Lorenzen's Rangers debut wasn't perfect, but it was still exactly what they needed

Heading into Michael Lorenzen's debut on Monday, the Texas Rangers just needed to stop the bleeding. They were coming off a tough series against the Astros, and after the news that starter Cody Bradford was hitting the injured list, it was beginning to feel like there was bad news coming every day.

The hope was that Texas signing Lorenzen would not only bolster their rotation going forward, but could also stop the season from spiraling in a bad direction.

Luckily for Texas, Lorenzen's debut with the Rangers gave them exactly what they needed right now even if his start did come with some concerns.

Michael Lorenzen pitches well in debut, but he can't carry Rangers by himself

The good news from Lorenzen's start is that he gave the Rangers five scoreless innings against a pretty good Tigers team that also happened to be Lorenzen's old ball club. Despite the fact that Detroit knows what he brings to the table as well as anyone, they could only manage three hits off him.

There were some concerns from his start on Monday, however. His inability to close batters out and miss bats that have been issues since 2021, as he struck out just four batters. More concerning was that he also walked five, and if a few batted balls had found holes, that game could have gotten out of hand in a hurry.

A good bit of the bad could simply be rust from not having a normal spring training while sitting on the free agent market. His velocity was still right in the range where he had been the last couple of seasons and, most importantly, he was able to get outs when he needed to. If he can just keep being the guy for Texas that gives quality starts while they wait for their guys on the injured list to get back and then for the rest of the 2024 season, the Rangers will be thrilled.

However, if they need him to put up ace-level production to hang around in the playoff race, that may not work out as well as they hope.

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