Texas Rangers Ross Detwiler May Have Turned Corner

On a team that has had quite a few struggles to start the season, Texas Rangers starter Ross Detwiler was a convenient target. His truly horrific start to the 2015 season, when he posted a 10.95 ERA and a 2.595 WHiP, were easy to point to as a symbol of what was wrong with the team. Opponents were abusing Detwiler to the tune of a .410/.478/.738 batting line, as he had given up just as many home runs in his 12.1 innings of work as he had strikeouts. Brutal did not even begin to describe his performance.

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When Detwiler said that he felt he had found a mechanical flaw when watching video of his previous outings, it was met with more than mild skepticism. Obviously, something was wrong. Pitchers do not get hit like that during batting practice, but there was Detwiler, doing his part to jumpstart an opponents offense. While Jeff Banister said that he was planning on staying with Detwiler in the rotation, one had to wonder how long that would last.

Instead, Detwiler may be proving us skeptics wrong. In his last two outings, Detwiler has been fairly good, allowing only three runs on nine hits and four walks over 12.1 innings of work. He has his strikeouts increase to nearly one per inning, and has allowed only one home run. Opponents are batting .205/.265/.386 against Detwiler in those two starts, as he looks more like the pitcher the Texas Rangers had hoped they were getting.

Could it be that Detwiler’s struggles really had to do with how he was distributing his weight? While Detwiler’s ground ball tendencies have not come through in those two outings, as he has generated only 13 ground balls to 20 fly balls, something has definitely changed. The fly balls are not, pardon the pun, flying out of the ball park at a rate that would make United Airlines proud. Detwiler has also given up only nine line drives over those two games, after allowing 21 in his previous 12.1 innings of work.

At a time when the Texas Rangers are looking for a spark, and the threat of major changes have been made by Jon Daniels, Detwiler’s turnaround could not have come at a better time. Now, while the Rangers are looking for solutions, Detwiler may end up on that side of the ledger as opposed to being one of the problems.

Ross Detwiler may have turned the corner. Considering that the Texas Rangers could undergo major changes shortly, his timing could not be any better.

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