Texas Rangers: Do They Look to Make an Early Trade?
The Texas Rangers lost one of their top pitchers this week and won’t have his services for the foreseeable future. That said, should they replace him with a trade, or should they look within their organization to fill the currently vacated spot in the pitching rotation?
For an estimated two months, the Texas Rangers will not have the services of right-handed starting pitcher Colby Lewis, who is out due to a lat strain. The 36-year-old was one of the more productive pitchers on the Rangers staff, going on the disabled list with a 3.21 ERA in 15 starts. In his 98 innings pitched, he’s struck out 61 batters with a 1.02 WHIP.
In his past seven games before his injury, Lewis had a 4-1 record (he’s 6-1 overall) with a 3.33 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 46 innings pitched. In that time period, he also allowed 17 earned runs on 32 hits and just seven walks, good enough for a 0.85 WHIP.
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According to FanGraphs.com, Lewis’ WAR this season is 1.3, and just looking at his ERA, it is over a run better than last season. In ’15, Lewis’ ERA was 4.66 (33 starts), but in this season, his improved ERA has a lot to do with his left on base percentage, as it is 78.8 percent, compared to last season where it was 65.9 percent. In fact, his left on base percentage is well over his career average, which is 70.0 percent.
Add those numbers to his BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play), and it is lower than last season as well, which was .289 in ’15, but this season, that average has dropped to .234 by his opposition.
With all of that said, that is what the Rangers are losing for the aforementioned two months, but now the question is this: Should the Rangers make a trade to replace Lewis in the rotation?
The answer is yes, and here is why.
There aren’t many years where teams can be as good as the Rangers are at this moment, as they are sixth in the majors with 342 runs scored, eighth in hits (648), 11th in home runs (88), sixth in RBIs (330), eighth in team batting average (.265), 10th in slugging percentage (.428) and they’ve struck out just 515 times (sixth best in the majors).
Add the offense with a 3.96 ERA by their pitching staff after 72 games (45 quality starts), and that makes for a team that can not only win now, but win big as they have the best record in the American League and second-best record in the majors at 47-26, including being 8-2 in their past 10 games. The Rangers trail only the Chicago Cubs, who are 47-23 and have a .671 winning percentage. The Rangers have a winning percentage of .644, while the San Francisco Giants are third with a winning percentage of .630 (46-27).
The Rangers must be all-in now, and to do so, adding a pitcher who can make a difference sooner rather than later would be best for them as they are still looking to win their first World Series championship in franchise history.
Don’t forget, the Rangers will eventually gain Yu Darvish back in their pitching rotation as well, and it is being reported he could throw a bullpen session Saturday.
Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported the following on Darvish this week:
"“Darvish played catch Wednesday and could throw a bullpen session Saturday, but he could be as many as 10 days away from making a rehab start.”"
One pitcher who could provide some help is right hander Sonny Gray, as the Oakland Athletics are always in the mood to make trade deadline deals, and though his season hasn’t been up to his usual standards, his month of June has been pretty solid in three of his four starts.
In three of his starts this month, Gray has allowed two or fewer earned runs, resulting in three no-decisions in what amounted to 17 innings. Also with Gray, he entered June with a 6.19 ERA and thus far after his start on June 21 against the Milwaukee Brewers his ERA is lowered to 5.20. In his one loss this month Gray allowed five runs against the Cincinnati Reds.
Another pitcher the Rangers could look to is Julio Teheran of the Atlanta Braves. This right-hander is having a solid season with a 2.66 ERA in 98.0 innings pitched, and the Braves, who are near the bottom of the MLB standings, could be looking to gain prospects to their organization, but it is assumed the price for a pitcher like Teheran would be expensive.
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Either way, the Rangers should keep adding to their pitching, because if a team has quality pitching, they will be able to compete for a championship, and 47 wins after their first 73 games puts the Rangers in the category to buy now.