Tuesday Newsletter time: 2022 Texas Rangers starting rotation could look a lot like it does now
Jordan Lyles and Mike Foltynewicz likely won't be back, but the leading candidates are all on the 2021 roster.
Dane Dunning has already established himself as a member of the Texas Rangers’ 2022 rotation. Nothing he does the rest of this season, barring a complete and utter inability to record outs, will change that.
He might not pitch as deep into games as he would like, but he will be unshackled next season. And he needs to pitch to keep building up his arm strength and learning the league.
The rest of the rotation doesn’t seem likely to change either, manager Chris Woodward said over the weekend. Well, maybe not immediately.
The exception in the short term is right-hander Spencer Howard, acquired Friday from Philadelphia in the Kyle Gibson-Ian Kennedy-Hans Crouse deal.
Howard is expected to start Thursday, with left-hander Taylor Hearn piggybacking.
So, yes, it appears we haven’t seen the last of right-handers Jordan Lyles, who is pitching well, and Mike Foltynewicz, who is pitching. He actually did OK on Sunday, or much better than he had been doing.
Lyles will pitch Tuesday, and struggling left-hander Kolby Allard is scheduled for Wednesday. Allard isn’t as solid for 2020 as Dunning and Howard but is a heavy favorite.
Kohei Arihara looks to be a lock, too. He has a contract at least. He also threw a 35-pitch bullpen Monday, is said to be ahead of schedule from in his recovery from an aneurysm in his shoulder and wants to pitch again this season.
So, the 2022 rotation as it stands now is Dunning, Howard, Allard, Arihara and TBD.
Foltynewicz would be in his final year of arbitration, but he’s looking more like a non-tender than a Rangers starter. The Rangers could try to land a free agent. They could give Hearn a shot. They could do the same for John King, who threw a bullpen session Monday without issue. And Glenn Otto, from the Joey Gallo trade. And Cole Winn, who is chewing up Double A.
Drew Anderson, who pitched well Saturday in relief, is not in the rotation plans, apparently, even though he kicked butt at Triple A Round Rock. Why not give him a start? He’s earned it.
The point is the Rangers have a lot of arms to look at the rest of the season, and it doesn’t make much sense to take anyone other than Foltynewicz out of the rotation.
Who is DJ Peters?
The Rangers made a waiver claim Monday when they grabbed outfielder DJ Peters from the Los Angeles Dodgers. He needed a spot on the 40-man roster, so the Rangers cut ties with outfielder David Dahl.
Dahl was an All-Star in 2019 with the Colorado Rockies, but has been dealing with injuries since. Though he said he was nearing 100%, the Rangers don’t see him as a part of the long-range plan.
Instead, they want to look at Jason Martin, who started Monday in left field; Leody Taveras, who has had an up-and-and 2021 at Round Rock; Willie Calhoun, who is injured (again); and Peters, a 25-year-old rookie who made his MLB debut this season.
Woodward knows Peters from his days coaching with the Dodgers and loves his athletic ability, character and the style with which he plays. But his swing needs some rehab.
Woodward said Peters swings and misses too much, kind of like Gallo but without the mammoth power. Peters, though, does have a .848 career OPS in the minors, so there is some pop in there.
He also runs well, especially well for a 6-foot-6 center fielder. He’s more likely to play in an outfield corner for the Rangers, especially with White, Adolis Garcia and potentially Taveras in center.
The Rangers are intrigued enough by him to end the Dahl experiment. He rates as a big disappointment, especially after he was signed for only $3 million after the Rockies non-tendered him.
Other than Opening Day and the opening series, the Rangers just didn’t get much from Dahl, certainly not enough to think he’s part of their plans moving forward.
Revisiting Heim’s heroics
The following comes courtesy of the Rangers as they highlighted Jonah Heim’s big weekend in their daily game notes. Heim slugged walk-off homers in back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday to sink Seattle and also homered in Friday’s loss to the Mariners.
Heim hit three homers in four games, including the first mulit-homer game of his career Saturday.
The walk-off homers were the first and second game-ending hits of his career.
The Elias Sports Bureau said Heim became the first rookie in MLB history with walk-off homers in consecutive team games. The last player to do it was Albert Pujols in 2011 when he played for St. Louis.
Heim became only the third Rangers rookie to homer in at least three straight games since 1995, joining Ronald Guzman in 2018 and Benji Gil in 1995.
Heim is the first rookie in Rangers history with multiple walk-ff homers in a season and the first Rangers player to do it since Nelson Cruz had three walk-off homers in 2010.
Not bad.
Doggy video!
This is a good pup. I’m not sure the cat agrees. Tough. Enjoy. See you Wednesday.
I really thought Dahl was going to thrive again. The talent is there. I'm guessing the injuries, and lack of results because of them may be in his head some. Baseball is hard.
I've liked Heim from the start. Not saying I saw this, and certainly don't expect this level going forward, but definitely a first division regular and potentially an All Star appearance along the way. Baseball is fun.