All Rangers team 1965-2017, pitchers

Caption Courtesy of Bing

In putting together this list of the greatest Texas Rangers pitchers, I was struck by how poorly it stacks up against the other teams I have done. Not to say these guys are bad pitchers, they just weren't that great when they were with the Rangers. The list contains three hall of famers, but they were past their prime during most of their stay in Texas. Regardless, here goes.

Starting pitcher: Charlie Hough Knuckleballer Charlie Hough spent and amazing 25 years in the big leagues, 11 with the Rangers. Charlie put together some nice numbers with the Rangers. Surprisingly, Charlie is the all time Rangers leader in wins with 139. Those 139 wins came with 123 losses and an ERA of 3.68. Charlie wasn't a big strikeout guy with 5.7 Ks per nine innings. Charlie was a workhorse, leading the AL in innings pitched with 285.1 in 1987. Hough also led the AL in starts with 40 in 1984. While Charlie wasn't spectacular, he was a dependable innings eater who got good results.

Staring pitcher: Fergie Jenkins While Fergie had most of his success with the Cubs, he had his greatest individual season with the Rangers in 1974. Fergie went 25-12 with an ERA of 2.82. he also struck out 225 while walking only 25. He also led the AL in complete games with 29. While most of Fergie's success with the Rangers came in 1974, he had a couple of more decent seasons in his five seasons with the Rangers. Fergie ultimately finished his time with the Rangers with a record of 93-72 and an ERA 3.56. Fergie Jenkins comes in at number two.

Starting pitcher: Nolan Ryan Nolan is the quintessential Texas pitcher. Not the Texas Ranger pitcher, Texas pitcher period. A long, lean right hander, Nolan was well past his peak by the time he pitched for the Rangers. Still, in his five seasons with the Rangers, he was plenty good. Nolan went 51-39 with an ERA of 3.43. He still was striking out over 10 batters per nine innings despite being in his 40s. He was also very hard to hit, giving up only 6.4 hits per nine innings. Despite all of this, his stay with the Rangers is probably best remembered for his knuckling of Robin Ventura's head.

Starting pitcher: Gaylord Perry And here's Gaylord on yet another list. Gaylord and his saliva spent 3+ seasons with the Rangers. During that time, Gaylord did what he always did, pitch effectively. Gaylord compiled a record of 48-43 with an ERA of 3.26. Close numbers might not jump out at you, but all things considered, a workhorse that can give a team about 250 innings and 15 wins is a pretty valuable commodity.

Starting pitcher: Yu Darvish Yu beats out a number of other starters with similar basic stats. What sets Yu apart from the others is his strikeout stats. Darvish led the AL in Ks with 277 in 2013. Yu finished up with a win-loss record of 52-39 and an ERA of 3.42. He edged out lefty, Jon Matlock for the last slot on this list.

Relief pitcher: John Wetteland From 1997-2000 John was a reliable closer for the Rangers. John piled up 150 saves during that time frame, converting about 84% of his save opportunities. John struck out hitters at a rate of 8.8 per nine innings while in Texas. Wetteland pitched two scoreless playoff innings with the Rangers and generally did what you would expect of a closer during his time in Texas.

Relief pitcher: John Russell John was a better, right handed version of his son James Russell. After spending some years as a starter, John hit his stride as the Rangers closer. Jeff had two seasons of 30+ saves during his time with the Rangers and another season of 28. In 1988 Jeff led the AL in saves with 38. In looking through Jeff's stats, his strikeout totals spiked to 9.5 per nine innings. In all Jeff spent 10 seasons with the Rangers splitting time between starting and relieving. Russell finished with a won and lost record of 42-40 and 134 saves while putting together and ERA of 3.73. The versatile Jeff Russell gets the number two slot in the Rangers pen.

Relief pitcher: Francisco Cordero Cordero was with the Rangers for all or parts of seven seasons and had a real nice run of two years as their closer. In 2004 Francisco recorded 47 saves. In 2005 he followed that up with a 37 save season. In all, Cordero had 117 saves with the Rangers while averaging nearly a strikeout per inning. Cordero went on to save 329 games for various teams in his career, which struck me as surprisingly high.

So, there's my list of Rangers pitchers. Not the most spectacular list I've put together, but functional. Feel free to share your thoughts on it.

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