Top 10 Texas Rangers players right now: #10 Dane Dunning

The ongoing MLB lockout is depriving us all of one very important thing: Texas Rangers baseball. The game and team we love may be on hiatus right now, but we’ll still continue to appreciate the work that Jon Daniels and Chris Young have done to assemble the current Rangers roster, knowing additional reinforcements will soon be on the way.

With all that said, this is the beginning of our top 10 Texas Rangers players right now ranking! Beginning with 10 and ending with one, we’ll rank the 10 best Rangers heading into the 2022 season. These rankings are talent-based, but are also based on those who played games in 2021.

Let’s start with No. 10.

Top 10 Texas Rangers players right now

#10 Dane Dunning

Acquired in the Lance Lynn trade with the Chicago White Sox last winter, Dane Dunning was one of the Texas Rangers’ best starting pitchers in 2021. In 27 games (25 starts), the righty posted a 4.51 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 117.2 innings pitched.

Texas took a cautious approach with Dunning last season so as not to overwork him, but ultimately he did sit out with some injuries and COVID in 2021. His potential is solid, however, as he has the ceiling of a mid-rotation starter.

He also happens to have pretty nasty stuff when it’s all working properly!

Dunning was arguably the “ace” of the Texas Rangers’ pitching staff in 2021, which probably isn’t the best case scenario in a given year. He’s much more suited to be a No. 3 or No. 4 type starter in a rotation. He slots in as a No. 2 behind Jon Gray going into 2022, barring any further rotation upgrades.

Without injuries or COVID, the Rangers can probably count on Dunning for close to 30 starts every season, which is a huge boost to a rotation that needs all the innings and starts it can get. He may not be the most flashy or exciting player out there, but Dunning is effective and definitely one of the 10 best players Texas has right now.