FanPost

The Ranger's Rotation- Matt Bush

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Rangers have a lot of work to do this offseason. It’s basically an impossible task. The Astros had one of the top 5 offensive seasons of the last 120 years and the Angels just acquired the Japanese Babe Ruth. Luckily the Mariners fucked themselves with a dumb Dee Gordon trade and the A’s play in a toilet. So the Rangers have a good chance for 3rd but that’s like getting your parents the 3rd best X mas gift- a gift card to Kohls.

The Rangers need to get creative if they are to have any chance of competing for a wildcard spot(or perhaps the division- it’s always possible and the only way to play that small percentage is to try.) As noted by Morgan Price here at Lonestarball.com, Matt Bush has the potential to be tried as a starter for the 2018 season.

I love this idea. I love the long shot. The underdog story. The thing that should never happen but somehow does because the world is wacky and does not work the way you expect it to. This plotline fuels my baseball love. Some recent examples:

1. Delino Deshields- plucky rule 5 pick who played himself into the starting center fielder position in not one, but two separate seasons.

2. Ian Desmond- the other starting centerfielder sandwiched between DDS’s seasons who ended up with a monster, but generally baffling, contract with the Rockies.

3. Wandy Rodriguez- owns Rangers franchise record with 34 straight batters retired. 7 outs more than a perfect game for those keeping score on this article’s strong points at home.

4. Matt Bush- kind of interesting story. Played shortstop. Got in a car wreck. Something about Golden Corral, I forget the details.

Matt Bush- he wants to start. Let him start. Baseball has a rich history of developing starters out of relievers. David Wells, Charlie Hough, Derek Lowe, CJ Wilson. And Bush is not exactly a typical case. Why should we expect typical results from his transition to starting.

Well, I just got baseballreference’d. I set season pitching play index parameters for the following: age>30, rookie season-yes, sort by bWAR. I expected Matt Bush to be #1 on this list. I am a fool. He is tied for #42 with *drum roll* Tony Barnette. Curt Davis is #1 with 8.3 WAR and 274.1 IP for the ’34 Phillies. Still, #42 all time aint bad.

Matt Bush had one of the best rookie pitching seasons all time for pitchers over 30, who are the next market inefficiency. He’s already an outlier. Another point in his favor is the relatively low amount of mileage on his arm. I don’t know anything about pitching. I don’t think Bush transitioning to the rotation is any more of an injury risk than any other starting pitcher. I don’t think it’s any less. I don’t think injury should be the focus of whether or not he gets the chance to start. The Rangers have been willing in the recent past to try relievers out in the rotation and he’s willing.

The Rangers also just signed Mike Minor and promised him a chance to start. He would be the 5th starter, pushing Bush out of a 5-man rotation. A 6 man rotation has also been discussed, and that might be a great solution to get the injury prone Minor into the rotation as well as the newly transitioning Bush. It’s a bad look to let Minor start but not Bush. Before signing Minor, Bush was put on a starter’s offseason starter’s workload with rotation intentions. An analogy- at the office, you’re interested in a new position. You’re groomed for this position and work as hard as you can. Before this position opens up, they bring in an outside hire. He’s paid more than you and he may not even be able to handle the new position. Mike Minor is the outside hire. Bush is the company man. Thanks, Springsteen.

Lastly, service time and the acquisition of Matt Bush. Bush is found money. He shouldn’t even be a MLB pitcher right now, reliever or starter. The Rangers voodoo’d their way into this situation. Why not see if there’s more voodoo magic left? If there is, you’ve got a starter under control for 5 more years. He, for some reason, was out of baseball for 3 years in his 20’s, reducing the mileage on his arm drastically. He throws hard and has a slider and curveball. If it doesn’t work out, you’ve lost a bullpen piece. If it does work out, you’ve gained a starter. It’s all probability. Risk and reward.