Many things haven’t gone right for the Rangers as of late, but the arms in the bullpen are reason to be excited for 2021.
Jonathan Hernandez, Rafael Montero, Brett Martin, and Joely Rodriguez have shined this season in relief appearances, flashing their overpowering fastballs and ability to get out of tight jams in certain situations. But even with the talent of what the Rangers have, fans have been itching for more.
Enter DeMarcus Evans into this equation.
Standing at 6 feet 5 inches and 265 lbs, Evans comes in as another strong pitcher in the Ranger’s arsenal of weapons.
He talked about finally reaching the major leagues after being in the minor leagues since 2015:
“It feels great. It’s something you think about when you’re little; I never thought I’d be able to play on a big-league field… it just feels crazy. It kinda still feels like a dream.”
Photo: —His first outing as a pro didn’t go as expected, as he faced future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols, who hit his 662nd career home run off the rookie to move into 5th place all-time in home runs, passing Willie Mays in the process. After that, Evans hit Justin Upton in the helmet in a scary moment.
It was a rough outing, but Chris Woodward spoke about Evans and his performance on Friday after Evan’s debut:
“I was a little worried at that point, to be honest with you, just emotionally. But he showed a lot of poise right there, and just kind of getting through that…. after that I felt like once he got comfortable, you could see life in the ball, and he was attacking the strike zone to Ward, you know strike one-strike two. That was good, I’m glad that kind of obviously played out the way it did because I was a little worried at times. For a younger player, things can kinda snowball for you at that point. He did a good job at the end.”
Evans has all the tools to become an excellent relief pitcher for the Rangers, but obviously, there will be a learning curve at the major league level for the young pitcher. In 2019, Evans pitched in 47 games and had a record of 6-0 with an ERA of just 0.90, racking up 100 strikeouts in the process.
With his debut out of the way, DeMarcus Evans will likely take this and turn it into a learning moment for him.
The Rangers and Evans both expect better days in the near future for the bright prospect.
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