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From MLB Trade Rumors:
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FRIDAY: Rangers starter Derek Holland is out until midseason after a left knee injury that took place Tuesday, according to a team release. Holland suffered the injury in a fall at home, and he had arthroscopic surgery today to fix torn cartilage.
TUESDAY: Holland actually underwent microfracture surgery, reports Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News. That procedure comes with a longer rehabilitation time, says Fraley, who notes that Scott Feldman did not return to action until July 22, 2011 after undergoing the surgery in November of 2010.
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You might still be left with the impression that the Rangers have so many starting pitchers that they don't much care whether Holland is around or not, but ... actually, the days are long gone when the Rangers used to run five or six SP's with ERA's way above league average.
In 2011, the stRangers had CJ Wilson at a 150 ERA+, the two hotshot kids Holland and Harrison at 112 and 130, a phenomenal Alexi Ogando making his Pineda-sized splash at 126, and Colby Lewis fresh out of the Japanese League at 100.
But since then:
- CJ Wilson, the team leader, off to the Angels
- Matt Harrison with more surgeries (three) in 2013 than starts (two), including a RIB REMOVAL
- Colby Lewis hit the wall (out of baseball in 2013, but will try again in Tejas in 2014)
- Ogando is seen more as a reliever now than a starter
Of course, they added Yu Darvish. But he and Derek Holland were pretty much all that was left of the fearsome 2011 rotation. The Rangers have changed a whale of a lot since 2011:
TEXAS RANGER PITCHERS - 2013
| Pitcher |
WAR |
| Darvish |
5.0 |
| Holland |
4.8 |
| closer (gone in 2014) |
2.5 |
| reliever |
1.8 |
| Martin Perez |
1.6 |
| Garza (since gone) |
1.3 |
| Tepesch |
1.2 |
I don't say that they're now Minnesota Twins South. But Ron Washington can think of a lot of things he'd rather have amputated than Derek Holland.
Any feeblemind who claims "Hey, that's only 2, 3 wins to the Rangers in the standings!", gets shot at sunrise. Have Felix blow out a shoulder and tell me it's 3 wins, man.
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Adding Eggbeater to Troubled Waters, Dept.
As we keep pointing out, with respect to James Paxton, there are about 6 or 8 lefthanders in the bigs who throw 92+ MPH, and they're all stars. Of these, Derek Holland threw the hardest:
LHP's, average fastball velocity over 92.0 MPH
| LHP |
FBv |
| Derek Holland |
93.6 |
| David Price |
93.5 |
| Chris Sale |
93.1 |
| Jon Lester |
92.7 |
| Clayton Kershaw |
92.6 |
| Gio Gonzalez |
92.6 |
| Patrick Corbin |
92.1 |
Weird that every single one of these flakes --- > throws this way in the American League. Except Corbin, and I notice he's at the bottom.
As you know, Dr. D never tires of pointing out that James Paxton's average velo was 94.9. And there are people who don't get it....
As you know, the Mariners' Achilles' heel has been lefthanders. There is probably some relevance here, as to a division rival losing their franchise lefthander, but I'm a little tired to deduce it. You go riiiight ahead.
Finally, allow us to remind you that it's wrong to root for people to get injured. Unless they're 49'ers, especially the ones on the sidelines. We're just notifying you about Holland's microfracture surgery, so that you can send flowers.
Be Afraid,
Dr D