ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers have become the what-if team.
Well, more specifically, they’ve become the what-if-this-pitcher-throws-enough-innings-to-qualify team in the case of right-handed starter Nathan Eovaldi.
As it pertains to Cole Winn, a right-handed reliever, it’s a case of what-if-he-keeps-this-pace-up.
It’s been as good as anyone’s thus far.
Rangers
Winn’s 0.95 ERA leads all pitchers leaguewide who’ve thrown at least 20 innings this season. Seattle’s Matt Brash (1.16 ERA), Boston’s Aroldis Chapman (1.18 ERA), Texas’ Danny Coulombe (1.23 ERA) and Seattle Andrés Muñoz (1.34 ERA) round out the top five.
“I feel like if I take care of the day-to-day and dominate my routine throughout the day,” Winn said before Wednesday’s game vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks at Globe Life Field, “the confidence is just a side piece to that.”
Winn, the club’s first-round pick in the 2018 MLB draft and once the top pitching prospect in the organization, is now two years removed from his full-time transition into the bullpen. He had a 8.74 ERA in 11 starts at Triple-A Round Rock in 2023 before the Rangers changed course on his career direction.
The 25-year-old has a 3.87 ERA in 146 2/3 professional innings split between Triple-A and MLB since. He has a 3.55 ERA in his first 35 career major league games.
“He’s got a lot of confidence going,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Wednesday morning. “He knows he can get major league hitters out.”
Winn, whose .158 batting average against in the third-best in baseball among pitchers who’ve logged at least 20 innings, has employed a legitimate five-pitch mix. He throws his sinker (23.8% usage) and four-seam fastball (23.8% usage) an equal amount and works in a slider (21.8%), cutter (17.8%) and splitter (11.9%).
Batters have hit just .105 against his slider; last year when he relied heavily on his four-seamer and had a less-diverse mix, batters hit .316 against his slider. His cutter, which he’s used against right-handed and left-handed hitters, has an arsenal-best plus-5 run value which makes it one of the most valuable cutters in baseball.
The Rangers have used Winn largely in low-leverage settings. But, in 4 2/3 high-leverage innings, he’s yet to allow a run. Winn pitched a scoreless inning in Tuesday’s 3-2 loss vs. the Diamondbacks and struck out three consecutive batters after he allowed a leadoff double in the sixth.
“At the end of the day, it’s just pitching,” Winn said, “but I’m for sure getting more comfortable in close games.”
He may be used in them more.
Texas Rangers running out of runway for a playoff push after latest gut punch lossRangers fall back to .500 after Phil Maton’s ninth-inning meltdown costs them vs. Arizona
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.