Rangers’ Colby Lewis set for Sunday start in Anaheim
Colby Lewis just wants to pull his weight, especially with the Texas Rangers zeroing in on a division title. The right-hander returns to the mound Sunday for the first time since June 21.
Lewis has been sidelined with a strain in his right latissimus dorsi muscle, which derailed the best start of his professional career. He was 6-1 with a 3.21 ERA in 15 starts, but now is forced to start over, essentially, with the season at its most crucial point.
Good, bad or ugly, however it plays out, I’m excited for tomorrow.
Rangers RHP Colby Lewis
He’d love to step back on the rubber in the finale against the Angels and have the feel, control and results he was getting in April, May and June. But he’s been around long enough to know it might not come back in his first start.
“I want to be there, of course. Your mindset wants to be there,” Lewis said. “Whether the body follows suit, we’ll see. I’ll go out there and take the same type of approach that I had before I got hurt. It’s always been my MO, and sometimes you get results and sometimes you don’t.”
Lewis figures to be the Rangers’ third option in the rotation, behind Saturday’s starter Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish. But that’s based on his performance from more than two months ago.
Manager Jeff Banister said that a pitcher’s body of work would largely dictate who takes the ball in the postseason. But he wasn’t exactly keen on postseason talk, despite the Rangers owning the AL’s best record and a nine-game lead on the Astros in the West.
“We’re still looking to finish the deal off; we haven’t done that yet,” Banister said. “We haven’t secured anything yet, so we’re playing for the right now.”
Plus, he said, Lewis will have four, maybe five starts to get back in a rhythm. Sunday’s start will be monitored, and he’s unlikely to throw more than 85-90 pitches.
“Let’s let him go out and pitch however many innings he’s going to throw,” Banister said. “To start laying that on a guy in his first start back, I think that’s a little bit unfair. The only expectations I have for Colby is to go out and pitch the type of game he’s capable of pitching based on it’s his first time back.”
Lewis wants good results, but even more importantly, he wants to feel healthy again on the mound and resume helping the Rangers.
“You want to be a contributor. You don’t want to be the guy on the sidelines,” said Lewis, who threw five innings for Rookie League Spokane on Monday. “You want to feel like you’ve done something for the season to be able to raise that banner. That, for me, is the biggest part, being back and being able to contribute and be part of the team.
“Good, bad or ugly, however it plays out, I’m excited for tomorrow.”
Lewis, 37, faces Angels right-hander Jered Weaver, 33. Both are California boys. Lewis will have many friends and family down from Bakersfield to see him pitch.
“So a couple of old guys going after it, so we’ll see what happens,” Lewis said. “Hopefully, I can get through some quality innings and we have a good game going and we turn it over to the bullpen.”
That would be how Banister would draw it up. Get Lewis some work and off the mound feeling good.
“We want to make sure he stays healthy,” Banister said. “[It’s about] getting him ramped up and some starts behind him so he has an opportunity to build up and get into a rhythm.”
Stefan Stevenson: 817-390-7760, @StevensonFWST
This story was originally published September 10, 2016 at 9:11 PM with the headline "Rangers’ Colby Lewis set for Sunday start in Anaheim."