Andrew Heaney’s problem has never been talent, it’s been health and consistency. Monday was evidence of why he’s always worth the risk.
The Texas Rangers southpaw dazzled in an 11-2 win over the Royals. He tied the American League record for consecutive strikeouts, punching out a whopping nine straight hitters. Heaney finished with 10 strikeouts and two walks across five innings, surrendering just a pair of hits and one run, which wasn't earned.
"I’ll tell you what, it was special. I had never seen that," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Tuesday in his weekly appearance on The K&C Masterpiece. "(He's) really cool to watch. That’s so hard to do and something that’s a rare feat. He showed you the stuff that he has last night, he had that good extra hop on his fastball, he had a good slider going. Just fun to watch.”
Heaney joined the Rangers this offseason as part of Texas’ rotation overhaul. The 31-year-old was good when available last season for the Dodgers, but injuries limited him to just 14 starts. That came after a short but disastrous run in 2021 with the Yankees, who acquired him at the deadline from the Angels.
He was flat at the end of spring training, then got lit up last week by the Orioles in his first outing of the season. Suffice it to say Monday was a turnaround.
“I think last night was just more a case of that being more of who Andrew Heaney is,” Bochy said. “With the stuff he had, he’s got what we call a unicorn fastball -- when he’s got that little hop to it, it’s tough to catch up with, it’s hard to lay it off. He was just a different pitcher than what he’s been the last couple outings. … Last night he had it, and that was evident, so we saw a different pitcher.”
Heaney is a wild card for the Rangers. They’re effectively using him as a No. 5 starter, and with that comes the understanding that there will be some peaks and valleys. From a stuff standpoint though, Heaney can pitch like a upper-rotation starter, and that was on full display Monday.
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