Texas Rangers: Expectations for Ariel Jurado for 2019 and beyond

The Texas Rangers loaded the rotation with vets, but 22-year-old Ariel Jurado still has a chance to crack it. Can he earn a spot and keep it?

Ariel Jurado contributed eight starts and 12 overall appearances to the Texas Rangers in 2018. Of course, the games he didn’t start still required him to enter the game in the 2nd or 3rd inning in relief of an opener. His presence certainly aided a very thin rotation, though it didn’t boost the rotation’s performance much, as he ended the season with a 5-5 record and a 5.37 ERA.

Expect Jurado to perform in 2019 similar to the way he performed in ’18. His inconsistency was a concern, especially as a sinkerball pitcher. It seemed every time he put forth a good outing his next one was terrible.

1.2 home runs allowed per nine innings is not ideal for a guy who focuses on keeping the ball on the ground. Also, 10.9 hits allowed per nine innings is way too high of a number. Those statistics will need to lower if Jurado wants to maintain any substantial role on the major league squad.

Per Fangraphs, he threw the sinking fastball 70.2% of the time. If he’s going to throw it that much, the darn thing better sink! Its not like he’s hurling it in there at 98 mph. Jurado averaged 92.7 mph on the pitch a season ago.

More from Texas Rangers News

• Early 2023 MLB mock draft has Texas Rangers selecting an Ohtani-lite
• 3 Texas Rangers outfield trade targets not named Bryan Reynolds
• Did Jacob deGrom really mean what he said at his Texas Rangers press conference?
• Martin Perez accepting the qualifying offer looking like solid deal for the Rangers
• 4 outfielders the Texas Rangers can still pursue this winter

He’s only 22-years-old, but his ceiling is not very high. He’ll float around the 5th spot in the rotation throughout his career, whether he’s with the Texas Rangers or another team. It won’t be easy for Jurado to slip into the rotation even for the upcoming season.

You’d have to believe Texas is more fixated on Yohander Mendez with him having the greater upside. If Mike Minor sticks around then he’ll join Lance Lynn at the top of the rotation. And Drew Smyly should have a spot once he reaches full health. That leaves Ariel Jurado and Edinson Volquez fighting for the 5th slot.

It will be interesting to see how the Rangers work the 22-year-old this spring. With him being so young and fighting for a rotation spot, there’s a good chance they let him log more innings than is customary for a starting pitcher in spring training. That’s something he’ll need to improve on anyway; he averaged only 4.5 innings per outing last season.

Consistency is what the Texas Rangers need to see from Jurado. He’s never going to light up the radar gun and he’s never going to strikeout eight batters a game. If he can log innings, keep the ball in the ballpark, and put forth quality starts, he should have a spot in the rotation in 2019.

As for beyond, there’s a whole lot of superior talent headed his way from the minor leagues. Given that pressure, the upcoming year is crucial to Jurado’s future with the big league club. He’ll certainly need to take a least a couple steps forward.