Pitching will be better BeLeeIve it!

The baseball season is often thought of as being a marathon. The same can be said about the Rangers offseason. It seemed as if every day something stirring in Rangers land. 

The offseason started with the Rangers pursuit of Cliff Lee. Their number one priority was to re-sign their ace that led them to 2 victories in Tampa Bay, and then the key victory against the Yankees in New York. Lee was supposed to be the Rangers ace to sit atop their rotation for the next 5 to 6 seasons. 

The Rangers long pursuit ended in mid December when the Philadelphia Phillies stepped in and nabbed him in a last second deal. Many thought the Rangers would then turn their attention to Zach Greinke and/or Matt Garza. Both ended up being traded to the NL Central and the Rangers were left scrambling for another starter to be their ace. 

The Rangers added depth to their bullpen when they signed Arthur Rhodes, the Rangers made their defense better when they signed Adrian Beltre, but what about their starting rotation?

Many baseball writers and radio personalities have quickly moved the Rangers back in the AL West. The Oakland A’s have become the “sexy” pick to with the AL West, with their stacked rotation. Others are picking the Angels to make a return as the best in the AL West. 

The Rangers go back to being the underdogs with everyone concerned that the team just doesn’t have enough starting pitching to duplicate their season of 2010, but I’m going to give you 5 reasons why their rotation will be better in 2011 then it was in 2010.

-Wilson should be even better in 2011 then he was in 2010. Last season Wilson experienced his first season as a starting pitcher in the big leagues. Wilson enters 2011 in a contract year where he will be pitching to become the best available pitcher in the open market. Wilson learned a lot from Cliff Lee last season. He learned how to keep the ball down and to pitch to contact. Wilson had some success early on in the playoffs against Tampa Bay, and then was brilliant in Game 1 of the ALCS against the Yankees. 

-Colby Lewis was the key to the Rangers success in the playoffs. He was clutch throughout the playoffs. Game 2 of the ALCS was a huge win for the Rangers after arguably the most disappointing game in franchise history, when the Rangers blew a big lead in Game 1. Lewis then followed it up with the a masterful gem when he led the Rangers to their first ever World Series. Lewis is as even keel as it comes while he’s on the mound. His composure could allow him to become one of the most reliable starters in the American League. 

-Prior to shoulder problems, Brandon Webb was one of the best pitchers in the game. In 2007, Webb was 18-10 with a 3.01 ERA. In 2008, Webb followed it up with 22 wins for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Following a brilliant season, Webb then began to experience shoulder problems and had to have multiple surgeries that caused him to miss 2 straight seasons. If Webb returns healthy then the Rangers may have hit the jackpot.

-An infield led by Andrus, Beltre, and Kinsler should end up being the best defense in the game. This will help ground ball pitchers like Brandon Webb. If the staff can keep the ball in the ballpark than they should end up seeing a much lower ERA with the addition of Beltre and the maturity of Andrus. 

-TR Sullivan wrote earlier today that the Rangers seemed determined to get Feliz into the rotation. While many have the mindset ‘if it’s not broke then don’t fix it,’ the Rangers are better with Feliz as a starter than they are with him as their closer. The team has other options to be the closer in Alexi Ogando and Mark Lowe. It’s also a lot cheaper for Jon Daniels to go out on the trade market and get a closer than it is for him to trade for an Ace. Feliz has one of the best arms in all of baseball, and he is one of the best young players in the game. Mike Maddux put it best when he said that it’s better to get 200 innings out of him than 70 innings. 

Remember last season the Rangers started off with Feldman and Harden at the top of their rotation. Neither of the two pitchers had a positive impact on the club. The Rangers still finished 9 games ahead of the 2nd place Oakland A’s in the AL West. If things don’t work out the way that the team hopes then they have depth to fall back on. 

If the season were to start today my prediction on what the rotation would look like:

1) C.J. Wilson

2) Colby Lewis

3) Neftali Feliz

4) Tommy Hunter

5) Brandon Webb (he will be inserted in the back part of the rotation because he is a little behind the other starters and the Rangers are being extra cautious with him this spring)