It's strange the direction that the baseball season takes you. When the Texas Rangers' season began in 2012, the team named Colby Lewis their Opening Day starter, pretty much naming him their ace. I argued that Derek Holland deserved that role and was the best pitcher on the team. Yu Darvish came in with a lot of hype and people believe he can become the Rangers' ace over time.
The best pitcher on the Texas Rangers' team after almost two turns through the rotation is Matt Harrison.
Harrison, in his fifth year in the Rangers' rotation, is playing the best ball of his entire career. His lifetime ERA is 4.36, and coming into the season, he only won 30 games in 62 starts over four seasons.
In his first two starts of 2012, he has a 0.64 ERA and is 2-0. In his first start, on April 8 against the Chicago White Sox, Harrison was brilliant. He threw six shutout innings, giving up four hits and two walks while striking out three batters. This was almost expected, following the best spring of his career, where Harrison finished four starts with a 1.69 ERA, giving up three runs over 16 innings.
In his second start, on April 14 against the Minnesota Twins, Harrison was just as dominant. The Rangers' starter went eight innings, the longest of any starter for Texas in 2012 so far, and gave up seven hits and one run, while walking two and striking out four. He picked up his second win of the year and was more dominating than anyone could have dreamed.
There is always the chance that Neftali Feliz, another shutout pitcher for the Rangers this season, could trump Harrison, but that would be even more incredible. Who would have thought that the two best pitchers in Texas would be Matt Harrison and Neftali Feliz?
The questions heading into 2012 was surrounding pitching, a normal worry for Rangers' fans. However, no starter has picked up a loss this year and the only two losses came at the hands of closer Joe Nathan. While this bliss won't continue, enjoy it while you can. It's something most Rangers' fans are not used to.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Texas Rangers fan his entire life, watching the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate play for over 30 years. While Texas has moved their Triple-A team, Shawn still remains a loyal Rangers fan and awaits the year they finally win the big one.
Source: MLB.COM
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