Texas Rangers 2017 preseason profile: Matt Bush
By now, most Texas Rangers fans know the legendary tale of Matt Bush. Now, he faces the pressure to live up to that legendary status.
We know Texas Rangers right-hander Matt Bush has quite the troubled past. But last season, he put it all behind him and had a fantastic rookie season. After nearly throwing away any chance of a baseball career, the Rangers gave him a second chance. He took full advantage of that second chance and now Texas Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels looks like a genius.
What Matt Bush gave the Rangers in 2016
Bush was stellar last season. He appeared in 58 games for a total of 61 2/3 innings and made the most of those appearances. Opposing hitters batted just .196 with an on-base percentage of .244 and a slugging percentage of .281. In other words, hitters rarely got hits off him, rarely even reached base, rarely walked, and rarely got anything more than a single. He made opposing hitters look anemic.
He really didn’t discriminate against righties or lefties, either. Sure, lefties had a slightly better batting average against Bush, but that’s to be expected. Yet, righties still had an AVG/OBP/SLG slash line of just .238/.290/.345 against him. The same could also be said about home/road splits.
At Globe Life Park, opposing batters hit just .211 against Bush, and on the road they hit just .177. In fact, his 1.65 road earned run average is the stuff relievers dream of. He also improved as the season went on.
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In the first half of the 2016 season, opposing hitters were .202/.269/.266 against Bush. His second half slash against him improved to .192/.225/.292.
The only troubling thing about those numbers is that his opposing slugging percentage jumped. While the hitters had more trouble getting hits against him after the All-Star break, they hit the ball a bit harder on him. But most of that trouble came in just one game: the July 26 loss to Oakland where he went just 1/3 of an inning and surrendered four runs off two homers.
On the whole, he dominated by striking out over 25% of the hitters he faced. He was cool as a cucumber against hitters with runners in scoring position, holding them to a measly .149 batting average. In fact, hitters facing Bush with a runner at third batted just .143 against him. All told, Bush gave the Texas Rangers a huge return on their investment in 2016.
What Matt Bush will give the Rangers in 2017
Bush will have a hard time topping last season. He seemingly came out of nowhere and took the league by surprise. Will opponents adapt to his game or will he stay a step ahead of them?
He’ll likely level out a tad in 2017. That doesn’t mean he’ll struggle, but he will have to change things up a bit to stay ahead. Because of this, he’ll improve as the season progresses.
Opposing hitters will raise their batting average a tick against him to a .205 average. He’ll get around 25 holds, an improvement by three over last season and he’ll pick up about five saves as well. His earned run average will end up somewhere around 2.55 and he’ll increase his strikeouts per nine average to above 9.0.
There will be talk about giving him the closer role, but as Dallas Morning News writer Evan Grant pointed out last month, it would leave a hole in the eighth inning. He has high value as a setup man, and as the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Next: Rangers preview: A.J. Griffin
So, he’ll continue to be the guy that makes sure there are no fingers, toes or other appendages in the way of the door. Once he does, closer Sam Dyson will come in and slam it shut. And truth be told, that’s exactly the way it should be.