Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram reported on Friday that the Rangers would be pushing back Yu Darvish’s next start to Friday. He was scheduled to start today, but the Rangers decided to give him some extra rest. Wilson says the move was not a result of Darvish’s poor performance against the Oakland A’s.
The extra rest for Darvish may show a change in front office philosophy for the Rangers and Nolan Ryan. Ryan has long been an opponent of pitch counts and “protecting” pitchers. He and his staff have often allowed their pitchers to go more often, and throw more pitches, than any other team in the league. While research is far from conclusive on the best methods for reducing injuries to pitchers, most teams have instilled hard pitch counts and innings limits for their young stars. The Rangers may be heading in that direction as well now.
Darvish is 7-4 with a 3.52 ERA. His FIP is 4.2. It seems some of his dominance may have worn off after an early-season run of success. However, Darvish is still striking batters out at a 9.54 per none innings clip.
Texas has been hit recently with injuries, and the decision to give Darvish some extra rest may be directly correlated to this fact. Neftali Feliz, Alexi Ogando, and Derek Holland are all injured, with Feliz and Holland on the disabled list. To be fair, Ogando’s injury had nothing to do with pitching, but the fact that the club is losing pitchers faster than they’re losing games in the standings could have played a role in the decision.
"“The first thing he said is, “I’m not physically tired, but I’m going to take this opportunity and use it to my advantage,’ ” Washington said. “It’s got nothing to do with the way he’s been pitching. We’ve got to take care of him just like we’ve got to take care of everyone else.”"
Colby Lewis, Matt Harrison, and others on the Rangers’ pitching staff have seen extra rest this year. Perhaps it’s a changing mindset, or it could simply be a matter of necessity. No matter the case, the Rangers are hoping to avoid any more injuries to their pitchers this season.