Colby Lewis living up to the Cobra name

Colby Lewis dominates the Chicago White Sox on 8/5/14. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

You’d be hard pressed to find a Rangers fan that wasn’t rooting for Colby Lewis at the start of the year.  Most people thought what I did, “He’s done.  But I wish he wasn’t”.

You can’t really blame people for thinking that Colby’s career was over.  The guy has had five surgeries in his career including Tommy John, a flexor tendon repair, and two shoulder surgeries.  Not to mention that he’s 35 years old.  His latest surgery and comeback has people calling him a pioneer.  His hip resurfacing sounds more like a procedure for a nursing home patient than a Major Leaguer.

But apparently nobody told Colby Lewis that.  Last night the Cobra shut out the Chicago White Sox in nine innings of six hit baseball.  And that makes me really happy.  I mean, this is the same Colby Lewis that bulldogged the Rangers through the 2010 playoffs…in fact, I think the Yankees are still having nightmares.

The best thing to come of Lewis’ hip surgery was some added velocity on his fastball which we learned about in The Dallas Morning News’ pre-season/post-op run down.  But, the reason Colby gained that velocity was that his delivery is now one and a half feet longer than before; meaning he had to completely relearn it.

So when Evan Grant reported on Monday that Colby is now finally able to throw bullpen sessions between starts, it all came together on the improvements that Colby has made…endurance wise and pitching wise.  Practice makes perfect; especially when your deliver is essentially brand new.

Cobra signed a minor league deal ahead of this season, which is was probably nothing more than a show of good faith by GM Jon Daniels.  But, does an outing like last night’s change that?  Could he be the rock for a young rotation one last time?

None of knows what the future holds for Lewis.  But, for a club that is on pace to lose 100 games, at least there are a few bright spots to keep the fans going:

The consistently outstanding play of Adrian Beltre.

The light being shone on the young and talented Rougned Odor.

And now the amazing comeback of pioneer Colby “Cobra” Lewis.

The funny thing is…I don’t think anybody ever doubted Colby’s toughness, just the limitations of the human body and just how many miracles modern medicine can work.

So here’s to one more miracle!  Even if Colby has a tendency to be a grumpy old man.

113 down, 49 to go.

Your Texas Rangers are 44-69.