Happy Monday Rangers fans! Only 35 days until Opening Night. Today we continue breaking down the Rangers 40-man roster, one-by-one. If you haven’t read the first installment, you can click here: 40 Men in 40 Days- Part One Let’s get right into it-
#58 Alex Claudio
Claudio gave us a somewhat reliable option in the late game of out the bullpen last year. In his third season, he pitched 51.2 innings in 39 games while posting a 2.79 ERA. He had a 9.6 Hits/9 rate and a WHIP north of 1.2. However on the encouraging side, he only allowed 2 home runs in almost fifty-two innings. He also only walked 10 batters while striking out 34 in that same time frame. Claudio still has some work to do, but it looks like he will be a reliable relief option this year.
Value in 2017: 5.2
#11 Yu Darvish
There are so many possibilities when it comes to Darvish. Every year he seems to be the hardest asset to put a number on, simply because he is so frequently injured. After missing all of 2015, Darvish only started 17 times in his 2016 run. He finished 7-5, with just a tick over one hundred innings pitched. He had a less than encouraging 3.41 ERA (not something you want to see from your #1/2 starter). However he did strike out an impressive 11.8 per 9 innings, and still managed to have a positive WAR at 2.5. It is just so hard to know what we can expect from him. If he doesn’t have any significant injuries, it’s safe to say the he can produce ace-type numbers. However, it’s a roll of the dice on his injury status so it’s very hard to assess his value. All that given, he always has the potential for a breakout year.
Value in 2017: 7.5
#41 Jake Diekman
Unfortunately, Jake will start the season on the 60-day disabled list. Given that he had a very solid 2016, the only thing we can do is wait and hope that he can get back to full strength. He isn’t expected to make his debut until at least June, and it’s always unpredictable when and if a pitcher can overcome a big injury. If he can get back to where he was, it would help relive some of the pressure on the rotation. If not, it would be an extremely unfortunate situation. We are hoping for the best, but there’s no real way to tell just yet.
Value in 2017: Unknown
#47 Sam Dyson
After winning the closer role, Sam went on to have an extremely successful season. He pitched 70.1 innings in 73 games, and he earned 38 saves a result. That’s a very good amount for a closer that was chosen in the middle of the season. He was reliable when the ninth inning came around. He looks like he will get the call in the 9th again this year, and with a full year ahead of him, it’s not out of reach to predict 40-50 saves out of him. He should be able to do exactly what he did last year, but this time he has a full 162 games to work with. The sky is the limit for Sam.
Value in 2017: 7.1
#56 Andrew Faulkner
Faulkner only made 9 appearances with the big league club last year, and he spent most of his time at Round Rock. Not much is to be said about him except that he is progressing every year that he is in the farm. He had an ERA just under 4 at Round Rock but he has a solid fastball and nice command of his pitches. The other thing to keep in mind is that he is only 23 years old, so it’s not expected for him to be a star just yet. He is getting some valuable time in on the farm and he is a viable option in the case of injury in the bullpen. However, he’s just not Major League ready yet. Once he gets more innings under his belt, he should be a nice addition to the Rangers ‘pen in the coming years.
Value in 2017: 3.5
Keep your head up baseball fans, only 35 days until Ranger baseball. We can make it! Dont forget that the Rangers are playing in surprise, and you can listen to every spring training game with MLB at bat. Check back next week for part three, and have a wonderful monday. Go Rangers!
-Christopher Silvey
