Rangers Want Pitchers to Reach 'Full Potential'

The Texas Rangers may not have a new full-time manager yet, but general manager Chris Young has made it clear he’s dissatisfied with the progress of one area of the organization.

That dissatisfaction took the form of a makeover of the pitching coach staff — and it goes beyond the more-publicized moves with the Rangers earlier this week.

On Thursday, the Rangers announced that co-pitching coaches Doug Mathis and Brendan Sagara were no longer in those roles.

Mathis won’t return in any capacity. Sagara has been offered another position.

But go deeper and you’ll see the Rangers also dismissed their Triple-A pitching coach, Bill Simas, and their Double-A pitching coach, Jeff Andrews.

These are the first major staff changes by Young since he took over full responsibility for baseball operations in August.

Why? Young made it clear that he loves the talent the organization has in the minor leagues. But he’s not happy with the overall progress of those prospects.

“I think we have as much pitching talent in our organization right now as this organization's ever had,” Young said, who was an MLB pitcher himself and pitched for the Rangers. “I'm I love the talent we have. But talent is only as good as your ability to get into the big leagues.”

The Rangers farm system yielded just one starter that made his MLB debut in 2022 — Cole Ragans, who went 0-3 in nine starts. While Martín Pérez was excellent and Jon Gray pitched well in his first season as a Rangers starter, the younger members of the rotation — including Dane Dunning, Glenn Otto, Spencer Howard and Taylor Hearn — were up-and-down all season. Hearn was eventually moved to the bullpen, where he flourished.

Young made it clear the Rangers were in the market for starting pitching, whether that be via a free-agent deal or trade. But part of the strategy, he said, has to develop the organization’s own talent, too.

“That’s ultimately what the best organizations are able to do,” Young said.

As of the end of the season, 16 of the Rangers’ Top 30 prospects are pitchers, per MLB.com. The site notes that several of the pitchers could be ready for 2023, including Jack Leiter, Owen White, Antoine Kelly, Ricky Vanasco, Avery Weems and Marc Church.

But MLB.com thought two of those pitchers would be ready for 2022 — Cole Winn and Zak Kent. Winn, a first-round pick in 2018, went 9-8 with Triple-A Round Rock, but his ERA ballooned to 6.51. Kent, a ninth-round pick in 2019, went 3-4 with a 3.94 ERA at Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock.

Leiter’s progress will likely get the most attention, given he was the Rangers’ 2021 first-round pick and is the son of former MLB pitcher Al Leiter. But Jack Leiter had an underwhelming season, going 3-10 with a 5.54 ERA at Frisco.

Young didn’t directly address the lack of progress from the organization’s more highly-rated prospects, but he alluded to the moves made as a way to moving the entire organization forward.

“I'm confident in our player development group and confident they will make the right hires to help them realize their full potential,” Young said. “But it's a must for us as an organization. And we're committed to doing it.”

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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