Takeaways from the Texas Rangers Opening Weekend

Can it be fixed?

This weekend, the Rangers pitched 11 different players. Of those 11 guys, only 4 of them currently have ERA’s below 9, and all of their ERA’s are currently at 0. Things should get definitely get better for Minor, as he was a bad bounce away from having a solid ERA, and they should also get better for Volquez and Lynn. Chris Martin was pretty solid last season, so we can pin this on the first game jidders getting to him some, and can probably expect him to be solid in his next outing.

The real problem seems to be with the Kyle Dowdy, Jeanmar Gomez, and Jesse Chavez. Dowdy was a guy the Rangers got off waivers, and looking at his minor league stats, is a bit of a head scratcher, given his 5.68 ERA in AA, and no innings thrown in AAA. Gomez was terrific during the spring, so the hope is that he can keep it up, but through two outings, he has been pretty bad with a 3.75 WHIP to go with his 13.50 ERA to match Dowdy. The hope for Chavez is that his former team just knew how to hit him, and he can bring his astronomical ERA back to earth some as it currently sits at 54.00 with a 10.50 WHIP.

A Dallas Keuchel 1 year, $20 million deal is looking very attractive right now. If he can just be the same pitcher he was last season, the Rangers would gladly take that kind of production. Adding a starting pitcher or two may be quite a big hurdle for management, but getting some bullpen help shouldn’t be that big of a problem. That Alex Claudio trade is really stinging right now.

Another option could be running through this rotation maybe 3 times, and if some of the starters just aren’t working, the team could opt to go with Minor and another one or two just to start, and then use openers for the other games.