Lewis wants to keep pitching, winning for Rangers
The 2015 shining example of why the win is an irrelevant pitching statistic to many, though not to all, might end up being Colby Lewis.
The Texas Rangers veteran was sitting at a career-high 16 wins as he strode to the mound in a late game Wednesday night at O.co Coliseum. He also was carrying an ERA of 4.41 and had allowed as many hits as he had innings pitched (190).
Even Lewis downplays the wins, knowing full well that at times the offense has scored enough runs on his not-so-good nights to qualify him for the W.
But he has accomplished his primary goal of keeping his team in the game more often than not, posting 19 quality starts and working at least six innings 22 times.
The Rangers know that and covet that, in addition to Lewis being the kind of person they admire and want on their team. They also know that Lewis is a free agent after the season, and there are no guarantees that he will be on their roster in 2016.
But that’s a topic that will be addressed in the off-season. Lewis (16-8) still has two more starts remaining, and the Rangers are trying to win the American League West for the first time since 2011.
But it’s a topic that he and the Rangers aren’t acting as if it doesn’t exist.
“I’ve always said if I feel like I’m healthy and being productive at this level, I’d like to play as long as I can,” Lewis said. “We’ll just have to see how this plays out. If they want me back, we’ll go from there.
“It’s still a business. Everybody’s got to be on board with it. It’s going to be a situation ultimately for this front office and a lot of others. I feel like when I’m healthy and enjoying the game, I’m going to eat up innings and try to give you a chance to win every night.”
Lewis’ best outing of 2015 came two starts ago, when he retired the first 21 batters in a two-hit shutout of the A’s on Sept. 11. He allowed two runs in six innings last week as the Rangers completed a four-game sweep of Houston, which lost Wednesday afternoon to Los Angeles.
Those outings came after a three-start stretch in which he allowed 18 runs (15 earned) in 15 2/3 innings. There was a feeling that the 36-year-old Lewis was tiring and that maybe all of his surgically repaired body parts were starting to show some mileage.
“We joke he’s going to be the only pitcher to retire in better shape than when he broke in; he’s got all new parts,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “You name the accolade — tough, humble, committed, selfless. We don’t evaluate pitchers on won-loss record.
“The bottom line is he takes the ball on a consistent basis. You can count on him. It’s not an accident that he has those Ws.”
His season comes after he reinvented himself in 2014 while pitching on, essentially, an artificial right hip. Lewis probably shouldn’t have been pitching in the first half, but the injury rash that struck the pitching staff dictated otherwise.
By midseason, he had found his stride, and the Rangers ultimately decided to bring him back on a one-year free-agent deal worth $4 million. It could be one of the best contracts in the majors.
“We bought into the guy,” Daniels said. “If you didn’t know Colby, it’d be easy to say, ‘I don’t know, he’s probably done.’
“But knowing who he is, the way he takes care of himself, what he’s capable of and what he’s capable of pushing through, we had a lot of confidence that he’d find a way to get it done. He has.”
Lewis is as unflappable as any Rangers pitcher, and has the postseason pedigree to prove it. He wasn’t taking the last-place A’s lightly entering his 31st start of the season. Their young hitters who might be trying to make an impression could prove to be tough outs, he said.
A 17th win would move him into a tie for second-most in the AL with Toronto’s David Price and Houston’s Collin McHugh.
Price is going to sign an enormous free-agent contract this off-season. Lewis is going to be pitching somewhere. He and the Rangers, once again, will have some off-season talking to do.
“We’ll address that at the end of the year,” Daniels said. “But I don’t think anyone here wants Colby pitching in another uniform.”
This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 8:39 PM with the headline "Lewis wants to keep pitching, winning for Rangers."