Colby Lewis: The Forgotten Rangers Starter

June 23, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Colby Lewis (48) pitches to the Colorado Rockies in the first inning at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

Even before the Rangers lost Derek Holland to a doggone injury (sorry for the bad pun) the fifth stater spot has been a strong debate. We here on this site and almost everywhere else I have read seem to focus on Nick Tepesch, Tanner Scheppers, Robbie Ross, Jerome Williams, and other young organizational pitchers or guys the Rangers would have to trade for. But no one seems to mention Colby Lewis, who is the winningest pitcher in Rangers post season history.

I don’t know if Colby is healthy or not, but he seems to think that he is and he seems to think he has a good shot at winning the fifth starters spot in the rotation. Before the injury ended his season in 2012, Colby was 6-6 with a 3.43 ERA. We all know that he gives up about a home run per start, and we all know that he is not the flashiest of pitchers, but if you were to ask me I would take a healthy Colby Lewis right now as the number five starter.

The real question is can he beat out the young guys to win a spot in this rotation? I think he can, because he has the experience and he is a guy that can eat up some innings for you, he threw 105 innings in sixteen starts in 2012, and he threw over 200 innings in both 2010 and 2011. I don’t know that Colby can be the guy to throw 200 innings anymore or even if the Rangers would let him, but I think he could pitch well in the innings that he got to pitch. I feel that he, again let me clarify, if healthy, would be a great option for the fifth starter spot. I would rather see him than a stop gap from the outside of the organization.

I’ll admit that I personally like Colby and that is one of the reasons I would like to see him healthy and back on the mound in Arlington, the other reason is I think it would be a good thing for the Rangers if he were once again healthy and if they could keep both Robbie Ross and Tanner Scheppers in the bull pen to do their thing. I don’t know if he will get the spot or not, but I know that we can’t forget about him.