Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
On Wednesday night, rookie-pitcher Nick Tepesch proved once again why he is valuable to the Texas Rangers.
Sure, Tepesch and the Rangers lost to the Chicago White Sox, but it wasn’t all due to the starter. Going into the seventh inning, the game was tied at two, but the White Sox scored three runs on two home runs.
Although they lost the game, the story of the young season remains to be the pitching of the Rangers. As a team, the Rangers have a 3.14 ERA. Tepesch has a 3.54 ERA while rookie teammate Justin Grimm has a 1.59 ERA. For a team that has lost Matt Harrison and Colby Lewis to injury, the pitching staff had some question marks.
So far, those questions have been answered. Yu Darvish has started the season on an amazing pace with five wins in his first six games, and has recorded 58 strikeouts during those games.
It wasn’t too long ago that Texas fans were crying for better pitching. Alex Rodgriguez, Michael Young, and Hank Blalock could put up runs in a hurried pace. However, they never really had the pitching that was required to put them in the playoffs.
Something happened, though, when they started developing young pitchers. Derick Holland, Lewis, and Harrison started coming through for the Rangers and they no longer needed to rely on the bats to carry them.
Now, they could go out and win a game 3-2 instead of 9-8.
This year, the team has shown the ability to put up runs, but it’s been the pitching that has helped carry the team. If both the offensive and defense can keep clicking like they have been and the players can stay healthy, this might be another year where the Rangers are playing deep into October.
Greg Higgins is a contributor for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @greghiggins457, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
