Texas Rangers Mid-Season Grades -- The Pitchers

Today we do mid-season grades for the 19 pitchers who have taken the mound for the Rangers this year...

Dave Bush -- D

I guess you could say that he did what you expected him to do, which was not be good, but still...that was a bad signing, and Bush is now gone.

Cody Eppley -- D

He was a nice little story early in the season, but the numbers are awful...8.00 ERA, with 3 HRs and 5 walks allowed in 9 innings, versus just 6 Ks.  He may have a future in the league, but it doesn't appear to be right now.

Neftali Feliz -- D

One of the most disappointing aspects of this season.  Feliz is averaging fewer K/9 than every Ranger starter other than Matt Harrison.  His command and stuff was terrible early in the year, he blew a bunch of saves, and looked at lot worse than his 3.18 ERA would indicate.  He seems to be back on track of late, but thusfar, Feliz has not made us happy.

Matt Harrison -- A-

The peripherals aren't as good as his 3.04 ERA would suggest, but he's gotten results and looked like a different pitcher than the one we've seen in the past.  And even his 4.04 FIP/4.05 xFIP exceed expectations coming into the season.  

Derek Holland -- C-

One of the most frustrating pitchers on the team.  His peripherals are as good as Harrison's, but he continues to be prone to the big inning, and continues to have command issues which seem to result in him leaving balls over the plate, resulting in his HR% and BABIP getting elevated.  As he showed in his final pre-break start, he can be as good as any pitcher on the stuff when he's on...it is just a matter of him being on.

Tommy Hunter -- D

The D is because of the injury, which kept him out most of the first half of the season.  He looks pretty decent in the bullpen so far, and there's the argument to be made that his injury was a good thing because it resulted in Ogando ending up in the rotation, but still...three straight springs with injuries is a bad trend.

Michael Kirkman -- F

Grouped together with Holland and Harrison as the lefties vying for a rotation spot and/or a bullpen spot, Kirkman has had command issues all year.  He fell out of the rotation race with a sub-par spring, and in his stints in the major league bullpen, his command problems have killed him, resulting in a 7.33 ERA.  

Colby Lewis -- D

Shades of Scott Feldman in 2010.  Colbyashi was supposed to be the 1A to C.J. Wilson's 1 in the rotation.  Instead, his command has come and gone, and he's been incredible homer prone.  His 4.38 ERA isn't awful, but it is worse than expected.  The Rangers really need a bounce-back second half from him.

Mark Lowe -- C-

Thought to be a possible closer candidate if Feliz went to the rotation, Lowe was awful this spring, awful in the regular season, and got sent down.  Since his return he's been much better.  Like Lewis, he's someone the Rangers need a big second half out of.

Darren O'Day -- D-

O'Day was bad in spring training, bad to start the season, had surgery on his hip, and now is back.  He's got options, so if he doesn't get the ship righted, he could be back in AAA in the second half.

Alexi Ogando -- A+

This speaks for itself.

Darren Oliver -- B-

Oliver has a 2.45 ERA, which probably surprises a lot of folks.  He also has a 3.17 FIP and a 3.16 xFIP, which is pretty solid.  Oliver has had some memorable failures in high leverage situations, which has folks turning on him, but he's leading the Rangers in games pitched and has been the Rangers' best reliever this year.  That may be damning with faint praise, but unless you believe that Oliver has just suddenly lost the ability to pitch well in close games, you should be able to trust him going forward.

Arthur Rhodes -- D-

Signed to be a power arm for the 8th inning, Rhodes has turned into a less-than-trustworthy LOOGY, and the Rangers are supposedly shopping him, which is a bad sign, given the Rangers are looking to trade for bullpen help.

Pedro Strop -- C

Lots of Ks, lots of walks, lots of ground balls.  His numbers look okay, but Ron Washington seems like he'd rather have Omar Quintanilla on the mound in a close game than Strop, and Strop was banished to AAA to work on "slowing the game down."  I suspect he's one of the pieces the Rangers are trying to use for help at the trade deadline.

Yoshinori Tateyama -- B+

Nice signing.  He's not been great, gives you a weapon against righthanders, and can also go a couple of innings if need be in garbage time.

Mason Tobin -- F

The Rule 5 pick from Anaheim, Tobin wasn't good and then got hurt and is out for the season.

Brett Tomko -- D

Tomko pitched about like you'd expect Tomko to pitch, and so he's back in AAA.

Ryan Tucker -- D

See Brett Tomko.

C.J. Wilson -- A

Apparently, 2010 was not a fluke.