A Rotational Roller Coaster for the Texas Rangers

On June 16th, Texas Rangers right-hander Colby Lewis had taken a no-hitter against the Oakland Athletics into the ninth inning when Max Muncy, a 25-year-old kid with barely 50 MLB plate appearances to his name, stepped into the batter's box. Muncy saw four pitches from Lewis, and took the fifth to right field, where Nomar Mazara misplayed the ball, letting it fall for a hit. Muncy got on second base. Lewis lost his no-hitter. The Rangers are used to such setbacks at the end of long journeys, especially when they involve right field.

Here's what else the Rangers are used to: good pitching. Lots of people picked last year's upstart Houston Astros to win the American League West this season; right now, the Rangers hold a ten-game lead over their divisional rival. In fact, the Rangers currently have the best record in the AL and are tied for the best record in baseball with none other than the sainted Chicago Cubs. How have they done it? With the second best staff ERA+ in the AL behind the Cleveland Indians (another division leader who didn't get much respect to begin the season) and a stable, if not strong, offense.

You might recall that last year Texas made a deal to acquire Cole Hamels at the deadline. Hamels' debut with the Rangers was merely all right by his standards, with a 3.66 ERA (117 ERA+) in 82.2 IP. The first half of 2016 has been far more kind to the former Phillies ace: a 2.79 ERA (161 ERA+) in 96.2 IP. That's the kind of success Hamels is used to, and it is the reason the Rangers traded five prospects (and Matt Harrison) for him.

But the success of a pitching rotation, never mind an entire pitching staff, is not the work of one man alone. Hamels has had plenty of help from Martin Perez, A.J. Griffin, Yu Darvish—who returned from Tommy John surgery and then, almost as quickly, departed for the disabled list once again with neck and shoulder stiffness—and, yes, 36-year-old Colby Lewis. That's the same Lewis who required a hip resurfacing surgery in 2013 in order to even pitch in the majors again, and who came back with a bad season in 2014, and then merely an adequate one in 2015. Lewis, for whom 2016 might well be his last in a Rangers uniform, which he has worn in the majors since 2002, save a brief stop-off with the Detroit Tigers in 2005 and Japan from 2008 to 2010.

Even the most talent-stacked teams need to get results from the Colby Lewis-es on their staff, and Lewis had been getting excellent results for the Rangers of late. He managed to cut his walks to 1.8 per nine innings over the past two seasons, which was a crucial change to his game given that he's no longer able to strike out batters like he used to. Lewis thrived on good control and bad contact, which is pretty much where every 36-year-old starter not headed for the Hall of Fame has to live in order to get outs.

And then, Tuesday night against the Cincinnati Reds, he strained a lat.

Lewis won't throw for four weeks, and he won't be cleared to throw at all until he undergoes another MRI. If nothing comes back on that one, he still faces another month—at least—before he's back in the big leagues. The Rangers already lost Derek Holland the previous night (shoulder inflammation) and are still waiting on Darvish and Griffin (shoulder stiffness) to make their way back from the disabled list. Griffin, at least, is slated to start Friday, but that still leaves the Rangers with Hamels, Perez, Griffin, and a bunch of prayers. Teams with records like the Rangers don't usually spend this much time this far down the depth chart.

Nick Martinez gets the start for Texas on Thursday night. He's not a long-term solution. Griffin goes Friday, Perez on Saturday, and Hamels faces the New York Yankees on Monday. The rotation, after that, is up for review. Maybe Chi Chi Gonzalez will come up. Maybe it'll be Kyle Lohse. Maybe, if Thursday night goes badly, the Rangers will bring up both. It's an exciting, frightening time for a team whose rotation was an absolute strength only a few days ago.

The good news for the Rangers is this: if they have to address the pitching staff via trade—and if the team is giving Martinez and Lohse starts in 2016, then they have to address the staff, either via trade or via miracle—they have the pieces to do it. GM Jon Daniels has built a great organization, both in Arlington and its outlying principalities in Round Rock, Frisco, and High Desert. If the Rangers wanted to make a play for, say, Julio Teheran of the Atlanta Braves (2.88 ERA, 149 ERA+, 98 IP), they could most certainly have the chips do that. If they wanted to get Rich Hill from the Oakland Athletics (2.25 ERA, 182 ERA+, 64 IP) they could do that. Or, honestly, they could trade for both. The Rangers are no strangers to midseason pitching acquisitions.

However, that would mean giving up a lot of young guys just to replace the walking wounded. Consider, too, that the Rangers could also use a bullpen arm or two at the deadline. Dealing from the farm would be a setback, and it would hurt, especially with the team sitting atop the AL West thanks to the work of men now injured. But setbacks in moments of triumph are old hat to the Texas Rangers. What's one more? They'll be back, and they'll be better. And they're already pretty good.