Rangers Continue Auditions for Starting Rotation

Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward would like to see some of his younger pitchers to start being more consistent and provide more support for the team’s 1-2 rotation punch of Martín Pérez and Jon Gray.

“I'm hoping somebody steps up,” Woodward said earlier this week. “Like I said before, there's opportunities. There's opportunities here.”

Taylor Hearn and A.J. Alexy took their auditions on Friday night as the Rangers fell to Seattle 8-3.

The Rangers used the "opener" concept for the seventh time this season, using Matt Bush as the starter. He pitched a scoreless first inning before handing the ball to Hearn.

The plan was for Hearn and Alexy to go as long as possible in an effort to support a bullpen that has been a bit overtaxed the past few games. From that perspective, each did their jobs.

Hearn had been in the Rangers rotation until June 25, when the Rangers sent him to Triple-A Round Rock to work on his control and pitch count. He admitted after his final appearance with the Rangers that he had been working on his position on the mound with the team’s pitching coaches. Up until that point, Hearn was 4-5 with a 5.86 ERA.

With Round Rock, Hearn pitched in two games, going 1-0 in 10 innings with a 4.50 ERA. He was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week last week.

On Friday, Hearn threw four innings, giving up five hits and four runs. But only two of those runs were earned, as a Rangers error hurt him in a three-run Mariners fourth. Still, Hearn walked only two and struck out seven. He ended up throwing 72 pitches, 45 of which were strikes, and his pitch count cleared 20 or more in just one inning.

Alexy took the ball in the sixth and threw two-plus innings. The Rangers wanted to keep him within 40-60 pitches, and he exited after the eighth having thrown 39 pitches, but only 19 strikes.

He also left a big jam for Jose Leclerc. Alexy loaded the bases with no one out, and while Leclerc nearly pitched out of the jam, he ended up giving up a grand slam to Mariners rookie Julio Rodriguez.

Alexy ended up giving up three hits, three runs while walking three and striking out two.

“I thought A.J. and Taylor did a good job (Friday night),” Woodward said. “(Hearn) gave up a couple of runs there (in the third) and I thought he was going to get out of that one."

Hearn made his Major League debut last year, and the Rangers see him as a potential candidate for the rotation. But up until Friday he was in Triple-A Round Rock, where he went 4-3 in 18 games (14 starts) with a 6.39 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 70 innings.

Woodward praised Leclerc specifically, who threw two innings and struck out four, despite giving up the grand slam.

“(Leclerc) put his butt on the line for us there,” Woodward said. “We were trying to stay away from two innings with him. But we knew if we brought him in he was going to have to go multiple because of how thin we were.”

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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