The saga of Rangers' struggle to develop pitchers will never end

Since 2010, the Texas Rangers have the fifth most postseason victories (33) and the sixth best playoff winning percentage (.559) in MLB. Additionally they've played in the fifth most games (59) in that stretch.

Of all these games, there have been exactly eight games started by pitchers that the Rangers drafted, developed, and called up to the big leagues without ever touching another franchise. This includes three starts by Colby Lewis, four starts by Derek Holland, and one start by Martín Pérez. So during a stretch of pure dominance, these were the only developed pitchers good enough to even log a playoff start. Not to say these pitchers were overly effective either, as those three combined for an ERA of 4.43 during their time in Texas.

It doesn't mean they haven't tried to find their ace through development. Since 2005 they have drafted 17 pitchers in the first round. All of these high touted pitchers combined for 16 starts as Texas Rangers. The worst part about that statistic is that 14 of the 17 pitchers did not start a single game in Arlington. The only three who did were Jack Leiter (3), Cole Ragans (9), and Tanner Scheppers (4).

Rangers' first-round pitching development has stalled for decades

As you could have guessed with all of that success, they have heavily relied on outside moves to anchor down their rotation. And credit where credit is due, they have struck gold through the means of trades and free agent signings. Names such as Yu Darvish. Cliff Lee, CJ Wilson, and Cole Hamels helped guide Texas through the 2010s, while Jordan Montgomery, Nathan Eovaldi, Max Scherzer, and many more took them to their first World Series title just last year.

They're even currently on a streak of 5 years where a pitcher on a new contract has been selected to the All-Star Game (Mike Minor, Kyle Gibson, Martin Perez, Nathan Eovaldi, Kirby Yates). So if they've had so much success with veteran pitchers, why worry about the struggles in development so much?

The key to every baseball game, series, and season is the starting pitching. It sets the tone, it creates the vibes, it decides almost every contest. Thus having a young, controllable, effective starting pitcher can turn an entire franchise around.

Just take a peek what Paul Skenes has done in Pittsburgh. Or what Clayton Kershaw did in LA. What the Rangers do is definitely impressive, but it's almost 10 times more expensive and it's not as likely that you get repeated success in return.