Texas Rangers have a good thing going with Austin Bibens-Dirkx
With very little fanfare, the Texas Rangers gave career minor league pitcher Austin Bibens-Dirkx a second chance. Based on how he’s started, he might have been their best offseason decision.
During this past offseason, the Texas Rangers played things pretty low-key. Other than the Mike Napoli signing and the additions of Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross, they didn’t do anything to draw attention. But it might be the re-signing of minor league journeyman Austin Bibens-Dirkx that has had the biggest impact on the team.
Plenty of playing time
Despite a name that sounds like one of a great country singer, he was very unkown. Prior to joining the Rangers organization in the spring of 2016, Bibens-Dirkx bounced around all over the minors. The Seattle Mariners took him in the 2006 amateur draft, but released him just days into the 2009 season.
He then bounced around between the Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies and Toronto Blue Jays. That’s how he ended up in Texas, when the Rangers gave him a small offer before the 2016 season.
In total, he’s spent time playing for some 20 minor league and international league teams. Yet, he’d never thrown a single pitch at the major league level through 11 professional seasons. But that changed on May 17 when Bibens-Dirkx got the call to finish a blowout for Texas. At the age of 32, he became this season’s oldest player to make his big league debut.
Playing for another opportunity
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He did alright in that first outing. Sure, his ERA showed up as a 9.00 after that debut. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. He hit the first big league batter he faced, but that’s something he hasn’t done to the other 119 hitters he has faced since then. That same hitter then scored from first on a single for the run he allowed. Something like that also doesn’t happen very often. Chalk those up as flukes.
Three days later, he pitched 4 2/3 innings in relief of a blowout against the Tigers. By the time he took the ball in the fourth, Detroit had already plated nine runs against the ledger of A.J. Griffin.
But Bibens-Dirkx went out and did exactly what the Rangers needed. He stopped the bleeding and shut down the Tigers for the remainder of the ballgame. While the offense couldn’t do much in response, he pitched an impressive game.
Of course, his best stuff came against the Washington Nationals on June 11. In just the second career start for Bibens-Dirkx, he shut down the team that has a massive lead on the field in the National League East. He went toe-to-toe with Nationals ace Max Scherzer, allowing one lone run on three hits and a walk. And for those that don’t remember, that one run came from the leadoff hitter, Brian Goodwin, who led the game off with a homer on the second pitch he saw.
But unshaken by the blast, Bibens-Dirkx settled in and responded with what was really seven straight innings of two hit, shutout pitching to get his second MLB victory.
Playing every day (sort of)
Now, Bibens-Dirkx finds himself inside the Texas Rangers rotation. While that’s not technically an “every day” roll, it’s as regular as you can get for a starting pitcher.
It’s hard to think of where the Rangers would be without him. Entering Saturday’s game just 2 1/2 games outside the second AL Wild Card slot, the three wins they’ve earned from him have been monumental. Add to that the job he did early with his mop-up work, and one can see the added value he’s given as rest to the rest of the bullpen.
While he doesn’t boast any overpowering stuff, he changes speeds very well. His low-90s fastball and big, sweeping curveball offer plenty for hitters to think about. His movement and pitch placement are the reason he’s found success this season.
Bibens-Dirkx’s slot in the rotation behind Yu Darvish can also play to his advantage. While opposing hitters face the hard-throwing ace one night, they then have to adjust and adapt to the craftiness of Bibens-Dirkx the following night.
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Now it’s up to change as hitters get used to him. If they adjust to what he does, he also has to adjust. If he does, we could witness something great. Here’s to Bibens-Dirkx, making us 30-somethings all look good.