What have we learned the first trip through the Texas Rangers rotation?

The Bullpen

The bullpen as a whole has been great. The best bullpen ERA at 0.83 in all of baseball so far. They are being led by Dane Dunning, who has pitched seven scoreless innings between his two appearances. He came on in relief of Nathan Eovaldi on Saturday and then pitched again last night in relief of Andrew Heaney. He has been great in this long-man role and is staking a claim to really stay in this role for the entirety of the season.

There is not anyone who is pitching poorly out of the pen right now. Jonathan Hernandez has made two scoreless appearances. Jose Leclerc pitched the ninth to close out Opening Day. Will Smith secured the save in the 2-1 game against Philly. Cole Ragans allowed an inherited runner to score, but also picked up his first win on Opening Day. Ian Kennedy struck out the side in the ninth on Monday night. Taylor Hearns struck out three in his appearance last night. Finally, Brock Burke did give up a run in his first appearance, but also worked two innings that day and struck out three.

The bullpen has completely dominated when called upon. They have given up two runs in 21.2 innings in the first five games. The number of innings is not ideal as the theory of the case for this team included the bullpen pitching less.

In this first turn through the rotation we have learned that there is great potential with this rotation. That there is plenty of room for growth as we get deeper into the season. If the rotation can reach that potential then combined with this bullpen this team can reach heights not seen in Arlington in several years.