordan Lyles

Minor and Lynn both earned Cy Young votes a season ago. Corey Kluber is a two-time Cy Young winner and even if he's 80% of what he was in 2018, he's a formidable pitcher in a top-three of almost any rotation. As for Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles, two guys who can eclipse 150 innings as the number four and five starters, that's not so bad. 

When the Rangers were forced to break camp early with these five starters, we saw enough of them to know this rotation had the ability to be just as good as it looks on paper. We detailed that earlier this week. 

It's amazing how much things can change over the course of only 15 months. Of course, you never wish ill-will on anyone. Hopefully, Chris Sale has a quick and successful recovery. And we all know that fortunes could drastically change for the Rangers at the drop of a hat. But thankfully, fans can hang that hat on a pretty darn solid rotation whenever the beginning of the season finally gets here. If only we could use that time machine to solve that problem, along with many others. 

With baseball on hold, it's hard to find a lot to be thankful for in terms of sports. Our focus is primarily on our loved ones, as well it should be. But it's nice to be reminded that there is some concrete things to look forward to when baseball season does finally get started. And who knows, with a shortened season, maybe the Rangers can realistically pull off a playoff appearance. 

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