C.J. Wilson doesn’t miss the Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers open up a 3-game series tonight against the Los Angeles Angels and again it will without C.J. Wilson.  This is the second series against the Angels the season, both in Anaheim.

Wilson, who spent 7 seasons with Texas, has had a lot of success with the Angels.  He has a 3.34 ERA with a record of 7-6 this season.  Last season he was nearly a 20-game winning by having a record of 17-7 with an ERA of 3.39.  Last year it wasn’t all pitching that caused the Angels to falter, but it was mainly due to struggles from two of their power hitters Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton.

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C.J. Wilson has been pretty good against most teams over his career.  For example he’s dominated the Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and Boston Red Sox.  Against those team he has an ERA of 2.99 or lower (min 8 games/49.1 innings).

Against the Texas Rangers it has been a completely different story.   Over his last 8 starts Wilson has an ERA of 7.36 and a record of 1-2.   The Rangers have a batting line of .327/.433/.520/.953 against him.  Wilson only has 3 quality starts against the Rangers over his 8 starts.  Also, he has walked at least 3 batters in his last 7 starts against the Rangers.

The last time C.J. Wilson pitched against the Texas Rangers was last season on September 27, 2013 in Arlington.  Before entering that game Wilson over his last 19 starts had a record of 13-2 with an ERA of 2.94.  He was leading the majors with 13 wins over that span and was undefeated in his last 11 road starts.  That streak came to an abrupt end against the Rangers that night.  They scored in the first inning and 2 more in the third inning.  That lead to a 5-3 win over the Angels and Wilson his first road loss in 11 road starts.

Wilson pitched yesterday against the Cleveland Indians, which is why he won’t be pitching today against the Rangers.  As good as Wilson is, you have to bet he’s relieved he’s not pitching again against his former team.

Watch: 9/27/13 – Alex Rios crosses the plate with the Texas Rangers’ third run of the game on a C.J. Wilson wild pitch in the third inning

And just for fun, don’t for get this gem last season.

Watch: 8/27/13 – C.J. Wilson takes a spill, tripping as he approaches the mound for the bottom of the 2nd vs. the Rays