The reliability of the starting pitching staff has been a key part of the Rangers’ rise this season, and the last thing they need is their hurlers running out of gas down the stretch.
That is already on the mind of Bruce Bochy and Co.
Texas’ rotation has been solid, but it’s not without injury concerns. Andrew Heaney has struggled with health throughout his career, and already is just ⅓ of an inning shy of matching his workload from last season with the Dodgers. Nathan Eovaldi has been an ace, but he also has had his share of durability issues.
Bochy has been around long enough to know how delicate this dance is. The Angels are on the rise and you can never count out the Astros, meaning the American League West will likely be a battle down to the wire this season. That means they have to balance not running pitchers into the ground while still securing a postseason spot.
Conversations about workload have already taken place, Bochy said Tuesday in his weekly appearance on “The K&C Masterpiece.”
“It’s something we have talked about, we’ll keep an eye on him, his workload," Bochy said, referring to Heaney. "I think you look at the depth of our starting pitching – bringing up (Cody) Bradford, (Glenn) Otto is getting close – we do have some guys that can pick up a start if we think we need to back him off a little bit and give them some time, an extra start or even put them on the IL, something like that. It is a discussion that’s already happened and something we need to be aware of.”
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