Colby Lewis imploding after hopeful start to 2015
By Tim Haberin
The last week and a half has been quite good to the Texas Rangers. Winners of eight of their last ten games, they have moved to within striking distance of a Wild Card spot. They took two of three from Boston and swept the Yankees on the road. Prince Fielder is mashing the ball like a man possessed. After a lackluster beginning to the 2015 campaign, there is a palpable sense of momentum and optimism running through Arlington.
Yet as the Rangers’ fortunes rise, a member of their starting rotation has seen a once promising season fall apart in a hurry. Veteran right-hander Colby Lewis quietly and unexpectedly started the new year with authority. He sported a respectable 3.75 ERA through four April starts, and as the calendar turned to May he appeared to kick his performance into an even higher gear. On May 1, he tossed six two-hit shutout innings against Oakland. Five days later he threw eight strong against the Astros, limiting the surging club to one run on six hits. He followed that performance up with another gem against a formidable foe, shutting down the Royals (3 H, 1 ER) over seven innings of work.
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Could the 35-year-old suddenly be experiencing a late renaissance? It would make for a nice story, but Lewis has swiftly crashed back down to earth in his most recent three outings. He completed only five innings against Cleveland on May 16, allowing seven hits and five earned runs. And though he would earn a win over the Yankees in his subsequent appearance, he hardly dazzled, giving up eight hits and five runs over 6.2 innings of work.
Matters worsened during this afternoon’s matchup with the Indians. Lewis survived just 2.2 innings, getting torched for ten runs (nine of them earned) in the process. He was bitten by the long ball twice, a solo shot by Nick Swisher and a three-run blast by Carlos Santana. It was the type of ugly beating that sends a pitcher back to the drawing board, and reminds fans of your 4.76 career ERA.
So why exactly has Colby Lewis turned back into a pumpkin? It was probably destined to happen sooner or later. But home runs have been a prominent element in Lewis’ recent mishaps. Before surrendering three in his last two starts, he had given up just three over his previous eight. Prior to today’s outing, he had been managing a tiny 5.1% HR/FB ratio that was bound to inflate at some point. And his home ballpark has a reputation as very slugger-friendly.
Lewis has traveled a bumpy road over his ten years in the big leagues. After coming up through the Texas farm system and spending the first three seasons of his MLB career there, Lewis took detours through Detroit, Oakland and even Japan before returning to the club that drafted him in 2010. He has withstood multiple surgeries, including a radical hip resurfacing procedure that sidelined him through the entirety of 2013. Lewis understandably struggled to find his footing last year, indicated by a 5.18 ERA. His promising showing in the early part of this season prompted some to wonder whether we were seeing the results of a finally healthy and fully-healed player.
Texas Rangers
Lewis is not the pitcher who boasted a 2.40 ERA through his first seven starts. He is not the pitcher who got hammered by Cleveland today either. The Rangers should probably expect more of those six-inning, three or four-run outings, fairly standard for a back-end starter. Amid their current hot streak, they likely won’t lose much sleep over it. But in the absence of Yu Darvish and Derek Holland, the Texas rotation has its fair share of middling types (Yovani Gallardo, Wandy Rodriguez, etc.) which could thwart its long-term potential. 24-year-old Nick Martinez (1.96 ERA) is leading the way, but it remains to be seen if he is the real deal.
For now, Colby Lewis will need to try to rebound from today’s disaster and return to keeping his team in games.