Rangers: A painful look back at the history of Rangers pitching
Part Six: New Millennium, Same Rangers
When the Rangers left the 20th century, they forgot to bring the small glimpse of success they experienced in the last decade. What they did bring was the lack of postseason berths and pitching woes that surrounded the team for decades.
The Rangers pitching staff entered 2000 with little to no expectations and hit that mark perfectly. Carried by a league-worst team ERA of 5.52, the Rangers pitching lineup sank the team to futility. This was thanks to players like Darwin Cubillan who compiled a 10.70 ERA in his 13 appearances.
The rest of the 2000s were more of the same. Rising ERAs and diminishing playoff hopes were the stories of the decade. It seemed that the only thing that the Rangers were good at was assembling some of the worst pitching staffs in the league.
One notable game comes from 2001. The Rangers were playing a lackluster Royals team in early September. Texas was a solid 36 games out of first place and things were going well as ever. Doug Davis was making his 27th start in a season where he was arguably the best pitcher on the team, but no one cares enough to make that argument.
The Rangers jumped out to a 7-0 lead and were well on their way to a meaningless win. Then, in the blink of an eye, the Royals scored seven runs in the sixth inning to tie the game. Davis and former first-round pick Mark Petkovsek combined to blow this game. The Royals would end up winning in the 11th inning and another game was lost thanks to poor Rangers pitching. This would actually be the antepenultimate game of Petkovsek’s career as he retired after the season.
This decade was completely forgettable for the Rangers. The only decent player was a fan favorite Michael Young, but on the pitching side, the team was so erratic and underachieving. The Rangers pitching staff finished in the bottom five of most pitching statistics in seven years of the decade. One of the league’s least successful franchises chugged on, however.