Calvin Watkins, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Position Breakdown: Starting pitching

Our series on breaking down the Texas Rangers position by position continues with a look at starting pitching.

Starters: Yu Darvish, Matt Harrison, Derek Holland, Nick Martinez, Miles Mikolas, Martin Perez, Tanner Scheppers and Nick Tepesch.

Most productive pitcher: Darvish

Least productive pitcher: Robbie Ross

Stat of note: Wins above average for starters was minus-6.1

Outlook: Injuries hampered the Rangers' entire 2014 season. The club’s rotation compiled a 4.75 ERA, third-highest in baseball and the highest since 2008 (5.51). The Rangers used 15 different starters, tied with Colorado for the major league lead and tied for fourth-most in club history. Darvish, Harrison, Holland, Mikolas, Perez and Scheppers were all lost to injuries of some sort. It led to some younger pitchers, such as Martinez and Tepesch, and making up the bulk of the rotation for roughly four of the six months of the season. Darvish (1.261 WHIP) was lost for nearly two months with inflammation in his elbow and Holland was limited to just five starts after his recovery from knee surgery. The most consistent starter was Colby Lewis (10-14 in 29 starts), and he’s a free agent. The club is in talks to bring Lewis back for 2015 and he’ll be a stabilizing force on the back end, unless the club fails to obtain a No. 3 starter to help Darvish and Holland. There are some promising pitchers (Perez for one) who won’t be available until later in 2015, and Harrison’s career is in doubt as he tries to recover from back surgery. Ross was in the rotation but his struggles will push him back to the bullpen. Is Lisalverto Bonilla a possible starter? Maybe, especially after becoming the first Texas pitcher to win his first three starts. GM Jon Daniels said finding starting pitching is a priority in the offseason, and if that’s the case, some young pitchers might not be around.

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