Colby Lewis and the Long Ball

Colby Lewis had another tough loss last night, this time to the Kansas City Royals, but there is something about Colby Lewis that we can always expect: the long ball. Even in his great season of 2011 he gave up 35 home runs in 32 starts, which is very close to his average of giving up 1.3 home runs per nine innings pitched.

We all know that Colby Lewis is going to give up the long ball, at least one per start, and Billy Butler really got a hold of one last night against him.

"“I wasn’t able to locate very well with the fastball today,” said Colby Lewis after the game according to texasrangers.com. “The curveball and changeup kind of saved me in the later innings, getting some strikes when I needed to and pitching through the sixth.”"

It seems to be a pattern with Colby Lewis lately, he continues to leave pitches over the plate. It wasn’t near as much of a problem when the Texas Rangers were averaging 6-8 runs per game over the past few seasons, but it is a big problem now that they are struggling to put 2-3 on the board each night.

Colby Lewis is still a work horse, and he has the most innings of any of the Rangers starters, which is saying something since he is coming off of hip surgery. He is consistent, and he keeps you in games, but he just doesn’t have the offense to help overcome his 1.3 home runs per game right now. I really like Colby Lewis, but I do not at this point think her returns to the fold next season.

Colby Lewis will be the Rangers greatest post season pitcher for the foreseeable future, and we will always have those memories to think about over the big home runs that he seems to always give up. Hopefully the Rangers will do what needs to be done to make sure that Colby Lewis is not needed to carry the load in 2015.